[SnS_12]

Great review guys as always

BTW, I spotted the car in flesh at Oberoi mall in Goregaon (Mumbai). I had seen the Auotcar review and they did mention that the car is not that good to look at, but my first impressions after looking at the car were totally different, I was just blown away on the looks. Also, my wife, without even stepping in the car decided that this would be our next car Saw it in the same blue shade and it looked brilliant.

Further, i had read the whole Team-Bhp review before reaching Oberoi so I knew exactly to what to look for while checking the car for my preference.
As I haven't driven the car yet my opinions are strictly restricted to the looks and features of the car. The first thing i noticed was that the bonnet release lever was dangling in the air. Second the leather seat covers seemed to have lost their shine and looked very pale. Finally, as pointed out here in the review the rear headrests design is a total no brainier and a pain to use. Had the similar issue when I sat in a friend's Ertiga. Apart form these, the car is really spacious and with good amount of boot space.

Now, looking forward to test drive the 1.6 motor.

[pramodpk]

The S Cross was displayed at Park Square mall ITPL yesterday. Had a quick look. For me, the boot space was the biggest disappointment. The big spare wheel does not fit the place meant for spare wheel and that is the reason why the space is less. I am not able to understand the USP of this vehicle or its advantages over the Ecosport if priced much higher.

[Delta Wing]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

No offence to you but there is Nothing confusing or alarming for the NEXA concept except that the showrooms will be opened only in major cities. The 35 dealerships is the current figure. Wait for a while as they'll open 100 more.

No offense taken.
I am not confused about the NEXA concept, but wondering about its impact on pricing of the car.

Not a problem again as the nearest regular Maruti Suzuki dealership will take the booking on NEXA's behalf, allot you am RM. Pass on your contacts, documents etc to that RM where he'll take over and get you the car delivered the NEXA way. You'll be driven to the nearest NEXA to check the car and TD it and go ahead with the booking experience. Since buying is a single time process this shouldn't be an issue. Servicing will be at regular MASS but that servicing will be going through your RM and not the regular SA who does his duty at MASS.

That must happen to integrate the car in the Maruti ecosystem. The only gap is that to address the demand from far flung buyers, there is an additional logistics cost related to the NEXA experience and will add to pricing strategy.

This may be long term thinking for Maruti and wisely so. BMW has announced make in India and will drop prices for locally made cars. The trend will only build up in lower segments in the future. What if Mercedes builds their hatchback in India? Maruti must be preparing for such sweeping changes and also needs to break the glass ceiling of premium cars.

Let them try their hands first and see if it burns them or applauds them. Why should be get negative even before things kick - start.

Yes, I would love to see this car succeed! After owning two Maruti cars and seeing many friends owning other brands, I am very happy with the Maruti ownership experience; no doubt that they will only better it with NEXA. That said, I do hope they pull off the pricing.

Originally Posted by vibbs

I believe S Cross is certainly more car than Ecosport. For how much money we will come to know soon.

I am sure the car is good, though I am yet to see it in flesh. Will take a look ASAP if it's in Inorbit mall.

The car is simply one size bigger. No questions about that.

Is it really a size bigger? The review pics show them at par in terms of size, and the width seems to be the same. I don't want to start comparison wars here. Every car has its plus points. I have driven the Ecosport extensively and it's a fine car. Mostly though, I am intrigued by this review commending the S-Cross on its road manners.

I would have liked a good petrol engine option with the car too.

[PrideRed]

Outer ring road Nexa showroom is getting ready for open. They have a brown color SCross on display. The car looks more like V40 Cross country,the car doesnot have the butch presence of SUV, looks quite sophisticated though.
While the car sounds stunning with that 320NM torque and host of features, I am not convinced that S Cross will fetch the numbers for Maruti Suzuki.

[nkghai]

Originally Posted by Delta Wing

No offense taken.

Is it really a size bigger?

