Let’s be honest, when you think of a practical family road trip, MPVs are a go to choice. Recently reviewed the Kia Carens Clavis Turbo Petrol MT, and today we bring you my experience of Toyota Rumion, sibling of the popular MPV Ertiga from Maruti.
Recently, I got my hands on the Rumion V MT (Manual Transmission) variant. To test its mettle, I didn’t just drive it around town; I packed up the family, loaded the boot, and headed straight out for a classic 500 km weekend trip from Delhi to Agra and back.
After spending two solid weeks living with this MPV, here is my honest, unfiltered take on what it’s like to own and drive the top-spec manual Rumion.
The Delhi-Agra Expressway Run: How It Performs
The Yamuna Expressway is the ultimate testing ground for high-speed stability and cruising comfort. Armed with its 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine (putting out 103 PS and 136.8 Nm of torque), the Rumion feels right at home munching miles.
The 5-speed manual gearbox is light and effortless to use, though a 6th gear would have made high-speed highway cruising a lot quieter. At triple-digit speeds, the engine ticks along reasonably well, but push past 100 km/h, and you do start wishing for more insulation from wind and tire noise. But at city speeds, the NVH is quite good and the cabin experience is very good. The air-conditioning is also very effective and the FATC keeps you easy and you don’t need to fiddle much after you set it once. The suspension setup (MacPherson strut up front and torsion beam at the rear) is tuned beautifully for Indian road conditions. Even with the family onboard and luggage loaded, it absorbed rough patches and expansion joints on the highway without tossing anyone around.
Now, this is always the elephant in the room with petrol MPVs. Over our 500 km round trip, combined with some crawling traffic entering Agra, the trip computer displayed a respectable 17.7 kmpl. While it won’t match diesel economy, for a heavy 7-seater petrol car, that’s quite pocket-friendly. In the city commute before this highway run, the car trip meter showed me a fuel economy of around 10 kmpl on light foot driving. The engine tuning though is on the eager side where the car feels quite agile and willing to pick up speed very well. Now with these important points shared with you, let me break down my experience into Pros and Cons.
What I Liked (The Pros)
Pleasing Looks: While the car is a sibling of Ertiga, it does not look anything like it from the front. Rather it looks like a smaller version of Innova Crysta which makes is much easy choice for a family buyer who is conscious of buying cars which is too commonly has a fleet car image. The side profile and rear looks like Ertiga though, but the alloy wheels help to give it a much premium look.
Cabin Space & Practicality: There’s no escaping the sheer usability of this layout. With three rows of seats, getting the family settled was effortless. The one-touch recline and slide second row made crawling into the back row surprisingly painless for the kids.
V-Variant Features: The top-spec V trim justifies its price point by packing essentials you actually need on a long journey- automatic climate control, dedicated AC vents for the rear passengers, cruise control, and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Light Controls in City Traffic: Maneuvering a 4.4-meter-long vehicle through chaotic Delhi traffic can be daunting, but the light electric steering and great all-around visibility make the Rumion feel much smaller than it actually is.
Where It Falls Short (The Cons)
Boot Space with All Rows Up: If you are traveling with a full house of 7 people, luggage space is not enough. For our weekend trip, we had to fold down one section of the 50:50 split third-row seat just to fit our bags.
Ergonomics for Driver: The lumbar support for the front row of seats were a bit-lacking. You won’t notice it much in a 1 hour city commuter, but when you spend more time on this seat, say a 3-4 hours drive, the lower back support feels less than needed. The size and cushioning of the seats are fine, but lower back could have been better. Also, the front arm-rest, is too small and too low to be used practically to rest my elbow for my driving position, hence I found that it can also be improved.
The Verdict
The Toyota Rumion V MT proves that you don’t need a massive, expensive SUV to take a comfortable family road trip. It’s honest, deeply practical, and easy on the wallet. If your weekend routines involve ferrying the entire family out of town and you prefer the raw control of a manual stick shift, the Rumion V MT makes a very strong, sensible case for itself. The engine is peppy and tractable in the city, steering is light and driving is easy with a light clutch, AC is great, mileage is good enough and the car is great to drive in the city as well as highway. Other than the driver seat lower back support, which can be fixed with a cushion, the car is a great choice for a family user. Just remember- pack light if you plan on using all seven seats!
