The Roomion

Toyota have given us a mini Innova. Almost. The Rumion is the most accessible seven-seater in Toyota's line-up. We test it to see how it performs

- Charan Karthik

AS YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY GUESSED, THE RUMION IS SIMILAR in many respects to the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. Well, that's because it is a badge-engineered Ertiga. This is one of the models that are the outcome of the Indian-Japanese partnership.

The first thing I noticed about this multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) was the huge honeycomb grille that has the Toyota emblem at the centre. The front bumper is also styled in a sharp way with the fog-lights neatly integrated into its housing. A shiny chrome strip runs along the perimeter of the front grille and the chrome treatment makes its way on to the door-handles. It gets freshly designed 15-inch alloys that are eye-catching. I personally liked the design a lot.

As the title suggests, the Rumion does one thing extremely well and that is provide a lot of space. This becomes easily noticeable as you step inside the seven-seater where the second row is a much more comfortable place to be in than the front. The second row gets sliding and reclining seats and the seats themselves are spacious and the fabric quality is impeccable. However, the beige seat colour is bound to get dirty after a while and would most certainly require constant maintenance. The second row has a 60:40 split set-up and it folds down flat to provide the maximum storage. Its occupants also get four air-vents that are situated on the roof of the car, right in front of their heads. The vents are all adjustable and have generous flow. This makes the middle row a comfortable place to be in.