What's the Rush? It's your entrance to the SUV lifestyle

We agreed that there was very little if nothing scaled down about Toyota’s offering with the Rush. In fact, it has all the bells and whistles that a first-time buyer into the SUV market requires. And it’s priced just right for those that want to drive a Sports Utility Vehicle.

I readied myself for the test drive to see exactly what the Rush was all about. A push start/stop button was welcome, instead of the usual cranking the engine with a key. We headed out from Port Elizabeth Airport, driving the manual derivative which performed exceptionally well in the urban traffic. The stop and start at streetlights, and changing gears, proved effortless.

We then headed out on the N2 towards East London, engaged in 5th gear. I have to say that the engine was noticeably audible. The rev-counter was rather high when compared to other SUV’s I 've driven in this category. I expected the revs to be around the 4000rpm, which would have further ‘relaxed’ the engine and helped with the fuel economy further.

The drive on the tar roads was otherwise comfortable with all the instruments within easy reach of the driver. Apart from the somewhat high revving engine on 5th gear, I could not fault the vehicle on any other front.

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Driving off-road

Next was the drive on a gravel road, which makes the driver and passengers feel ‘high and safe’, with a ground clearance of only 220mm. With its raised ride height, the Rush comfortably tackles gravel roads and can even wade water around 400mm high, and this is where the term SUV really came into play.

The Rush fulfilled a cross-functional role and if you are an outdoors person like me, this SUV checks most, if not all the boxes, including ample boot space around 600litres or more when the back seats are folded over.

The ‘boot’ space is quite handy if you are packing everything including the kitchen sink for those adventurous trips, be it to a game reserve, a golf course or just a weekend picnic. The ride in rough, potholed terrain was smooth and saw the Rush holding its own. Not once did I experience any sliding around corners and bends, even though we were at speeds of 80kmph at times when going around certain gentle bends.

Some notable features

The new Toyota Rush is a model pitched squarely at the small SUV segment, a product offering that caters to the ‘new age’ urban adventurer and encourages you to start your own adventure.
Notable features include:

• Front and back LED lamps

• Matching black roof rails and body-colour rear roof spoiler create a cohesive image.
  
• Easy to use 6-speaker touchscreen audio system, equipped with Bluetooth, USB and Android Auto Plus Show/Apple CarPlay functionality.
• A 3-spoke leather steering wheel with tilt function and remote switches provide the driver with a firm grip of the road.
  
• Ample cupholders and storage compartments
• An integrated Reverse camera and Park Distance Control (PDC)

Drive is provided by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder DOHC engine, with outputs of 77 kW at 6000 rpm and 136 Nm of torque at 4200 rpm. Fuel economy is a strong focal point with the manual-equipped Rush using 6.6 litres per 100km and the automatic version registering 6.7 litres per 100km.

Convinced yet?

Buyers have a choice of five exterior colours namely: Tusk White, Quicksilver, Ruby Metallic, Liquid Bronze Metallic and Graphite Black. There are only two derivatives in the offering. A six-services/90,000-kilometre service plan comes standard, backed up by a three-year/100,000km warranty.

Service intervals are set at 15,000 kilometres. In conclusion and perhaps the most appealing shine-out was the price. R299,900 for the 1.5 Manual and R313,500 for the Automatic version will go down rather nicely with Toyota aficionados.

Go on. Go test it out. You will be pleased!