The following details are to share from my short 2 week experience of having owned one of the few Automatic Ertigas in the country! Due to extensive usage in the city of Bangalore as well as a trip to Agumbe in Karnataka I have logged in close to 1300 kms in this short period!
Where I come from: I have close to 15 years or more of car driving experience with my last 2 cars being diesels. My last car which was the Diesel Micra was the one I held the longest and drove the most.
The Micra diesel was simply awesome when it came to drive-ability and the car was more like a go-kart that could simply be thrown around in any fashion you could please. The only drawbacks of the car were missing safety features like ABS due to which I had a few scary experiences on the highways and the lack of cushioning in the seats which made the entire experience a pain in the back. With my family of wife and 2 young and growing kids, I had to look out for a more spacious alternative that gave all of us, something to cheer about for another 4-5 years at least! Much of my use is for weekend long drives and shopping. My daily usage is moderate to low as I work from home most of the time :)
The vehicles I looked into this time around Renault Duster AWD: Awesome vehicle when it came to most departments other than cosmetics. Shock absorber performance on Bangalore's miserable roads were shockingly awesome. Performance was something that one has to drive to believe. Though I am a sucker for automatics, the lightness of the clutch (lighter than my Micra) coupled with sweet short shifting gears aided by the 245 NM of torque made feel that this was more than enough to compensate the lack of an automatic.
Honda City: Awesome in most aspects. My wife always used the adjective "pampering" to describe how she felt when she sat in the car.
S-Cross Delta version 1.3 Great in all aspects other than the engine lol:
Honda Jazz: I actually waited for over 18 months for this baby with the fond hope that she would come in the 1.5 liter petrol automatic avatar. It was a terrible personal disappointment for me to see the final trims in which she was released in.
The New Ertiga: When the new Ertiga surfaced, my wife was interested in having a look, as the face lift made it look prettier. With very little expectations and with the intent of pure time pass we went and checked out the car. Voila, my wife felt the seats of the Ertiga were far more pampering than those of the City (In fact we immediately rushed to the Honda showroom to ensure that it was indeed so!), my kids loved the extra row of seats and I felt assuaged that I had a car with decent power and an automatic. