Team-BHP - Review: 1st-gen Maruti Ertiga

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Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 2758891)

I clearly agree with you that the Xylo fits the bill better for a true 7 seater. But in the end where is the driver enjoyment? You buy a Xylo you get a boat for free thrown in on the highway and for city you have to contend with the size. If your need is to ferry 7 people or 5 plus luggage 7 days of the week then you shouldn't even be looking at the Ertiga.

Rightly said Vid! I would be better off hiring a Xylo/Innova for that may or may not be happening 1 or 2 trips a year with 7 adults, instead of taking the pain in driving it myself for the rest 90%. And unless you are one big family who would always travel with 7 adults on-board, which is highly unlikely, why do you need to have a Xylo at home?

IMHO, products like Xylo were selling because there were no proper solutions available for those buyers in the market. Now that there is one, I seriously think a lot of that wind will be blowing the Ertiga way.

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Originally Posted by luvurride (Post 2758906)

Guys,

For all those who crib about the middle row discomfort, get this - Even my Corolla (2006) is no spacious for 3 tall adults!

All the time when you had to look at a bigger vehicle like Innova/Xylo for your occasional long distance drives and crib about the length and bulk of these vehicles in city, there seems to be a solution available now - ERTIGA!

agree:. All those cribbing about lack of space in the middle row when last row is folded, please check the vehicle personally.Depending on your stature, you will find decent leg room if you are an avg Sized adult. 6 footers cannot be comfortable, but I guess they are a minority in India any way

An excellent review that everyone's been long waiting.

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Originally Posted by luvurride (Post 2758906)

I've said this in the previous thread, and I'll say it again here:

To me, the Ertiga is a whole package which will appeal to you if

-you are say around 35 or 35+;
-have 1 or 2 kids;
-have your parents visiting you or you visit them;
-your parents stay with you;
-you take your parents along for a few trips a year;
-you take a few trips a year;
-and you are in the 21st century job that pays you around a lakh or more every month;

Exactly what the doctor prescribed me. I mean I fit in the above description line by line. With both kids growing up and having parents visiting us frequently, this seems to be the most sensible and practical option.
I dont know why people are comparing it with Xylo again and again. I would prefer to look at Ertiga as a 5 seater with an option to carry 7 occassionally. Why its better than Xylo has already been described in previous posts. And why its better than a sedan like Vento et all is that sedans are strictly 5 seaters.

@Vsathyap. You're right a lot of people are saying this but at least my statement was actually coming from a slightly different context that I'll clarify further.

Firstly, 110% agree with what you said below. I've TD'd the Ertiga thrice now, sat in each row and I have to say they have managed the internal space FANTASTICALLY! I always thought Honda were masters in internal space management but the Ertiga as a final product is a case study on how well it can be done. And its the coming together of not just the way seats travel, also the height, recline, ingress into middle row etc that creates an "ergonomically" brilliant package. All of this allows them to give what they're giving in such an aggresive external dimension.

Vid6639 sums it up pretty well in the extract below. I think rather than saying "acceptable" as I did earlier, it is certainly more than acceptable and probably offers 85-90% of what a sedan / a full size SUV offers in each of these roles.

My take was simply judging (personally) that if the 7 seater factor is not really really required I could rather consider a 5 seater sedan that excels on ride quality etc because ultimately an MUV (/ LUV) may be as close to being "sedan -like" but ultimately on ride comfort a sedan is a sedan and it'll be a notch higher.

Secondly, if I need a 7 seater with much more frequency (for instance if our family increases to having 2 kids from 1), I would probably be more inclined to purchase a full size MUV like the Innova.

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Originally Posted by vsathyap (Post 2758499)

Also, I don't know why the "neither a 5 seater nor a 7 seater" / "neither here nor there" argument comes into the picture on many occasions. When automobile companies design a vehicle, they take a L-O-T of things into consideration and am sure that the "average Indian's height" would be one of the key factors in designing the Ertiga. Taking an average height of about 5'6" I think Maruti has done exceptionally well to come up with such a "spacious" design in such a small foot-print.

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Originally Posted by Axe77 (Post 2758466)

Conversely, I do recognise that it is neither an exceptional 5 seater nor an exceptional 7 seater (I think someone else somewhere made this point too, can't remember for sure). Its trick of course is that it is acceptable as both. This may work for some or not, depending on personal requirements and preferences.

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Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 2758576)

Instead of saying it's neither here nor there I would say it's a little bit of both. It's a 7 seater that drives close to a sedan. You get best of both worlds with little compromise.

So, if we keep the third row open and dump all our luggage on the seats, how do we remove the same? By folding the second row? Like the Nano... How practical is it for everyday usage?

Or if the fold the 3rd row only halfway leaving it at an angle, would the luggage stay on it? Wont it slide down as soon as you open the boot?

Also, taking about performance - Will the 1.3 90hp engine pull 7 people comfortably on an incline?

All said & done, it all boils down to priorities... Do you want utility or do you want better handling... do you want space or you want a compact car? If someone needs a spacious 5 seater, just take the Ertiga to the A.S.S. and get the 3 row removed. Doing this, you get a HUGE boot with excellent legroom in the second row.

I would have given the Ertiga full points, if the 2nd row legroom issue was not there. With the current setup & pricing, even though its a better handler, I cant imagine plonking 9 Lacs on it. The engine is too puny & there is nothing extra ordinary in the feature list or creature comforts.

