November 1, 2022

The Toyota Raize Will Outlive Any Fashion Fad


When the Toyota Raize came into the picture early this year, it commanded the kind of attention that made you think of it as possibly just another one-hit wonder. You know what I’m talking about — the car that gains popularity overnight, then blends into the woodwork as soon as the next big launch comes into focus. In the months that followed, it became clear that the Raize was made for longer shelf-life to rival any hit single of its well-loved OPM endorser, Ben & Ben.

Since its introduction, the Toyota Raize has lived up to its vision of raising the game for sub-compact SUVs everywhere (read our review of the Raize 1.0 Turbo too). It is basic, true, but also in a way that sparks the creativity and aspiration for its owner to make it their own. It is the “blank canvas,” so to speak, and challenges the norm in how far you can actually take it. As I had said before, and stand by it to this day, it was designed to support a person of promise—ambitious, practical, goal-oriented, and with keen sense of success.

Now that we’re in the final months of 2022, what else can be said about the Raize? Having driven the mid-variant 1.2 CVT for a few days tells me that this little car that could will be around for a long while.



Compact, adorable design

It is clear to see why so many are enamored with the Toyota Raize. Its unique, compact design is incredibly adorable and functional, allowing it to fit right in to the metro’s busy streets, zipping in and out of traffic easily. Feature highlights are the sleek LED headlamps, contrasting black floating roof, and 16-inch alloy wheels that give the illusion of length and height, allowing the car to stand out in a crowd.

The beauty of the Raize’s exterior is how it offers a refined yet rugged vibe, given the multi-faceted edges around the front face. This is complemented by the honeycomb grille that is perfectly proportioned to the height of the hood. This exudes a youthful, sporty image that can fit the taste of different age groups and interests.



Refined, functional cabin

The interior cabin of the Raize is laid out in the most practical matter, as is expected with any Toyota vehicle. Feature functions are kept to the basics, making the interior as simple as it can get. One might say that it’s too simple and admittedly, the only thing that literally stands out is the 8-inch infotainment system monitor. However, it packs all the requisites such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It even has a 7-inch TFT digital cluster.

What makes it one of the most functional daily-driven partners is how it supports a multitude of lifestyles. The Raize interior is fitted with practical storage spaces throughout the cabin, including the area below the center console, by the driver and passenger legs, as well as an additional cupholder right by the driver’s left-side air-conditioning vent. The cargo hold is roomy and generous, enough for at least 2 medium-sized luggage, but offering even more space when the rear seats are folded down flat.

To offset the simplicity of the layout, Toyota finished up the cabin design with cool, sporty details. While most of the dashboard and paneling are built with plastic surfaces, there are carbon fiber-like elements like by the side of the infotainment monitor and red stitching on the front and rear seats to match the car’s exterior.



Smooth, easy handling

If it’s fun, drivable performance you’re looking for, the Toyota Raize ticks the box. Not only is its size perfect for busy urban streets, but the 1.2-liter Dual VVT-i engine and its 88 horsepower, 113 Nm of torque output is responsive, allowing you to weave through in-city traffic and highways with hardly any effort. Of course, being a small displacement 3-cylinder engine, it could clearly do better as a highway or long-distance tourer. But, again, as a peppy city car that can support a multitude of activities? It’s definitely built for that.

The suspension on the Raize is also light and stable and can go over traffic humps with ease. Road obstructions and uneven pathways are a different story and the car’s light body means that you can feel absolutely every single bump.



Make it your own

Spending a few days with the Toyota Raize made me understand exactly why so many fell in love with it. From the beginning, I called it “a blank canvas” — a car that was made to be made your own, to support your hobbies and complement your personality. No wonder many of the owners had moved on to adding or changing up the accessories to their Toyota Raize, coming out with some of the most unique modifications that are completely theirs.

So, here’s what can be said about the all-new Toyota Raize. Whichever variant you choose to own, it is just the right starter car that offers features you would expect from a higher category and is the size that is designed to grow with you as your own life evolves.

Words and Photos by Gen Tiu.

25 comments:

  1. With its affordable 4 variants, it razed to the ground the sales of mirage/g4, stonic, tigo 2, MG suv, celerio, brio and even the sales of vios

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    1. Stop doing drugs too much Keane.LOL!Combined sales of the Vios,Mirage,Stonic,Brio and others are way much higher than the slow poke and poorly built Raize G which isn't selling well as people prefer buying a Vios and Avanza instead..Nobody wants to drive a very small fake SUV with underpowered engine,overheating transmission,poor NVH and mediocre uneven interior plastics like the Raize G.

