[Mustang Sammy]

Thanks to the admins for approving my membership.
Have been an avid Team-BHP reader for many years, including when I was overseas. You guys truly set a benchmark for passion, attention to detail and civil discourse.

To get back to the topic at hand, I’ve been debating the merits of the S-Cross against other SUVs and SUV-lites. It is certainly the sensible and value for money choice, at a great price point. The white looks the nicest IMO.
Was considering the Seltos but the recent brake failure reports (thanks again to this forum for making me aware) make it a no-go, especially if the company isn’t acknowledging the issue.

The Compass is still tugging at my heartstrings, though. It comes closest to a true SUV, and the sheer power, road presence and rock-solid build are very attractive, no matter how overpriced it is compared to its peers.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

S Cross is very much based on the Global C platform, just as the Brezza was/is. Platform changes don't happen overnight, and certainly not "silently ".

It's just an error of some random IT guy on the webpage.

Regards,
Shashi

So I have a test drive lined up for the S-Cross. I had asked the Nexa sales person to check and let me know about the same. He informed me that he isn't sure about the technical part and shall check and let me know. He took 2 days, but got back with the information that it is based on the Heartect platform and was done during the move to BS6. Maybe he too just referred to the website, not sure. This is the information that I got though.

To be honest though, the platform switch makes little sense to me. If they did it for the S-Cross why not do it for the Brezza too? Something doesn't add-up. Did Toyota insist on keeping the Brezza as is?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by da_lowrider

So I have a test drive lined up for the S-Cross. I had asked the Nexa sales person to check and let me know about the same. He informed me that he isn't sure about the technical part and shall check and let me know. He took 2 days, but got back with the information that it is based on the Heartect platform and was done during the move to BS6. Maybe he too just referred to the website, not sure. This is the information that I got though.

To be honest though, the platform switch makes little sense to me. If they did it for the S-Cross why not do it for the Brezza too? Something doesn't add-up. Did Toyota insist on keeping the Brezza as is?

The S-Cross is made internationally as a premium crossover offering 4WD and was an evolution of the earlier C platform which the SX4 was based on. The facelift was a minor one which involved changes only to the front end and the rest of the stuff like the underpinnings, body panels, interiors and everything stays the same. This is not comparable to changing the platform since that is no joke.

If you observe the heartect platform, it is characterised by two ribs on the floor that go diagonally outwards from the front to the back of the car, and a more compact center tunnel which is meant to only house the exhaust and muffler. Compared to this, the platform of the S-Cross has straight ribs parallel to the center tunnel, which is again larger since it is also meant to house a driveshaft for the international markets. You cannot expect such info from the typical Indian car dealer unless they are really keen to know the internals. All they want is a booking from you and if they are trained to tell Heartect is something modern and futuristic, they will associate it with every new car. Maybe if you tell them that if you arent buying the car due to this, after two days they might again change their stand. There could definitely be some India-specific changes to the overall body or underpinnings, but not a different platform or the key components of the body.

Hence,

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

S Cross is very much based on the Global C platform, just as the Brezza was/is.

If the information comes from this person, I am pretty sure about it, but just did my own research as well out of keen interest.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by audioholic

The S-Cross is made internationally as a premium crossover offering 4WD and was an evolution of the earlier C platform which the SX4 was based on. The facelift was a minor one which involved changes only to the front end and the rest of the stuff like the underpinnings, body panels, interiors and everything stays the same. This is not comparable to changing the platform since that is no joke.

If you observe the heartect platform, it is characterised by two ribs on the floor that go diagonally outwards from the front to the back of the car, and a more compact center tunnel which is meant to only house the exhaust and muffler. Compared to this, the platform of the S-Cross has straight ribs parallel to the center tunnel, which is again larger since it is also meant to house a driveshaft for the international markets. You cannot expect such info from the typical Indian car dealer unless they are really keen to know the internals. All they want is a booking from you and if they are trained to tell Heartect is something modern and futuristic, they will associate it with every new car. Maybe if you tell them that if you arent buying the car due to this, after two days they might again change their stand. There could definitely be some India-specific changes to the overall body or underpinnings, but not a different platform or the key components of the body.

Hence,


If the information comes from this person, I am pretty sure about it, but just did my own research as well out of keen interest.

Thanks audioholic for sharing this. Fair point, like I said, I won't be surprised if they just checked the website and got back to me. just wanted to check though, where can I check the platform diagram of the S-cross? Actually is it even possible to check for the Indian version - I am just curious to see it myself now. THanks again for this though.

