Maruti Brezza: Long Term Fleet Introduction

Another Maruti joins the CarDekho garage and this time it's the one that everyone is looking forward to taking home 

The Brezza has recently received a generation update and now stands with the more premium sub-compact SUVs. Be it in terms of space, features or the price experience, it now offers a more premium experience. We will now spend the next six months with it to understand how these changes affect the owner's experience. The variant we have is the Brezza Zxi Plus automatic and dual-tone which retails for Rs 13.96 lakh, ex-showroom. As of now, we have driven it for 700 kms and here are the first impressions. 

It's a big SUV

The Brezza is one of the larger SUVs in the segment. And this reflects both on the outside and on the inside. With its boxy styling and sleek lights, the overall design looks big and old-school. This helps it look bigger than some of the curvier SUVs in the segment. 

Even inside, the cabin width is impressive. From the driver’s seat, the other end of the dashboard looks far away, which helps with the sense of space. In fact, this width is on par with some SUVs from a segment above. This big cabin experience helps the owner feel like driving a larger SUV than a sub-four metre one. 

Comfortable over broken roads

The Brezza is more than just a high ground clearance hatchback. With a fairly long travel suspension, it feels at home over the larger bumps and broken patches of roads. It not only manages to cushion the occupants over speed breakers, but also remains composed while going over potholes at city speeds. And the best part, there is a certain solidity to the SUV when it hits a bump hard, reassuring you of its build.  

Cabin experience could have been better

While the Brezza does a lot of things right, the cabin experience is certainly on that list. Maruti’s choice of dull brown for the dashboard and black-and brown for the upholstery makes it feel aged even when brand new. The plastic quality of the dashboard also leaves a bit to be desired and together, these two elements make the cabin experience a mundane one. 

Infotainment Bugs

The new 9-inch infotainment systems seen in all new Marutis get brilliant displays and are lag-free to use, but are not without its issues. Often while driving, especially while using Android Auto, the system tends to freeze and block phone calls which is certainly not acceptable. While the fix of these bugs look just a software update away, we certainly hope that it happens sooner than later. 

Auto engine start/stop

The mild-hybrid 1.5-litre engine of the Brezza comes with auto engine start/stop. This should activate when the car comes to a complete stop and again switch on the engine once the brake is released. In theory, this experience should be seamless. However, the Brezza kills the engine before it comes to a complete stop, even when you are rolling in traffic. And the start of the engine takes a fraction more than expected, which feels forced and intrusive in the drive experience. Because of this, we ended up switching it off most of the time. 

In the first experience, the Brezza looks like an impressive small family SUV with a few niggles. We eagerly wait to get to know it better, see how it ages and what efficiency it delivers in our 6 months with the car. PS: I am not a fan of the color, and would have much preferred it in White or in Red. But because of its toughness and the boring brown interiors - I am calling it Cubone - the tough yet adorably depressed Pokémon. IYKYK. 

• Positives: Built Quality, Ride Comfort, Space
• Negatives: Infotainment bugs, cabin experience
• Date when received: 5 Sept 2022
• Kilometre when received: 1500km
• Kilometre till date: 2200km