Toyota Rumion

Toyota Rumion Review: Baby Innova

Following in the footsteps of the Toyota Qualis, the Toyota Innova took the Indian market by storm when it was first launched in 2005. The model was wildly successful, thanks to its practicality, affordability, and reliability. But since then, the Innova moniker has grown in size, and has become much costlier. The gap in the market that was left by the original Innova was taken up by the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, and thanks to the global Suzuki–Toyota partnership, Toyota is back in the affordable MPV segment with a rebadged version of the Ertiga — The Toyota Rumion. Is it worth the ₹50,000 premium over the Ertiga? Let’s find out.

Toyota Rumion Pros and Cons 

Toyota Rumion Exterior Design 

Toyota has kept things simple and functional with the design of the Toyota Rumion. There are plenty of creases in the bumpers and light designs, and even the side profile has a good aesthetic appeal with the window line swooping up around the third row windows. Despite being based on the Ertiga, the Rumion carries the Innova DNA in its design, and that is further accentuated by the Rumion’s grille and front bumper, which are shaped like that of the Innova Crysta. But leaving the front bumper and the new alloy wheels aside, the Rumion looks exactly like the Ertiga.

Toyota Rumion Interiors 

A similar story of blending function and form continues on the inside, where the design is basic and simplistic, but not boring. The beige interiors look upmarket, and are somewhat reminiscent of the original Innova. Wood-finished inserts on the dash and door panels also add to the appeal. The air-con vents are housed behind a pseudo dashboard width-long diffuser, and the floating 7-inch touchscreen infotainment sits atop it. While overall quality and finish materials are good, there are some hard plastics used, and some switchgear used in the MPV has been borrowed from smaller Maruti Suzuki cars.

Toyota Rumion Comfort 

When a manufacturer is designing a vehicle that is inherently light but has to have a good amount of load carrying capacity, it has to make some compromises on the overall suspension setup. The Rumion faces a similar issue. Since it is designed to carry people, the suspension also performs best when the car is loaded. When driven alone with no passengers or luggage, the Rumion’s suspension is not as comfortable as you’d expect it to be, and you will feel a few bumps and thuds filter into the cabin. However, when you do have passengers on board, the Rumion’s suspension settles beautifully, allowing for a pliant and comfortable ride. This also makes the Rumion a great highway tourer, since the ride stays flat throughout.

Many other factors also add up, making the Rumion a good intercity commuter. There’s enough space in all three rows, and even the third row can accommodate shorter adults over long distances. The seats also have soft cushioning to exude a sense of comfort, and the beige interiors ensure the cabin feels airy.

Toyota Rumion Performance and Handling

The Toyota Rumion has been engineered to be an effortless car to drive, and it delivers. Whether it is city commuting or munching mile after mile on highways, the Rumion does it all in a very calm and relaxed manner. It has not been designed to push hard, and when you do try to, it doesn’t give back much. The engine has a pretty flat torque curve with no mid-range punch, and you really have to work the gears if you want to get going. The engine, however, is very tractable, so when you’re driving with a light foot, it can pull from really low RPMs as well, requiring less gear shifts overall. 

Talking about shifting, it is the 5-speed manual gearbox that’s the pick of the lot on the Rumion. The clutch action and the gear shifts are smooth and easy, and you won’t feel in need of an automatic even in traffic. It does miss out on a sixth gear though, and while it is not required from a performance standpoint, it would have been a good addition for highway cruising. The 6-speed automatic on the other hand is not as great. It does get paddle shifters, but the box is sluggish to shift, and you will have to rely on shifters quite a lot when making a move.

Toyota Rumion Key specifications 

Toyota Rumion Safety Features

Based on Suzuki’s new Heartect platform, the Rumion does a fair job when it comes to keeping its passengers safe. Its sister car — the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga — scored a 3-star rating from Global NCAP for adult and child crash protection, which isn’t great, but isn’t bad either. It gets a handful of safety features too, including four airbags, ABS, EBD, Brake assist, ESP, hill hold, engine immobiliser, front seat belt pretensioners, ISOFIX child seat mounts, and more. Connected car features add another layer of safety to the car by including emergency alerts, breakdown notifications, stolen vehicle notification and tracking, tow away alert and tracking, geofencing, time fencing, and valet alert. 

Toyota Rumion Technology and Infotainment

In terms of equipment, the Rumion has all the basics in place, despite not offering some premium features. It gets a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment which offers a handful of features, including wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and connected car features like remote start, smartwatch connectivity, and Alexa. The infotainment is paired to a six-speaker Arkamys surround sense music system, which has an immersive sound. However, it continues to get an analogue instrument cluster with a small digital insert for odometer and trip computer readouts.

Is the Toyota Rumion for You?

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has been the champion affordable MPV for years, and its rebadged sibling — the Toyota Rumion — offers all of the same for a slightly higher price. While some other badge engineered versions from the Japanese alliance have more prominent differences, the Rumion has very small design changes that don’t necessarily look better than the Ertiga. For the higher price then, the only thing you get is Toyota’s after sales service network and better warranties, and it would be a hard sell given that it’s the same car underneath.