This car is going to be a serious rainmaker for Maruti. Production capacity will be the limiting factor nothing else. I feel that if Maruti could somehow ramp up the production capacity on this one and bring down the waiting periods, then this vehicle may may seriously effect the fortunes of i20's/verna/ford fiesta even though the target audience may not be same.

1) The sea of beige in the interior is going to be troublesome, very troublesome.
2) There should have been an auto transmission on offer as well.
3) I hope they also plan to come out with a factory fitted CNG version as well.

But with the vehicle doing so well as is I doubt if the suggestion box at Maruti is even open!

Smart move by Maruti not to sell it to institutional buyers initially. But, looking at the space vis-a-vis other full sized MUVs, this would anyway not have been preferred by the taxi segment in the first place.

This could probably become the first MUV with more skew towards personal usage than commercial.

Another master stroke by Maruti is to price the diesel SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the Petrol - to mitigate the diesel engine shortage and probably encourage more personal buyers to go for the petrol version - another way to shun the taxi segment. Absolutely brilliant!

From one of the photos I saw on a test-site the Eriga has a (middle-row) shoulder room of 1340 mm. This is similar to another hatchback which is considered spacious - the Vista. So, I am surprised why we are saying that the Ertiga cannot accommodate 3 adults comfortably in the middle row?

AFAIK, the shoulder room in a Swift is 1290 mm - so the Ertiga should be marginally more comfortable atleast. Given the raised seat, it should be much better than the Swift / Dzire. Just as a comparison that Innova has a shoulder room of 1430 mm.

My gut feel is Ertiga will land in the top-10 models in the April stats - if not April, atleast in May-June. Cheers to Maruti.

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Originally Posted by raj_5004 (Post 2758998)

Now you are nitpicking. I would pick the luggage after folding the middle row. Now, don't ask, what if the middle row passengers don't want to get out. As they say, if there is a will, there is a way to get it done. If you want to stand there and say, "how the hell am I supposed to get that out", well, it just stays there.

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Also, taking about performance - Will the 1.3 90hp engine pull 7 people comfortably on an incline?

It would be tough. On that odd day, I'd driving on 2nd and 3rd gear.

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I would have given the Ertiga full points, if the 2nd row legroom issue was not there.

May I suggest you something? Take it to and upholsterer and cut a few inches off the third seat backrest.

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With the current setup & pricing, even though its a better handler, I cant imagine plonking 9 Lacs on it. The engine is too puny & there is nothing extra ordinary in the feature list or creature comforts.

No other 9L hatch/sedan/SUV/MUV gives you the same bang for the buck as the ertiga. This is the best I have seen launched by any manufacturer in a long time.

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Originally Posted by Jaggu (Post 2759069)

A very good review and having passed Vidyut's scrutiny means loads of tid bits which you me would just ignore :D Another seller from MUL, already have few guys from office Q'ing up, all were prospective diesel sedan buyers till Errrtiga.

One question if you remove the 3rd row headrest are things better for 2nd row? Usually this is the process which is followed for these multi row vehicles, if i am not mistaken??

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Originally Posted by scofield (Post 2759087)

I had the same question and was thinking the same . If this is a good alternative to get 6 - 10 inch of space, then all queries shall be answered about the space.

I tried that also:).

After removing the third row headrests, the middle row slides back by max 2inches. I didn't even bother with a pic as there was no significant change.

Have a look at this image from my review and you will see that when you remove the headrests you will get a max of 2". Without the headrests the seat will drop down a little more and will allow you to slide the middle row back a wee bit.

The main issue is the seat back design which has 2 camel type humps.

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Originally Posted by mohandas (Post 2759060)

Vid:
1. your solutions are truly innovative but unfortunately, not practical.
2. IMHO, pwr per ton or torque per ton are very vague metrics to measure car's drivability. The more important part is when the power or the torque is available on the tap. I would suggest you to drive a XYLO and check this out yourself.

Agreed. That's why I have mentioned in my review that it doesn't even compare to Innova when it comes to lugging. By the way the numbers suggest max torque is available at 1,750rpm lower than the Xylo.

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Originally Posted by vibbs (Post 2758129)

Wonderful review as always. Rated a fitting 5 stars.

Agree and in no small measure. This is better than all the earlier reviews.
Congrats to viddy for this outstanding review.
This car is going to sell in millions for sure.
I did a small calculation:
At a margin of about 3 lakhs per car (figures I just pulled from the air and no real basis except the 96% localization) , MUL needs to make 136700 Ertigas to break even :D. Maybe the margins are more (96% localization!!)

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But got to say, I am a little disappointed with the Ertiga now.I eagerly wanted to see the scene after the third row has been folded down. As it looks now, it seems Ertiga is neither a proper seven seater nor a spacious five seater.

Guys, come on. Surely you can put some luggage on the third row seat (without folding it) and
still use the stretchable second row to stretch daddy-long-legs.

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As GTO said, I would rather remove the third row and use it as a spacious five seater. But then again the width is not enough for three to sit together. More over are there any legalities involved in making changes in the approved seating capacities?

I really would worry about adding seating capacity, not removing it.Just my take.

My take is that Maruti has done the best job it could without compromising
on features or price. The price while not low, comes with a lot of welcome features like 2nd row A/C , MID, and most importantly ABS.