2022 Perodua Aruz

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Review

Not quite a full market segment, but not quite a niche – we’re talking about entry-level seven seater cars, and the Perodua Aruz is one of the prime options you could pick from. Historically, the Aruz is the successor to the Perodua Nautica and Perodua Kembara – the former being twin sister to the Toyota Rush. Realistically, however, both the Aruz and the Rush are a long ways away from their predecessors.

The Perodua Aruz is part SUV, part MPV – and designed and built with functionality in mind. What’s interesting is that it’s rear-wheel driven, an currently the only one in the Perodua range since the Nautica, Kembara, and Rusa were phased out. There are no all-wheel drive options for the time being.

In a more difficult sense, the Perodua Aruz, Perodua Alza, and Perodua Ativa all have overlap in different areas and are all around roughly the same price point. One could argue that the Aruz is for those who need the carrying capacity of an Alza, but the mild ruggedness of an Ativa – and in that sense, the Aruz fills this role incredibly well.

If you’re in the position where you need to carry seven people regularly – or five people and a lot of cargo – the Aruz is the perfect place to start looking. Balik kampung trips, family reunions, or picking up relatives from the airport – the Aruz can probably handle whatever you want to throw at it, in a comfortable enough fashion.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Specifications

You can have your Perodua Aruz with any engine you want, as long as it’s a 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated petrol unit. The engine in question is the same mill found in the 1.5-litre variants of the Perodua Myvi, and makes 100 hp and 133 Nm of torque. The gearbox is also a four-speed automatic, though completely different in design to the one in the Myvi as this one sends power to the rear wheels. Both variants of the Aruz get the eco-idle system for improved fuel efficiency.

At just over 1,300 kilograms, the Perodua Aruz is not the lightest car on the market – though when you remember that it carries up to seven occupants, this number doesn’t seem all too bad. The wheelbase is a decent 2,685 mm, with an overall length of 4,435 mm and width of 1,695 mm. Ground clearance for both variants is a staunch 220 mm, which is about the height of the water on your garden-variety flooded road in urban areas.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Exterior

If you were to imagine your generic MPV form, but lifted a few inches off the ground, you would land pretty close to the Perodua Aruz. Form follows function with the Aruz, as it manages to look both rugged enough to head off the beaten path, and appropriate enough for a school car park. No matter where you decide to take it, it wouldn’t look particularly out of place.

Bot variants of the Aruz get 17-inch wheels wrapped in 215/60 R17 tyres. That’s where the aesthetics diverge, as the 1.5 AV gets a silver painted diffuser over an unpainted unit, front fog lamps over plastic covers, automatic headlamps, and a roof rail. There are five options for the Aruz in terms of colour: Electric Blue, Passion Red Metallic, Glittering Silver Metallic, Granite Grey, and Ivory White. At launch, there was an Amazon Green option but that was phased out with an update in 2021-2022. The update also brought integrated side steps and an auto-lock function for the doors.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Interior

As far as interiors go, the Perodua Aruz doesn’t exactly break new ground or set new standards – but it does have its creature comforts. The instrument cluster is a decent, easy to read setup with white illumination. There are minor differences across the variants, with leather or urethane shift bezels, and leather or fabric seat materials. The second row of seats is one-touch folding and slidable to adjust legroom between second and third row passengers.

The third row of seats can also be dropped separately, allowing you to provide a little bit more room if you need the storage space and only need six seats in your car. We wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Aruz offers a wide range of seating configurations, but it offers enough to let you pick and choose how you vary between cargo and occupancy.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Safety Features

Common and basic safety features for the Perodua Aruz are items like ABS with EBD and Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control, Emergency Stop Signal, Hill Start Assist, and your regulation ISOFIX tether system for baby seats. Where the 1.5 AV sets itself apart is with the Advanced Safety Assist 2.0 system – the first among Perodua models to offer it – which includes things like pre-collision braking, forward collision warning, and other active safety items.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Strengths and Weaknesses

At its core, the Perodua Aruz is a utilitarian car – and while it may not have the most intricate interior design or layout, it certainly manages to provide for its target market. The materials are hard wearing and likely to stand up to the abuse a car faces when seating children and many family members, and the simplicity of the powertrain also helps to provide a level of robustness and reliability for the long haul.

That being said, the Perodua Aruz suffers from the same issues that most cars in this class face – an engine that’s just a little too small to provide reasonable performance when fully loaded with occupants and cargo. It’s a necessity to keep the pricing competitive and is a part of Perodua’s engine line-up, but a 1.5-litre engine can be a bit of a drag at times.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Price

There are but two variants of the Perodua Aruz to choose from – the entry level 1.5 X goes for RM 68,526, while the top-spec 1.5 AV goes for RM 73,226. As is the case with most Perodua products nowadays, the 1.5 AV is the one to go for if you value active safety systems, and the relatively small price difference can be easy to spread over the course of a multi-year loan, in addition to increased resale value.  

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Features

With only two variants on offer, the Perodua Aruz is fairly flat in its specifications across the range. As expected, the 1.5 AV variant is differentiated by its active safety systems, but that’s not to say that the 1.5 X loses out in terms of functionality. Both variants get keyless entry and start, a built-in toll reader for your Touch n Go card, a six-speaker sound system setup, two USB ports, two 12-volt power sockets, and front and rear air-conditioning controls. The only real distinction beyond this is the head unit being slightly better in the 1.5 AV, though both variants get touch-screen units.

Perodua Aruz 2021-2022 Fuel Consumption

The manufacturer claimed fuel consumption for the Perodua Aruz is 15.6 kilometres per litre, which is great when you consider that it has both rear-wheel drive losses and is a fairly heavy vehicle. The Eco Idle system – or auto start stop – has a role to play in helping to achieve this number.