Meet Toyota's EcoSport Fighter: the Raize

If the Rush is a bit too family-looking for you, perhaps we can interest you in Toyota’s newest offering: the Raize. Like the Copen, the Raize is produced by affiliate company Daihatsu, but manages to include input from Toyota, particularly with its platform.

Measuring at an ultra-compact 3,955-mm long and 1,695-mm wide, the Raize caters to customers who want to drive an SUV, but who also want something that’s easy to drive in the city. It also puts it squarely in the same category as the Ford EcoSport and the Nissan Juke.

The Raize rides on Daihatsu’s next-generation platform, DNGA (sounds familiar?) and takes into account all aspects of the car from platform to powertrain to realize heightened levels of driving performance, safety, and peace of mind. Most important of all, this merges product development for both Toyota and Daihatsu brands.

Outside, the Raize provides a strong sense of power and stability with its standard 17-inch alloy wheels and protruding fenders. It’s extremely angular with thin LED headlights and sequential turn signal lights. Yet, inside, it boasts of class-leading cargo space (369 liters). Moreover, the rear seats can also be folded further to increase the available cargo space. A full digital 7-inch LCD gauge cluster takes centerstage and has four modes: Advanced, Exciting, Simple, and Analog.

The unibody architecture is paired with a 1.0-liter turbocharged engine (1KR-VET) which promises performance equal to that of a normally-aspirated 1.5-liter engine. The forced induction engine is paired to a CVT transmission with 10 preset gear ratios. Two-wheel drive models achieve up to 18.6 km/L, while the optional four-wheel drive model does 17.4 km/L.

Now, while the Raize is for sale in Japan for now, Toyota has hinted that it’s destined for international markets, particularly the ASEAN where appetite for small SUVs is strong.