[GTO]

Those who were absolutely sold on hybrid tech should also consider the City Hybrid. It is overall a superior hybrid implementation & driving experience, with better product quality too. Just wish that Honda fixes the price by offering a non-ADAS variant.

[nomad47]

I booked a Grand Vitara Zeta couple of days after unveiling. After waiting an eternity for price reveal, I was 90% convinced to cancel the booking. I held on a thin slimmer of hope that the Strong Hybrid will be price competitively. After reading the Hyryder review I was convinced not to go for any of the options. The pricing did not help either. Cancelling was just a formality, as I had already made up my mind on Seltos and have booked it early this month. Cancelled the Grand Vitara booking within an hour of price reveal.

[superbad]

Originally Posted by baarish84

Strong Hybrid tech will recover 2L extra by fuel savings.

Even if you save Rs 4 per km on fuel (highly optimistic figure), for an annual running of 12k km, you'll save 48k Rs per year, which means it'll take you 4 years to just to recover the cost difference vs mild hybrid.

[Small Bot]

I had mentioned on another thread earlier that if 'Mayota' don't price their strong hybrid twins right, it's going to make the City eHEV look all the more appealing for a buyer focused on hybrids. And i think i have been proven right. I feel that for a small increase in EMIs, Honda offers a much better hybrid car.
What I feel is that buyers might opt for the UCH/GV strong hybrids only because of:
1. The benefits of owning a higher GC vehicle (as compared to City eHEV)
2. Toyota's reliability in hybrid engines
3. Some perception of environmental consciousness
4. Concerns about Honda's long-term survival in India
That said, if I were to only buy a Hybrid and budget was not a concern, I'd buy the City eHEV and just upgrade the tyres for GC.

[smilingakash]

Originally Posted by GTO

Those who were absolutely sold on hybrid tech should also consider the City Hybrid. It is overall a superior hybrid implementation & driving experience, with better product quality too. Just wish that Honda fixes the price by offering a non-ADAS variant.

Good point. However, I am told that for a sedan usable bootspace cannot be improved on unlike a SUV (Removing parcel tray and false tray in case of GV/Hyrder hybrids)

I do understand the conjecture about hybrids but SUV vs Sedan can be a different debate altogether.

[narayans80]

I did not have a booking for Grand Vitara/Hyryder. But would have been a potential Hycross customer. However looking at the prices, I expect Hycross prices to be close to 35L or more.

Even as a high-miler, I am not able to financially justify a strong hybrid over a BS6 diesel. Apart from the monetary aspect, all 3 candidates lose out on boot space.

For such a narrow band use case, a full fledged EV is looking as more attractive proposition over the strong hybrid candidates available.

[AdhikR]

I think hybrids are just perfect for our highly inefficient stop-start city driving conditions.

That said, I'm not really sold on the new mass market hybrids like the Honda City HEV and Toyota/Maruti SUVs for two reasons - 1) Boot space is just too compromised to make them practical highway cars. 2) Pricing difference is too high (Rs. 3-4 L) although this is probably due to high taxes.

[wocanak]

Originally Posted by narayans80

...

Even as a high-miler, I am not able to financially justify a strong hybrid over a BS6 diesel. Apart from the monetary aspect, all 3 candidates lose out on boot space.

For such a narrow band use case, a full fledged EV is looking as more attractive proposition over the strong hybrid candidates available.

Despite being around for a long time hybrid's have not taken off, they are not justifiable financially or environmentally and they lose the simplicity/low maintenance advantage of EVs.

As of now it is looking like:
High usage: for cities EV is the winner and highways efficient Diesel (at least until charging infra builds up)
Medium/low usage: Petrol ICE

Seems to me companies lagging in EVs are pushing what they have.

[N4Nikunj]

I never liked the on-paper specifications on Toyota Hyryder/ Maruti Grand Vitara.