[da_lowrider]

So an update. Test drive the S-Cross today, it feels well put together and seems like a sorted package. I pressed the sales person again about the platform and this time informed him that I am keen to buy a car based on the C platform only - which would force me to pick up a Brezza. Credit to the guy, he didn't change his stance but informed me that the S-Cross is based on the Heartect platform. His source - he contacted his trainer and requested him to confirm the same from a company source. Now here's my doubt - and I know it must be annoying that I'm still going on about this, it's just that I want to be sure before I plonk a mn INR on a product - so here's what I'm curious about, was there a reason Maruti took so long to launch the S-Cross petrol after BS6 norms came into play? The Brezza was launched fairly quickly.

With regards to having the top hat of a car on a different platform, I know it's not easy but we have seen it happen in our market - who can forget the Captur?

Please note, I really don't mean to offend any of the previous posters, just laying out the information I have received. I am unfortunately quite confused with this and had hoped to get some information. Alas this keeps getting more and more confusing. Once again - I don't mean to offend anyone at all.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by da_lowrider

\I pressed the sales person again about the platform and this time informed him that I am keen to buy a car based on the C platform only - which would force me to pick up a Brezza. Credit to the guy, he didn't change his stance but informed me that the S-Cross is based on the Heartect platform.

You are worried about the wrong thing. Let me try to clear this for you. Here are links for Diesel S Cross(Facelift) and Petrol S Cross, compare the members and panels yourself and enlighten us if you see all different shapes and designs. Some part numbers will be different due to different floor pan and members to include Smart Hybrid system. So please focus on the shapes mainly.

S Cross Diesel: https://oriparts.com/7/1021/2996/786249

S Cross Petrol: https://oriparts.com/7/1021/75404/3978359

Just to make it clear, since you seem unaware of what a platform is, here is a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv9L7bt7ajc

Now please think, if they had to change platform, of a low selling car, which is already around its end of life, imagine the costs they will have to incur in redesigning. Makes sense? Definitely no!

Secondly look at the weights of Heartect cars, what difference in weight did S Cross have when it switched from Petrol to Diesel? Compare it to Brezza, they should be roughly similar.

In short, you are worried about the wrong thing. Some lunatic in MSIL's marketing team thought Heartect sounds exciting and hence put S Cross under it. Let me get this straight: Platform changes don't happen overnight.

so here's what I'm curious about, was there a reason Maruti took so long to launch the S-Cross petrol after BS6 norms came into play? The Brezza was launched fairly quickly.

The S Cross Petrol was also displayed along with Brezza during Auto Expo. Its launch was scheduled in March(information is openly available in public domain), when lockdown happened along with factory shutdowns and what not. So I guess it's now clear why the launch was delayed. And since you may ask why they didn't launch it immediately after lockdown was lifted, car business doesn't work that way. They need to have enough stock, production in full swing, all vendors ready(some of which were plagued by containment zones). Then they need to have sales team, service team, spares team ready and trained. All these takes time. I remember when I was about to book my XL6 on 11-12th July, S Cross sales training was going on.

MSIL is so lazy and money minded that they did not change anything(even LED fogs) on the S Cross during petrol swap(since its a low volume product), you think they will spend millions changing platform?

His source - he contacted his trainer and requested him to confirm the same from a company source.

Since I have seen MSIL's business closely, I can answer this. Hope you know who "Trainers" are. Even the most enthusiastic salesmen don't have the courage to approach anyone except may be the regional sales trainer. They are usually incharge of a state. And people who become these regional sales trainers are old senior salesmen who were excellent at their job, of selling. So don't expect any such technical clarification from them.

Regards,
Shashi

PS: Since its matter of a million rupees for you, I respect your concern. Tweet to Mr. C V Raman, Chief Engineer MSIL @CVRAMAN61, and ask for a clarification, since they have mentioned it on their site(again a department of Marketing and IT). It will be fun to get his reaction on this!

PPS: Another point to prove my point that you shouldn't take them and their site too seriously, here is a screengrab which shows the cars which still have their old SmartPlay system(and not the Smartplay Studio)



Today except Ciaz, no other car is coming with old Smartplay system. Even our official review shows that Brezza got updated Smartplay Studio system. So please don't get moved by their stupidity so much.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

You are worried about the wrong thing. Let me try to clear this for you. Here are links for Diesel S Cross(Facelift) and Petrol S Cross, compare the members and panels yourself and enlighten us if you see all different shapes and designs. Some part numbers will be different due to different floor pan and members to include Smart Hybrid system. So please focus on the shapes mainly.

Thank you Leoshashi for your insightful reply. While I have a basic understanding of platforms your post and the video are helpful indeed. Also, just for future reference, the oriparts website is a reliable resource to check for such things? I had previously asked for such a resource so I could see a rendering of the actual platforms, this is very helpful. The bit about the weights is very valid and that was one the first things I had checked.

To be on the safe side, I have taken your advice and tweeted to @CVRAMAN61 let's hope he gets back to be about this. I am largely convinced though. I just need figure out my finances and go ahead with the S-Cross. Thanks again, I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to advice on this.