S Cross is 300 mm longer than the Ecosport and even wheel base is longer by 80 mm. Both however have similar width figures.
Having said that, the cabin room and leg space in S Cross is far greater than EcoSport which feels cramped particularly in the rear. The Cross does feel much more roomier than the Sport>

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Delta Wing

Is it really a size bigger? The review pics show them at par in terms of size, and the width seems to be the same. I don't want to start comparison wars here. Every car has its plus points. I have driven the Ecosport extensively and it's a fine car. Mostly though, I am intrigued by this review commending the S-Cross on its road manners.

Oh yes it is! Pls do check out in person. Both at the front and at the rear. Leg room and shoulder room (probably head room too). It trumps Ecosport easily. You cannot compare a sub 4 Meter car with a 4.3 Meter car on space can you? Unless ofcourse the sub 4 meter car is a certain Jazz.

Of course I agree to your point that every car has its plus and minus points and to get a true picture of where S Cross stands, it is important to know the prices too. No doubt about Ecosport too that it is a wonderful car.

[nkghai]

Originally Posted by vibbs

shoulder room (probably head room too). It trumps Ecosport easily.

Do agree that that S Cross is way more roomier, but the head room i felt is a tad lesser than Ecosport.

[hemanth.anand]

Very nice review as usual. Detailed write-up with nice pictures to complement.
However, is there any reason why couple of points that every other TBHP review has, is missing in this review?:
1. The table of comparison with the competitor vehicles' dimensions, variants and prices.
The prices of the S-cross are not announced I know, but other details could have been there IMO
I'm talking about this one(Taken from the Jazz review for example)


2. The last post of "Chief Competitors of the vehicle" with their "What you'll like" and "What you won't" points.

Coming to the Vehicle, seems like Maruti Suzuki has finally got a good answer to the million-rupee question.

However, although its 'premium' in most of the places, some features should have been there by default like:
1. All 4 illuminated power window switches with auto up and auto down.
2. A different steering wheel design please. A steering wheel is the first thing that connects the driver to the car. More than the NEXA dealership, this is important IMO.
And no thumb contours! I don't like to hold any steering wheel without these contours after having used it in my Punto.

[sandygordon]

Originally Posted by nkghai

Do agree that that S Cross is way more roomier, but the head room i felt is a tad lesser than Ecosport.

S Cross is bigger, It feels more roomier at the front and the back. Most of the displays of the S cross are in huge malls. This makes us feel that the S cross is a size smaller than other vehicles. You have to see it at a yard or garage to appreciate and compare its size.

The Ecosport gives you that tapering feeling infront, with the A pillar coming infront of you more than you like, which is not there in the S cross. S cross does not give you a commanding view of the road, that you would enjoy in a Duster, Ecosport or the Creta. Ecosport has more head room. Those above 6 feet 2 inches could find their hairs brushing the roof in the s cross, because of the sinking roof line.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

The Maruti S-Cross will be launched in August 2015.

What you’ll like:

• Solid build & good quality, inside out
• Powerful 1.6L diesel with 320 Nm of torque. Superb mid-range and top-end performance
• Mature ride & handling package. High speed behaviour is exceptional
• Practical interiors, spacious cabin and supportive seats
• Maruti's excellent after-sales support network
• All variants get 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS & dual airbags (except base trim with one airbag)
• Feature loaded: Bi-xenon headlamps, leather seats, cruise control, 7" touchscreen ICE etc.

What you won’t:

• Unappealing styling. Looks like a big hatchback (not a crossover / SUV)
• 1.6L diesel suffers turbo-lag until 1,750 rpm
• No petrol engine, no automatic transmission, no AWD
• 353 liter boot - though well shaped - is small for a car of this size & positioning
• Sold only through ~35 NEXA dealerships, thereby limiting its availability
• Noise insulation is below average for a premium car

Great review

First time i am seeing that, car review on T-BHP, the cons section has almost nothing to write about.

