Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Maruti Vitara Brezza : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/174917-maruti-vitara-brezza-official-review-79.html)

My one year old brezza top end ZDI+ & me went on a long 11,000kms, 22 days temples trip up north from bangalore
Just me and the car
Bangalore - Gaya Bihar - Kashi Varanasi - Kedarnath - Badrinath - Gangotri - Yamunotri - Vaishno Devi - Srinagar - Sonamarg - Baltal Amarnath - Drass - Kargil - Leh Ladakh - Manali - Amritsar - Indo Pak border at Ferozepur - Pushkar Brahma temple Rajasthan - Nathdwara Srinathji - Somnath temple - Dwarka temple - Nageshwar temple - Ujjain Mahakaleshwar - Omkareshwar temple - Trimbakeshwar temple - Grishneshwar temple - Bhimashankar temple - Bangalore

The car performed admirably on this trip

The car has run 68000 kms in 13 and a half months & the OE Apollo Alnac 4GS tyre (215/60 R16) has reached the end of its life
But it was great on this trip, I had 2 punctures that too almost on the fag end of the trip, one near Trimbakeshwar & one near Belgaum

I'm in a dilemma now about tyre change

Unable to decide the brand

Contenders:

Apollo
Prod: is great for rough roads go anywhere on bad Indian roads
Performed wonderfully on the Kashmir & Ladhak mountain roads
Absolutely no squealing on fast corners
Cons: tyre noise, especially on rough & concrete roads
Price 8000 per tyre reasonably good price

Michelin Primacy 3ST
Pros: great quality product made in Malaysia/Thailand
Most silent tyre available
Super grip on dry and wet conditions
I'm a great fan of XM2 variant but it's not available in 215 60 r16 size
Cons: soft compound, will wear out fast, can't withstand rough roads
Cost: 9800 per tyre most expensive among the lot

Pirelli P7 cinturato
No info available
Tyrewallas are aggressively promoting it, maybe the margins are better
Not much reviews online also including team bhp
Cost: an attractive 8400 per tyre

All quotes are from bangalore shops post GST

There are a few more like continental mc5 & yokohama DB
But not much info or reviews for the size I'm looking in

Pls revert with your take on this

Works smoothly
I use a iPhone with Bluetooth connectivity in brezza

Hats off ! 68000 KMS in 13 months is something higher than even what most cabs would do. :thumbs up

I thought I was crazy for doing a 1500 KM road trip in 3 days instead of taking a train. But 11000
KMS in 22 days is on average 500 KMs a day over such a long duration. Requires sheer grit for both the person driving and person travelling inside the car.

I guess such a long trip in a short while, you wouldn't have been able to do justice to Ladakh. That place alone requires 20 days in itself to explore all the beautiful and adventurous places.

Wow! That is one fine driving... clap:. Undertaking such a feat, that too alone is something to be appreciated...

Expecting a nice report from you about the trip with details about the car like how it handled different terrain, the comfort, mileage etc. Also how did you handle fatigue?

Awesome!!!

You serve as an inspiration to people like me. Looking forward to a detailed travelogue.

Coming to tires, Michelin is anyday a Michelin. There is a reason for a premium and based on the review in team BHP, it seems to be worth. Pirelli I understand is "poor" man's Michelin. However not very sure on the performance. Apollo is a workhorse and is abuse friendly. Michelin is comfort oriented and may not take abuse so easily.

My choice would be between Apollo and Michelin based on your toss up between comfort and performance.

The new age Michelins are hard wearing and reasonably robust. I am pretty happy with them. Had XM2 on the Swift and now P 3ST on the Fiesta.

Also, take a look at the post below by arun_josie to know about the mileage from P 3ST. These are worthy of the price tag. :D

And good to see you enjoying the Brezza and putting it to good use. :thumbs up

Hello guys! I am planning to upgrade the headlights of my Brezza ZDI+ to LEDs however I am unable to find the correct options available. Can anyone help with this? Thanks in advance.

I had to read it twice to make sure that I was not mistaken. Sir, that's an incredible achievement. I would like to offer you a nickname : 'Modern Day Rishi'. I am always astonished by various ancient Rishis' trips between temples which seemed impossible but they did it with sheer determination. I felt the same after reading your experience.

I have used XM2 for good 20K kms in my 1st gen Swift Dzire before selling it, Apollo Alnac for 17k kms (going strong at the moment) in my Brezza zdi+, P3ST for 7k kms (going great th the moment) in my Jetta.

My experience:
XM2 : Extremely comfort oriented. Low noise & good grip levels however it did not face rough roads much. So can't comment on it.

Alnac: Can take good amount of abuse. Good grip (not as good as P3ST). A little noisier compared to XM2/P3ST).

P3ST: Superb grip levels, specially during cornering. Comfortable (More than Alnac, a little less than XM2). A lot more silent than Alnac but a tad noisier than XM2. Again, they barely encountered rough roads so can't comment on it.

