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-   -   Maruti S-Cross : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/166376-maruti-s-cross-official-review-603.html)

Impressions about the car

Great Things

1. 1.6 DDiS Engine - Gem of an engine [Thank you Fiat !!!]

I do not want to repeat what everyone knows. This is a great engine. It pulls like a train, Revs to 4500 rpm clean without any hesitation and torque is addictive. The best diesel engine on the south side of twenty lakhs - Hyundai 1.6 may be smoother but this is a different animal and enormously more fun to drive

2. Brakes: Excellent brakes- stops the car from triple digit speed without any drama. All four disc brakes guys !!!

Good Things

1. Spacious car. Generous greenhouse effect due to large windshield and windows
2. Solid build quality [ compared to other Japanese/Korean rivals]
3. Ride and handling is very good - I never expected a cross over to handle this well
4. Instrument cluster looks cool
5. Nice leather seats [ even though a tad on the firmer side]
6. boot space is adequate and well shaped
7. Headlamps are awesome [mine is the upgraded one. do not know about the stock set up]
8. good fuel efficiency - I get 20-22 kmpl with light foot and 16-17 with heavy foot
9. high speed stability is rock solid

Not So great things

1. Audio quality is poor and head unit is ordinary
2. No rear AC vents in big car with generous glass area [ even though A/C is very good]
3. No cooled glove box
4. Auto UP function for driver side window only
5. Plastic quality of dashboard/door trims- average quality [typical of maruti]
6. Turbo lag below 1800 rpm

Bad things

1.Stock fog lamps are useless
2.Boot lamp is not automatic - we have to turn it on and off every time
3. Just two airbags in a 15 lakh car - come on Maruti !!!
4. Noisy engine - only volkswagen TDI worse in NVH compared to this
5. rear parcel tray is of bad quality - felt very flimsy and not locking in place [ may be one off case with my car]

Some more pictures of the interior and engine bay

Story so far:

I have covered 10000 kilometres in last 3 months. 40000 kilometre service is pending due to Covid-19 down [otherwise car would have been added 2000-3000 kilometre more]

1. Tyre upgrade: Michelin Primacy 205/60/R16

Upgrade tyres to Michelin soon after I got the car- 7500 rupees/per tyre

Feedback : excellent [silent/grippy tyres]




2. Removed thule roof rack:

I did not like the Taxi-esque look with roof rack; So removed it by DIY

funny trivia: I asked the maruti workshop guys to remove it before delivering the vehicle. The technician called me and said " Sir we tried to remove it but it seems that there is a special tool required to remove this kind of roof rack which we do not have. So it is not possible to remove it. Please contact the company to get the tool to remove the roof rack"

At home I removed it with a simple screwdriver in 10 minutes lol:

3. Removed all chrome strips except two small chrome strips on rear bumper - difficult to remove it without damaging paint.

4. Thrown away the stupid Parcel tray - It was of not good quality and i like it without parcel tray

5. Team bhp sticker -Live to drive



somehow messed it up big time- A lot of bubbles and it is sloping down to one side - poor technique of applying the sticker is the culprit

some more exterior pictures

Comparison with my Elite i20 CRDi

Hyundai scores over Maruti in:

1. Elite i20 feels more plush and upmarket.
2. NVH level especially engine noise is significantly subdued in Hyundai.
3. Interior quality/ fit and finish better in i20.
4. Seats are more comfortable in i20.
5. AVN head unit and sound quality from speakers is way better in Hyundai.
6. 6 airbags in i20 Vs 2 in S-Cross.
7. Reverse camera quality is way better and sensors are more accurate.
8. Negligible turbo lag - power delivery is linear compared to S-Cross.

S-Cross beats the i20 in:

1. Engine - no comparison--1.6 is the king:
2. Bigger car.
3. better brakes.
4. Significantly better ride and handling.
4. Somehow I am getting better fuel efficiency with 1.6 DDiS compared to 1.4 diesel mill in Hyundai.
5. Cruise control available in S-Cross.
6. Steering feedback much better [i20 steering is super light].

Future plans:

I was thinking about getting a remap for my horse. But after driving it for last 3 months made me realize that it has got enough [and more] power for my kind of usage. So remap is not a priority now but may be in future when I get that itch to do something lol:.

I want to drive this car for thousands of kilometers and enjoy this beautiful engine. That is my only wish as of now. I am waiting for the COVID-19 lockdown to end so that I can take her to the great Western Ghats and enjoy that 320 NM torque pizza :D.

