A boxy new family member – the Toyota Rukus - has shaken traditionally conservative Toyota.
A creation of the company’s Los Angeles, California design studio – and sold in North America under Toyota’s Scion sub-brand - the hip Toyota Rukus no doubt ruffled a few of the ‘Toyota Traditionalists’ back at Head Office in Japan.
However after a week in the Toyota Rukus, the Car Showroom team reckons Toyota is onto a winner with this ‘cool to be square’ newcomer.
Toyota Rukus Overview
For some years young buyers have not listed many Toyota products on their list of desirable new cars and the company’s global president, Akio Toyoda, challenged his management team to get closer to young people by developing cars with “unique flavours”.
Today’s Toyota Rukus started life as the bbX concept car shown by Toyota at the 2002 New York Motor Show. About the same size as a Toyota Corolla, the Toyota Rukus's boxy shape delivers abundant interior space and practicality.
And with Toyota’s 2.4-litre DOHC engine, performance is zippy.
Is it a wagon, a crossover or an SUV? None of those really – it’s sort of unique and a car primarily for young, urban-resident buyers.
The Toyota Rukus is available in three model grades and we tested the range-topping ‘Build 3’ version with leather seats and a moonroof. However the trick to the Toyota Rukus – much like Kia’s Soul – is individual customization with lots of accessories from ‘flame’, ‘brick’ or ‘stripe’ body decals to a range of sports parts from Toyota Racing Development (TRD).
Toyota Rukus Engine
Rukus’ zippy on road performance is no surprise – while the similarly sized Toyota Corolla is powered by a 1.8-litre engine, the Rukus enjoys a superior power-to-weight ratio thanks to Toyota’s 2.4-litre powerplant with 23 per cent more power and 28 per cent more torque. Maximum power is 123kW at 6,000rpm and peak torque is 224Nm at 4,000rpm.
Fuel consumption is rated at 8.8l/100kms (7.7l/100kms for a similar Corolla) and the C02 emissions are 208g/km.
Drive is to the front wheels via a four-speed electronic automatic transmission with sequential manual mode.
Toyota Rukus Interior
Toyota Rukus's tall shape is about delivering enhanced interior space. It’s roomy for five people and the 855mm high cargo area can accommodate up to 1,331 litres of cargo with the 60/40-split rear seat folded (there’s extra storage under the cargo floor – handy for wet items like beach and sporting gear).
While the interior trim is all rectangular, four round gauges mounted on a center console provide contrast. The speedo is digital and all the gauges have bright orange lights.
The gear lever is in it’s own silver coloured mounting on the center console and Toyota Rukus Build 3 as tested featured a tall console storage box with a sliding arm-rest.
Build 3 also gains leather seats, which are generous in size and nicely supportive.
On the audio front, Build 3 gains the premium nine-speaker, six in-dash CD system with a joystick for control and 4.3-inch colour screen. There’s Bluetooth compatibility plus USB and iPod connectivity.
Toyota Rukus Exterior and Styling
“It’s not for everyone – and that’s OK. It’s an acquired taste,” was how Toyota Australia’s Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, David Buttner, explained the Rukus. Even Toyota stylists joke the Rukus is for people who think inside the box.
“Depth In Simplicity” was the styling theme for the Rukus and its eye-catching ‘boxiness’ provides a sharp contrast to the curvy looks that dominate today’s traditional automotive landscape. But this is 2010 and despite it’s square appearance, the Rukus returns a commendable aerodynamic drag co-efficient of 0.32 (aided by underbody aero covers and wheel spats).
With it’s thick metal and thin glasshouse, the Toyota Rukus looks muscly – in a cute kind of way. At the front, the modern projector/halogen headlights are set wide apart to visually enhance the Rukus’ width and the taillights have a black housing and clear lenses.
Toyota Rukus runs 16-inch alloy wheels, independent front MacPherson strut suspension and a torsion beam rear.
Toyota Rukus On The Road
While the Rukus is an urban car, its agility on the open road is impressive. Over our high speed mountain road loop the boxy Toyota delivered good balance, refinement and performance – aided by Toyota Australia’s technical team recalibrating the Electric Power-assisted Steering (EPS) for our conditions.
The 2.4-litre engine was a willing worker and – typically Toyota – it remained quiet and refined even when working at the limit.
Back in the city, the Toyota Rukus was in its element. With only 2.9 turns lock-to-lock for the steering and a compact turning circle of 10.6-meters, it laughed at our tricky CBD carpark and maneuvers around tight inner city laneways.
Toyota Rukus Challenges
We deducted points from the Toyota Rukus in only two areas.
Firstly, while maneuverability is first-rate, the thick C-pillars did restrict visibility a bit when reverse parking. And over Melbourne’s tram and train track crossings, there was some noise and harshness from the front suspension.
Toyota Rukus Verdict
“It’s cool to be square,” they say and certainly Toyota has delivered a vehicle that casts aside its conservative image. The Toyota Rukus is fresh and different, but maintains the inherent qualities that are the keys to Toyota’s success – build quality and reliability are givens - and, like so many other Toyotas, it’s just so good at everything.
Toyota Australia hopes that the Toyota Rukus will account for 150-200 sales per month and we reckon they might be underestimating their boxy newcomer. Curiosity was high whenever we parked our Toyota Rukus in the street and those who stopped to check things closely were all young – the exact Rukus demographic.
Toyota Rukus Competition
Kia’s Soul is the most obvious direct competitor. Its price is considerably less than the Toyota Rukus but power comes from a 1.6-litre engine (Soul has a diesel option).
Likes:
Cool looks; clever packaging; nice to drive
Dislikes:
Restricted rear three-quarter visibility, suspension noise over harsh bumps.