Still considering the fuel efficiency figures that both the manufacturers claimed were too good. I have to admit I quite liked the cars too.

But the Pricing put me off.

In simple terms as a layman Maruti consumer who don't understand the technical aspects of cars but only understands price and mileage per liter, The mileage requirement is satisfied but the pricing requirement is not.

The basic model Zeta/Zeta+ Hybrid which will have good mileage is good 20L+ on road.

[pannags]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

Enough has been talked, and now is the time to bite the bullet. Talk about your decision (or opinion): buy or not buy? If buying the strong hybrid, then which product / variant, if not buying the strong hybrid, then what’s your preference? What are your main decision drivers?

Have booked the Grand Vitara mild hybrid Zeta and the Hyryder eDrive G. I'm not super excited about the tech or the implementation, but looking at a competent replacement for my S-Cross, albeit with AT.

The reason I'm inclined towards the strong hybrid is primarily better driveability that the strong hybrid offers vis-a-vis the mild. While I'm totally fine with how the VW/Skoda cSUV twins drive, I believe they are a tad bit overpriced for the configurations on offer.

Now, while mileage is not my biggest consideration, if a better driving experience comes with more miles to much, I'm not going to complain.

Lastly, while hybrids aren't common at this price point and category, I believe Toyota has it sorted. Will drive both and try a mock luggage loading exercise before I cut the two and a quarter million cheque.

[destinykid]

Originally Posted by GTO

Those who were absolutely sold on hybrid tech should also consider the City Hybrid. It is overall a superior hybrid implementation & driving experience, with better product quality too. Just wish that Honda fixes the price by offering a non-ADAS variant.

I totally agree with you. They have a pretty refined strong hybrid. However, I wish Honda launched the same engine in SUV avtar like HRV, things would have been more interesting in this segment. WRV was NEVER an suv to begin with and Honda completely lacks any vehicle whatsoever in this segment, when the market was explicitly asking for them. As you said elsewhere, Honda is still sleeping on the laurels of their "YO-Vtech".

[yashg]

I don't care for hybrid tech. My running is less than 10K KMs a year. I am in the market for a feature loaded SUV and Hyryder ticks all the boxes feature wise. I will take a call after seeing the car for real and taking a test drive. If they offered the mild-hybrid with all top spec features as strong hybrid, I would have preferred that simply because of larger boot space.

[07CR]

I am not buying a car now, but had bought one in Feb. I voted for dropped my plan of hybrid in favor of other vehicle.

I would rather get a Seltos/ Creta Diesel ATs than these strong hybrids.

What I gain-

1. Excellent FE on highways, running costs should be lower than hybrids on highways at triple digit speeds.
2. Way better performance.
3. Much better boot space.
4. Better interior appointment.
5. Better space for 5.
6. Slightly lesser purchase price than hybrids.
7. A little more equipment than the hybrids.

What I lose-

1. City FE. The undisputed USP of Hybrids.
2. Lower Maintenance costs. This is a little dicey, but historically, Toyota and MS vehicles have been cheaper to maintain. That said, it's not like Hyundai/Kia are in the league of VW/Skoda/Tata in terms of ASS.

I have not added anything about the safety, as both the GV and Hyryder are yet to be tested. If they achieve a 5 star NCAP rating, this might be more of a even fight, until then, the GV and Hyryder are losing the plot vs the Korean twins.

[nax04]

I have a doubt regarding the battery pack of strong hybrids.
Since the charge and discharge cycle is higher compared to regular EVs,

- What will be life of the battery pack?
- Since start/stop cycles of the ICE will be higher, will it not affect the life span when compared to mild hybrid / regular vehicles?

Just asking as I am planning to change my car next year.

[kovilkalai]

I am sold on strong hybrids/PHEVs. However, they need to have some practicality. I had discarded the Toyota/Maruti twins because of poor rear seat room and even poorer boot space. This is what bothers me about the City Hybrid (and the price, of course)