• Unappealing styling. Looks like a big hatchback (not a crossover / SUV) - Depends person to person. I find the looks quite ok, not great but certainly not bad or ugly. Its acceptable for sure. Better alloys can do wonders for sure.
• 1.6L diesel suffers turbo-lag until 1,750 rpm - Isn't that expected?
• No petrol engine, no automatic transmission, no AWD - No petrol engine can't be a fault as most people anyway will be interested in buying diesels. Only small number will be unhappy. No automatic is a miss, but we cant say it as a con as buyer will know it before buying it. Anyways, i guess 1.6 will be fun with manual only IMHO, isn't it?
• 353 liter boot - though well shaped - is small for a car of this size & positioning - I guess its enough for most of the people and to carry stuff for family of 4 for 4 days.
• Sold only through ~35 NEXA dealerships, thereby limiting its availability - Soon it will be available to all everywere, i am sure about it. Maruti must have some plans for it to make it available to all people in all corners of India.
• Noise insulation is below average for a premium car - That's okay if its not that harsh for ears.

Overall great car for sure. Hope Maruti will price it very sensibly and will not disappoint us. Expect 1.6 to have premium of at least 1 lac over 1.3. Can we expect prices to start from 7.99 Lacs?

[opendro]

Originally Posted by pannags

BTW, While I'm beginning to understand and getting used to the characteristic turbo-lag associated with Diesels, I'm wondering if this behavior will actually be a boon in bumber-bumper traffic, especially with tall gear ratios (I read that the DDiS320 can do well above the 40 kmph in the 1st gear!) negating the need to up/down shift frequently. Will be really interesting to see if the DDiS200 has any changes in its state of tune vis-a-vis the Ciaz.

You could do this (stay in first gear) if the torque was flat and weak all across rpm. 1st gear in almost all cars is designed just for the initial move, and you must upshift at the earliest opportunity unless your intention is to drag race in open road.

BTW, the perfect 4.3m hatch (leaving out the Merc A1 as that would be unaffordable for the mass). I hope, Hyundai launches the i30 after seeing the success of S Cross. S Cross and i30 bang at the price of Ciaz and Verna respectively would be a hit.

[ankurvirmani19]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Great review

First time i am seeing that, car review on T-BHP, the cons section has almost nothing to write about.

I agree with you @aniketi. I think for the first time the cons were written, just for the sake of writing.
I think these points actually depend on individual likes.

However, one point that i still think are the alloys, which could have been better.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by ankurvirmani19

I agree with you @aniketi. I think for the first time the cons were written, just for the sake of writing.
I think these points actually depend on individual likes.

However, one point that i still think are the alloys, which could have been better.

Thanks

I guess for alloys they have kept it as a option deliberately to all people to go for their own choice of wheels. Anyways, all models will not come with Alloys, so people will have their own choice

[OwnersPride]

Thanks S2 and Rehaan for an excellent and a comprehensive review... . Rated it 5-stars.

S-Cross sure looks like capable to win hearts but am I the only one or one of the few, who feel it would also have been better if it was introduced with petrol mill too?

On the appearance it does not appeal to me very much when I look on paper but will surely check it out in flesh and hope it will change my opinion.

Engine offered is ofcourse worthy. Waiting for TDs to start so that I can experience it.

[theexperthand]

Good review as usual. This car have got me really excited - Have to agree frankly that after Gypsy and old Zen, this is the only Maruti which have aroused my Interest, and personally I will pick up this over Creta\Duster, if I am shopping for a car in that segment.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Was surprised to see soft touch dash in a car of this segment. Even the Creta doesn't have it and nowadays no car below D segment 20 lakhs has soft plastics.

If I may say so, quoting from our own Fiat Punto Evo test drive report:

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The dashboard gets soft touch plastic and the texture is quite good. Like the Linea, the center console gets a storage box above the AC vents, which is quite well built, it needs a firm push to lock it and also has dampening material inside to keep away the unwanted rattles when coins are placed in it.

Punto and Linea already have soft touch plastics on the dashboard.

--Anoop