Toyota Rumion review: Innova's new sibling

Leveraging its alliance with Suzuki, Toyota has once again resorted to its tried and tested badge engineering exercise to enter segments it doesn’t have a presence in. After entering the hatchback space with the Maruti Baleno-based Glanza and the midsize SUV segment with the Maruti Grand Vitara-based Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Toyota now aims to establish its presence in the affordable MPV segment with the Maruti Ertiga-based Rumion.

​The Rumion is available with either a petrol engine or a petrol-CNG option, and while both are offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox, the former also gets the option of a 6-speed automatic. CNG is available only on the S variant (entry level), priced at Rs 11.24 lakh. The petrol range is priced between Rs 10.29 lakh and 12.18 lakh, while the petrol-auto range is between Rs 11.89 lakh and 13.68 lakh. 

Toyota Rumion exterior

This Toyota MPV shares most body panels with its Maruti cousin, hence you will have to look closely to spot the differences. Few cosmetic enhancements reflect Toyota’s design DNA, the most prominent being the front grille with a thick chrome garnishing, reminiscent of the Innova Crysta’s. Its front bumper is redesigned too, and sports triangular fog lamp housings and a revised air dam with a silver surround. The other apparent change is the dual tone 15-inch alloys. From the rear, you have to rely on the badges to identify the Rumion.

Toyota Rumion interior

The familiarities continue inside with an interior design, layout and even the beige colour scheme identical to the Maruti Ertiga; only the Toyota logo on the steering gives away its new identity. What’s nice is that this means the seats are broad and comfortable, ergonomics are good, and the Rumion’s cabin is functional and practical with plenty of storage areas.

The middle row is spacious, the seats slide and even recline 40:60 for better comfort and flexibility. The kerb-side section of the second row tilts forward and slides, facilitating easy access to the third row. Space in the last row is good even for adults, however, taller folk will find headroom a bit tight. Even the last row backrest reclines for more comfort. The large glass area ensures passengers don’t feel claustrophobic and rear air vents with a dedicated blower aid faster cooling of the cabin.

Toyota Rumion performance 

Maruti’s 103hp, 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine feels about adequate in this people mover. Aided by mild-hybrid technology, it feels quite responsive, particularly at city speeds. However, driving in an aggressive manner brings its torque deficit to light, and at higher engine speeds, progress is slower and the engine gets louder.

The 6-speed torque converter automatic is smooth in its operation, and, as it’s tuned to maximise efficiency, it will upshift to the highest gear possible at the earliest, and feels lazy to downshift. What’s nice is that to give the driver manual control over the transmission, it gets paddle shifters too, which come handy while driving in a spirited manner. 

Toyota Rumion fuel efficiency

The unhurried nature of this powertrain encourages you to adopt a relaxed driving style and it’ll reward you with impressive fuel efficiency, particularly on the open road. The Maruti XL6 with the same powertrain and similar weight achieved 9.20kpl in Mumbai city and 17kpl on the highway in our fuel efficiency tests, thus giving you a fair idea of what you can expect from the Rumion in the real world. Further, there’s an auto engine stop-start feature to keep a check on fuel consumption while idling. 

With no tweaks to its mechanicals or underpinnings, the Rumion drives exactly like the Ertiga. It feels rather reassuring from behind the wheel. Ride quality is good as is stability at cruising speeds, albeit you can feel some vertical movements over wavy surfaces, particularly when the car is fully loaded; something that MPVs like this will be. The steering has some heft, and unlike most Maruti cars built on the Heartect platform, the Rumion’s returns to centre after a U-turn quite naturally.

Toyota Rumion price, verdict

In conclusion then, the Rumion is identical to its Maruti counterpart and that isn’t a bad thing at all, because the Ertiga is an extremely competent, practical and capable people mover that has cemented a reputation for being reliable and dependable.

So in the case of the Rumion, it all boils down to the premium Toyota is asking for. The Rumion’s variants are Rs 50,000-60,000 pricier than comparable Maruti Ertiga variants. For that amount we would have liked to see a higher degree of differentiation between the two. Product attributes aside there is of course a difference in the warranty that the two offer. While both Toyota and Maruti give buyers the option of extending their vehicle warranty up to 5 years, Toyota offers a standard 3 years or 1,00,000km warranty, while Maruti offers a 2 years or 40,000km warranty as standard.

Thus, the longer standard warranty helps the Rumion’s case, and there’s also the fact that most Toyota dealers are offering a quicker delivery than the Ertiga. And then for many, there’s the more desirable Toyota badge on the nose.

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