Almost forgotten by most Malaysians, the Toyota Rush has been with us for five years, first launched in 2018. Often overshadowed by its Perodua counterpart, the Toyota Rush is discontinued in Malaysia, having been pulled from UMW Toyota’s official website.
The Rush in its last iteration is a ladder-frame rear-wheel drive SUV that seats 7 people – almost like a miniature version of the Toyota Innova. Like the Aruz, the Rush was also assembled at the Perodua Rawang plant.
Made available in 2 variants, there was the 1.5 G and 1.5 S versions of the Toyota Rush. Both, as their names suggest, were powered by a 1.5-litre inline-4 naturally-aspirated engine that outputs 105 hp (metric) and 136 Nm. All power is sent to the rear wheels only and the only transmission option was an automatic.
Despite being a 2WD SUV, the Rush did have some “off-road” merits like a 600 mm water wading depth and a 220 mm ground clearance – not much, but perfect for rural areas or imperfect road conditions. You just couldn’t be as careless as you would with a proper off-roader.
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The Rush is also a great proposition for a 7-seater budget family car as both variants had sub-RM100k price tags. Naturally, the Perodua Aruz fetched a lower price, but the Rush added on features like automatic air-conditioning, blind spot monitor, and the Panoramic View Monitor with four cameras. Before assuming this form, the Rush was a compact 5-seater SUV which was also rebranded as a Perodua, the Nautica.
With the Toyota Rush discontinued, sub-RM100k 7-seater options in Malaysia include the Perodua Alza and and the Perodua Aruz.