I would recommend P3ST unless the roads you unusually drive are in extremely poor condition.
You may want to go for Alnac if you don't like to push the car, don't mind a little noise inside the cabin, can compromise on comfort & would want to drive through rough roads with somewhat more peace of more.

---------------------

Ahmedabad faced torrential rains yesterday. I had to drive through a puddle (or at least I thought so) as the underpass I usually use was closed due to water logging. After driving a few feet into the puddle, it started to get deeper. Soon, the water level was upto the Suzuki symbol under bonnet. I kept the car moving at around 3000 rpm in the first gear with AC turned off. It successfully waded such deep water for the approx 250m water-logged stretch.

Not that I advocate such 'stunt' but if an emergency situation arises, one can trust Brezza to wade through at least couple of feet deep water.

I accessed the car for any potential damage post the unintended stunt. Front licence plate was bent & a few plastic pieces managed to go pass through the front grill; I removed them. I have driven the car for more than 20kms after that & it works fine. Is there anything else that I should get checked at the workshop?

Kind words from fellow bhpians

This trip is nothing compared what great men have done

Adi Shankara travelled across the length & breadth of India establishing his mutts in the 4 corners of India in the 8th century, imagine India's infrastructure those days & he lived for just 32 years.



Coming to the tyres part:

My cousin knew an old friend who works in Michelin who got me a good deal.
Michelin has something called "Friends & Family offer", wherein they give a 20% discount for Michelin employees.
Only 4 tyres are offered under this scheme.
A unique discount code is generated under the employees name & you're asked to buy it from a specific dealership.

I bought 4 tyres under the offer & paid MRP price for the 5th tyre.

The MRP for Primacy 3ST (215/60 R16 size) was ₹9800.
The offer for 4 tyres was ₹31168 (₹7792 per tyre)
I brought the 5th tyre for ₹9750.
This turned out to be the cheapest price, cheaper than even JK tyres or Apollo Alnac (Apollo quote ₹8000 per tyre)
Wheel Alignment, Balancing, weights & tyre neck valve change done free of cost.


Have driven for about 100 odd kms & there's a world of difference.

Let's see how it lasts
Will keep you guys posted.

& Once again thanks for your opinion on tyre buying & the kind words for my himalayan temple trip

Almost 9 months and 22K on the odo for my ZDi.

Is it just me or other who feel the brakes are spongy.

Yesterday it was raining heavily in my city. Went to drop off the kids to school. On my way back, it was drizzling, bumper to bumper traffic. I moved up from 1st gear to 2nd, barely touching 30km/h. The car in front of me, a old Zen braked, I braked and this 1.2 tonner just didn't stop. It dragged and I could hear the brake pads hissing.

End result - I ended up rear ending the poor old zen. It's boot and my Brezza's Bumper along with the Bonnet are now under repairs.

But, the brakes are really disappointing. Not to mention, that during 1K, 5K and 10K service, I did tell them to look into the brakes as their efficacy was bad.

Surprised to note that. Haven't heard of this complaint from any other Brezza Owner. On the contrary, I have found the brakes to be pretty good as compared to other cars in the segment or even as compared to other segments. Something must be wrong and servicing may give a fair idea about the actual reason.

The drizzle may be responsible for the accident, the road gets slippery and ABS increase braking distance in such a scenario. This gets aggravated when your brakes aren't performing as expected.

I don't think the drizzle / rain affected roads actually have a negative impact on braking performance for cars with ABS. Infact this is where ABS is supposed to help the most.

Its on the gravel / off-road that ABS increases braking distances.
Rain may have played a part of course, but ABS can't be the culprit here - unless its malfunctioning.

The word highlighted in bold and underline makes​ me think one thing:

Could there be air in the brake lines causing the braking performance not be at the optimum levels?!

Gaurav Sir, was the brake fluid changed ever since purchase? If yes then the process must not have been done correctly. If not done, please get it done.

You may find difference in braking performance. I have never heard of 'Z' variant owners complain. It is a known fact that 'V' variants of Swift are bad but never heard complaints on Breeza be it any variant.

+

+

Could my thinking be correct guys?

That's nothing short of tremendous IMO clap: I am closely following the Brezza thread as it's one of the shortlisted rides to replace my ageing Swift. Great to know the machine held up well during the trip. Wishing you a lot more comfortable miles in the coming months!

Rain and drizzle are completely different, a light drizzle will form a slippery coat on the road, this increases braking distances. Rain actually removes the oil and the risk is mostly from aquaplaning. That's why it's easier to drive on grass when it's raining than when it's wet.

ABS increases braking distance on slippery surfaces, not just on gravel or off road. According to the NHTSA, ABS is proven to increase distances in snow, maybe because that's how it works or there is a moral hazard.