2025 Toyota Raize: The compact SUV segment for 2025 is cutthroat and the boffins at Toyota have thrown up a renewed fight with the facelifted Toyota Raize. Placed as a fashionable, tech-filled and value-for-money urban SUV, the new Raize offers an ideal balance of practicality and style for everyday urban commuting and weekend adventures.
Initially designed for emerging markets, the Raize remains popular with young professionals, small families and first time SUV buyers who want something fun, fuel-efficient and small enough to handle urban streets.
But the 2025 model, however, offers few true improvements, and those mainly cosmetic. Let’s take a closer look.
2025 Toyota Raize Design and Outside Appearance: Small but Benevolent
The 2025 Raize retains its bold, upright stance, though gets a few tweaks but faces the front to present a more commanding presence on the road.
It retains the muscular front grille, sharp LED headlamps and floating roof design, but comes packed in new dual-tone colour options such as Electric Lime with Black Roof and Cherry Red with Grey Accents.
Even though it’s so small, the Raize has the look of a real SUV, with big, 17-inch alloy wheels, chunky wheel arches and a high stance on its legs.
However, ground clearance is still a generous 200mm, so for a city runabout, it is quite happy to get you over those bad bits of road or steep approaches to drive ways.
Inside and In the Comfort: More Spacious Than It Looks
Enter the 2025 Raize, and you’ll find stepped-up materials quality and a more contemporary design. The dashboard is adorned with a bigger 9-inch floating infotainment screen, slim AC vents and a hint of chrome to make it look more premium.
The touchscreen is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the cabin is given a tech-forward look with 7-inch digital instrument panel.
Thanks to its intelligent packaging, there’s loads of room for front and rear passengers. You also get arc of headroom and decent legroom for a vehicle in this class. 369 liters of boot space provides enough room for shopping, prams or weekend bags, while split-folding rear seats provide extra flexibility.
Performance and Powertrain: Easy on the gas pedal
The Raize 2025 from Toyota comes in two engine options:
A 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine (around 88bhp)
A 1.0 litre turbo petrol (around 98 hp)
Both are paired with either a 5-speed manual or a CVT. If you have a turbo model, the extra pep on tap is your friend and is the preference for long highway spans and hurried drivers.
The conventionally aspirated engine, on the other hand, is eminently fine for commuting and ambling around town.
When it comes to fuel consumption, the Raize is excellent. Nevertheless, the turbo, and even that 1.2L, can still deliver some 18 km/l in mixed driving — not bad on that front either, placing it among the more fuel-efficient offerings in the class.
Ride and Handling: Comfortable for Urban Living
The Raize is based on the Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA) platform, which realizes high-quality driving performance and a light and rigid body structure. The ride quality felt pliant over potholes and speed breakers and was still planted at highway speeds.
Steering is light — perfect for darting through city traffic — and there’s a tight turning radius for parking or threading through narrow streets.
Although not made for off-roading, it does quite well on dirt roads and gravel due to the ground clearance and suspension tuning.
Safety and Features: Well-Equipped for Its Class The Seltos has a complement of standard safety features, but it’s possible to equip it with advanced driver assist technologies and in-car technology befitting a smartphone on wheels.
The 2025 Raize gets basic safety features such as dual airbags, ABS with EBD, hill start assist, rear parking sensors and a rear camera as standard.
The higher variants bring further features such as six airbags, traction control, cruise control, and even ADAS features such as lane departure alert and auto emergency braking – rare at these prices.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
SUV-lite looks but with small-footed small-car agility
High fuel efficiency
Spacious cabin and boot
Infotainment and digital cluster are loaded with features
Nice ride for city and highway
Top variants get solid safety equipment with strong safety posture
Cons:
No diesel or hybrid option
Turbo version is a bit more expensive
CVT is not tuned for sporty drive
Some cheap plastics in the cabin
Nutshell: No adjustable headrests in back row
2025 Toyota Raize Final Verdict
For any one seeking a stylish, practical and fuel-efficient compact SUV, the 2025 Toyota Raize fits the bill.
Thanks to the right combination of features, reasonable performance and Toyota’s brand reliability, it shines among a crowded field.
If you’re in the market for a small SUV that looks, feels and drives like a big one, without emptying your wallet, the Raize is definitely worth a look.