I know that my humble beast is not an exotic car or even an enthusiast favourite car like a Skoda VRS. But the smile this simple car puts on my face during an ordinary mundane daily commute itself is very rewarding. I have always been a driving addict [Live to Drive in real life] and this car made me look forward to that next drive. May be in twenty years time when diesel engines will be history [like steam engines] and car world goes completely electric, I wish I will cherish the memory of driving my little horse with this beautiful engine during the last era of internal combustion diesel engines.

Stay Safe and keep revving



Note from Support: Please run a spell-check before posting. Grammarly, or similar. Thanks!

Congratulations. clap:

The 1.6 is what made the S-Cross stand out. My brother has the facelifted 1.3 and it's a very well balanced car. But there is no comparison with 1.6. Wishing you more miles ahead.

Congratulations on the lovely aquisition DrANTO. That SCross 1.6 sure is a unicorn on our roads and a superb car to be in. Wishing you many enjoyable and safe miles with it!
Whoops! Doesn't bode well with the legendary and much praised Maruti service image does it? :D
Amen to that! Stay safe & take care of your loved ones.

Not sure actually what you meant.

The boot lamp has an on/off switch on it. If you keep the switch always on, the lamp works in automatic mode.

ie, the moment any door is opened (including the boot door) lamp gets on. If all the doors are closed, the light goes off after the normal 15 seconds lag.

Thanks for the information. My understanding was that I have to switch it on every time manually ( otherwise it will not go off automatically)

My elite i20’s boot lamp has no switch. It comes on whenever we open boot and goes off the moment we shut the boot. This is what I meant by “automatic”

Once again thanks for the tip:thumbs up

Congratulations DrAnto on your latest acquisition. I had read your Gypsy ownership before and your detailed writing skills are excellent.

After reading so much on 1.6 Scross's potential, even I toy an idea of getting a low run 1.6 (which is very rare) as a replacement of my 1.3 whose warranty is about to expire in 9k kms.

One curious question, have you considered upsizing the tires while replacing as 1.6 have much more power than 1.3?

Congratulations DrAnto :D. I also had recently acquired one pre-worshipped S-cross 1.6 Alpha from True Value Kadavanthara, registered in 2017 Feb (company regn), had run 32XXXkm and also boasted KL-7 CJ registration. Well, talk about similarities!! lol:

Ha halol:

Only different between our cars is the colour of the vehicle. Frankly speaking white is the least preferred colour for me. I love the grey and brown shade in S Cross. Wonderful to know that you have a S Cross 1.3 also in your family

If you are member of any S Cross 1.6 what’s app group please add me also (9446908362)

Let us catch up one day so that our pre-worshipped disjointed twins can meet (like old Hindi films where brothers meet after a few decades of separation :D).

Thank you for the compliment.

You may get a low mileage S Cross if you are lucky. I came across a 27000 km mileage S Cross during my search but the car was not Alpha variant. So didn’t proceed further.

Frankly speaking I haven’t thought about upgrading tyres. But will definitely look for options during next tyre change.

Great buy Anto. Your post cleared the dilemma in my head about my work to home distance of 10kms. I travel twice a day making it 40 kms in total and 100 minutes. While i absolutely love the drive, I was not sure if i was wasting time by taking a home 10kms from work. Your post makes it all clear.

Congratulations Doc!

Its a good deal you got there. I purchased mine pre-worshipped way back in 2017 with just 10,000km on the odo.

I felt the same way. But the remap truly transforms it to another lever all together. I would strongly suggest getting the Wolf remap as soon as the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted :D

Your S Cross review is fantastic. I had gone through yours and Dr Naren’s reviews multiple times before buying my car.


Yes. I have made up my mind. Wolf Moto remap is the first thing to do after COVID-19 lock down ends. Thanks for the encouragement :thumbs up:

Hi guys,
I am looking at S-cross as one of the short lists for my next purchase. I am really inclined to buy a 1.6, reassured that Maruti is there to see me through for years to come. However i may go with 1.3 in all probability. Two questions:

Are there any rules for Diesel cars that dictate how long you can use the car. For example the registration won’t be renewed after 10 years? It’s important because i am looking at a pre-worshipped car.

How hard is 1.3’s clutch relative to 1.6 and in absolute terms. Will you say its soft (like Linea for example)?

1.3s clutch is pretty soft for a diesel. Not as soft as a Honda petrol clutch, but not bothering either. However 1.6s clutch is heavier and will be cumbersome for city driving. Go for used 1.6 rather than 1.3. Do keep in mind that power train related parts will warrant a wait period since it is fully imported.