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    2. O kotchi99... your mouth is faster than your brain can process(thats if you have any) people dont believed you. The favorable review of raize by sir uly say it all. And by the way toyota capture 50% of ph car market. Pinoy buyers prefer toyota for its time tested reliability, durability and eased of maintenance. Toyota owned lexus and daihatau, and by the way raize is jdm

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    3. And majority of those sales came from Vios,Hilux,Innova,Avanza,Fortuner,Wigo and Rush..Your favorite Raize is way behind the sales of the Vios so your claims are false!Toyota Raize in the Philippine market is made in Indonesia by Toyota Astra and its different from the JDM Raize..Interior materials,NVH,engine,paint quality and others of the Raize made in Indonesia are in lower quality than the Japan made ones.

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    4. where do you get your numbers kuchi? im also curious on how many raize toyota is actually able to sell, their target was 1000 units a month so im wondering if they achieved that

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    5. 1000 units per month sales target wasn't achieved by TMPC as many buyers are annoyed with the units shortages of E and Turbo variants of the Raize..Monthly sales of it just around 400 to 300 units only which is fine.

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    6. O kotchi99 your talking again without basis/supporting data. Hula hula pa more...🤥🤥🤥

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    7. Look at the sales reports published by CAMPI..Pahiya ka lang dahil umaasa kang makakabenta nang 10,000 up to 20,000 units a year ang Raize which didn't happen dahil pahirapan ang pagkuha ng E at Turbo units na paunti-unti ang dating na stocks..Asa at assume pa more!

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    8. O hula again from bolang kristal??? Here's Your award kotchi pinocchio- 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥

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    9. Bakit ako mapahiya e dinaman ako nag predict sales ng raize, ayan nahilo na u kc your mouth is faster than your brain can process. Eversince Ikaw langnaman kotchi pinocchio ang mahilig mag predict and magbigay ng figures without basis/supporting data

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    10. Palusot ka pa eto yung post mo na "With its affordable 4 variants, it razed to the ground the sales of mirage/g4, stonic, tigo 2, MG suv, celerio, brio and even the sales of vios" claiming Raize is the best selling vehicle in the market..🤣
      TMPC is heavily marketing the Raize for months but they only import and sell one variant of it which is the 1.2 G.

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    11. Nagbigay ba ako sales figure 10k-20k? And cant you process in your brain a play word "razed to the ground? Buti nlang di u tumawag bombero🗣🗣🗣

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  2. Does it Raize up to the standard? Is it the better choice when comparing it with the products of the Chinese automakers?

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    1. People prefer spending extra money on bigger and more powerful Chinese small SUVs like the Coolray,Territory,Tiggo 2 Pro and Stonic over buying an underpowered Raize G which Keane/Aga likes very much (he believes its the best selling vehicle in the Philippines)..Raize G is only good at driving in the city.

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    2. Still sounds like there's no replacement for displacement when it comes to power delivery and driving fun. Smaller and turbo engines have their compromises.

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    3. Unit allocation and sales of Raize Turbo in the Philippine market is very low as TMPC mostly import and sell Raize 1.2 G units in the local market..Raize Turbo drives like a 1.5 liter or 1.6 liter powered car and its not meant to perform like a 1.8 liter car..Keane/Aga overhyped this car and claimed it'll kill the sales of the Vios and Avanza which didn't happen as people prefer larger and more powerful vehicles on that price range.

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  3. Lots of Raize G still available at Toyota car dealerships and its not selling well as expected as people prefer buying bigger vehicles like the Vios and Avanza G..

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    1. O kotchi99...too much talking makes your brain overloaded and malfunctioning🤐🤐🤐. Few cars has have favorable review from sir uly, raize has one of the honor.💥💥💥

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    2. Just accept the fact that your favorite Raize didn't sell well in the local market..You believed it'll exceed the sales of the Vios and Innova which didn't happen as local car buyers aren't interested with an underpowered small SUV (1.2 liter engine with 88 HP only) with interior materials similar to a 2000's car like the Raize.
      Only the G CVT is the one that Raize buyers can easily get at Toyota dealerships.

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  4. Sir Uly I need your help! Kuchi 888 is spreading fake news that CAMPI data he analyzed is very different from the official sales tally, he said also the raize had only 300 to 400 units per month which is false and not true.

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    1. Officially, CAMPI has not released data regarding the sales of the Raize. Whether it's classified as a Passenger Car (Vios, etc) or Light Commercial Vehicle (Rush, Fortuner), it's lumped together with those vehicles.

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    2. Maybe Kotchi pinocchio saw the figures in his bolang kristal. He's always like that, giving figures with out basis/supporting data.

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  5. This pseudo-intellectual Kuchi88 pretending to know everything about the car industry without even backing up his data, is getting annoying really.

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  6. Daihatsu is the second largest vehicle in the PH seller after Toyota. But it is hiding under the solid badge of Toyota.

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