I suppose a few lines from my side too would do no harm now after I have driven my Ertiga VDi for almost 45,000 kms in the last 18 months-
- If you bought the Ertiga to travel full 7 seats all the times – I am sorry for that
- If you bought the Ertiga thinking you will do 0-100 along with Ventos or Rapids – My sincere apologies
- If you thought you can redline through while you shift up and watch others applaud you vanish – Expect a bicycle rider to do that
- If you thought you can Zip, Zap, Zoom with that 1.3 Multijet in narrow by-lanes through the gaps between 2 cars – Please buy a Hot hatch
That 3rd row:
The Ertiga like I have been mentioning on various threads is not an all time 7 seater but a flexi 5+2 seater. That said, the +2 Adults can sit without complaining if you are taking them for a day drive on regular roads. My mother who’s 62 could’ve disowned me by now otherwise. The +2 Adults in that 3rd row need all the TLC when you drive as the suspension is on the softer side and taking undulations and speedbreakers at high speed is not going to be a good experience for them at all.
Is this so irritating that you stop making use of that 3rd row? Well, it is more of getting used to driving when you know the 3rd row is occupied than expecting it to behave like Innova or a Linea. I realised the shortcomings of that 3rd row pretty soon as I glanced through the ORVM and adjusted my driving. If I took that undulation at 100KMPH with just 2 rows occupied, I would do that at 70-80KMPH with the 3rd row occupied.
I reached home a little late that I missed the CBFC Certificate of that movie that had just started. So, either live with it and learn to tackle or don’t use that 3rd row (and as well not buy the Ertiga) at all.
The Power under 1.3 DDiS or Under Power’ed: Usual Flat highways-
The Ertiga is a cruiser and an able one at that. With full load (read – 2 rows, 1 Driver and 4 Passengers, Loads of luggage), it does this job very well. 100-120KMPH is the best band that you can utilize the punny 1.3 Multijet’s Turbo. My recent drive exactly 2 weeks back was Bangalore-Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar (1530 kms) in a single day with just myself behind the wheel and 3 Adults and luggage. The journey took 21 hours during onward and 22 hours on return. Taller seating, Diesel cruising advantage and ensuring that the 3rd row was not folded (Luggage stacked on 3rd and whatever little boot) meant the rear seat passengers too never got a hint that they crossed Karnataka, Maharashtra and now entering Gujarat and before they could realise, we were at our destination in Gandhinagar!
And certainly a point that I had to make is about the Engine note – It doesn’t cry at some good speeds. 4000 RPM in 5th Gear and you know what I am referring to. More than this? Well, Pick up a Vento.
One fellow sitting in the back seat was working from home (In the Ertiga) while we drove this distance and was often working on the Laptop connected to that Belkin and I kept probing him if he felt OK and he did and was never complaining at all. The 4th passenger on the second row happily reclined the rear seat whenever he wanted.
On Ghats and Twisties-
The Trick is to remain in Turbo band or downshift as soon as the RPMs are dropping below 1800 and this always works. What I often notice is that people take that Hair pin bend in 3rd and halfway through downshift to 2nd and then that “LAG”. Tried this many a times now – Charmadi Ghats, Chorla Ghat, Anshi-Kaiga, Khabmhatki Ghats, Mollem etc and all this with at least 4 Adults and luggage. It took me few kms of climbing to realise this and accept that redlining won’t help but remaining in right Turbo band does.
Crawl or cruse with all rows occupied?
This is certainly something one must realise. 90 Horses are good enough. Would it beg for more? Well, it depends whether you want to take off from Zero or start from Zero. With all 3 rows occupied, the momentum after the speed-breaker is slow till 60kmph due to the load &I have explained this in my ownership review as well as this official review too. Nevertheless, when you are at cruising speeds of 100KMPH, you won’t really know if the car is fully loaded. It still takes a mild push on that Accelerator Pedal to overtake and see that needle climb up from 100-120-130 without a fuss. Now, if you slow down to almost 20KMPH, it does take some effort but not to the extent that you would want the last row passengers to hop onto that B9R in your rear-view mirror.
In City Driveability-
I have made a point earlier that a DDiS equipped Ertiga has made me a patient driver when driving within the city. The lag does matter when you see other 800/1000 cars zoom past you from that traffic signal but the real fun starts after 60KMPH. Although I agree that one needs more than the usual downshifts when driving under full load inside the city, something even better would be to take the car driving in 3rd gear and using it as automatic than thinking of upshifting to 4th. I guess it’s a matter of getting used to which certainly is not a compromise at all.
It took me 2 Test Drives to decide on the Ertiga. First one didn’t convince me while the second one did when my family too acknowledged. I still drive ~70 kms every day for my office commute alone in Bangalore traffic and I don’t struggle myself.
Pick the Ertiga if you want the following-
- Flexi 5+2 Seating
- Excellent Cruising manners on Highways
- More than good FE (18-22KMPL) for your cruising speeds of 90-120kmph
- Flexible 2nd Row that’s spacious and Roomy
- All this at a VFM Price Tag
Stay away from Ertiga if you want the following-
- Space in 3rd row like other MUVs – Innova, Xylo etc (or even Enjoy)
- Driveable torque at low revs under full load
- Non Bumpy 3rd row (In comparison to the Innova)