PS: I get your point about the website being all over the place in terms of incorrect and / or outdated information

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

MSIL is so lazy and money minded that they did not change anything(even LED fogs) on the S Cross during petrol swap(since its a low volume product), you think they will spend millions changing platform?

Don't disagree with you that they are indeed money minded and perhaps that's what made them to change the front cross member for the face-lifted version of the S-Cross

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...t-members.html (S-Cross' suspicious build: Towing rips out the tow hook & front members)

There were questions raised on the build quality of the facelifted S-cross.

Dr. Naren's post here was quite insightful and made it quite clear that MSIL was money minded

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post4484517 (S-Cross' suspicious build: Towing rips out the tow hook & front members)

Originally Posted by da_lowrider

To be on the safe side, I have taken your advice and tweeted to @CVRAMAN61 let's hope he gets back to be about this. I am largely convinced though. I just need figure out my finances and go ahead with the S-Cross. Thanks again, I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to advice on this.

I will not be surprised if you just get a standard response. Rather I would suggest you go through the above thread that I had posted. I had high hopes on S-cross but incidents such as above killed my interest.

I believe the pre-facelift S-cross was a better product. Apologies if I am intruding but ss you were very particular about platform and safety information I thought I would pitch in.

Please don't go blindly by platform but look into finer details.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by searacer932

I will not be surprised if you just get a standard response. Rather I would suggest you go through the above thread that I had posted. I had high hopes on S-cross but incidents such as above killed my interest.

I believe the pre-facelift S-cross was a better product. Apologies if I am intruding but ss you were very particular about platform and safety information I thought I would pitch in.

Please don't go blindly by platform but look into finer details.

Thanks searacer932 for sharing this. Really appreciate it. Going through the thread currently. It is appalling to read about the front member getting getting torn off that way. I will go through the entire thread to understand the issue better. Thanks again.

Agreed about the finer details.

[Mustang Sammy]

Mod note: Post merged. Back to back posts, please use Edit option to add to original post. Thanks.


What is the expected lifetime for the Lithium ion battery? I expect not more than 5 years, following which the owner will be hit with a 50k+ bill for replacement.
Does the vehicle work without the battery?

Also the panel gaps look awfully inconsistent in some of the new units I had a chance to inspect.

[PaddleShifter]

I had booked Kia Sonet HTX manual diesel around a month back. I am in desperate need of a car and finally I brought home a S-Cross Zeta manual in white colour. Sonet had the brake issue (Seltos, Creta, Grand i10) totally going against it. As I live in mountains, B (pedal) matters more than C and A.

One or two uneven panel gaps are there is S cross. It may feel lacking wrt some gizmos (Sunroof, auto fold ORVM, DRVM, rear AC vents, fancy MID etc). but the basics are sorted. Navigation, Auto AC, steering controls, cruise control, all four disc brakes and space make it a very practical choice.

Also, steering does not return to centre as nicely as I was used to in my old Punto. I had observed the same behaviour in my senior's Baleno too in 2018 but in that case, steering didnt come back at all. It makes a half hearted attempt in mine though.

[Mustang Sammy]

Any update on the arrival of the 1.5L Diesel?
The one downside of this forum is the analysis-paralysis it can induce, with all the information shared by the members.
Which car to buy, which variant, should I wait till the next gen which is just around the corner.

[PaddleShifter]

Mustang Sammy, that is why you should make your own decision at the day's end. The information shared by members is based on their experiences. The same may not always apply to everyone.

I have always owned a diesel car and had never imagined owning a petrol one myself. Infact I had even booked a diesel car few weeks back despite forum members recommending a petrol.

As far as S cross is concerned, the petrol hybrid is reasonably fuel efficient, build quality is at par with better players (European), space is much better than sub 4m vehicles, features list is sufficient (only novelty features such as Sunroof, beige interiors, shark fin antenna etc. are lacking).

Model refresh can happen anytime (no test mules have been sighted though so looks like its some time away still). Diesel engine can be introduced (there are no timelines or scoops in my knowledge). But if diesel car is your preference, consider a Hyundai/Kia over a Maruti-Suzuki as the engine will be fairly new. Hyundai diesel engines are amazing and are proven ones.

[CrossLife]

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Any update on the arrival of the 1.5L Diesel?

Going by the test mules of Ertiga diesel, I feel S-Cross diesel is at least 6-12 months away, assuming Ciaz, Ertiga and S-Cross diesels will be launched at the same time.

As for the next gen S-Cross, I don't think it will happen soon. No test mules have been spotted. Should be atleast 2-3 years away if Suzuki plans to develop one that is!

[Mustang Sammy]

Thanks Paddleshifter and Crosslife.
Agree that S-Cross is good value for money, and the build is far superior to other vehicles in the Maruti stable.
The engine isn’t the strongest, and some accessories are missing, but nothing that one truly needs.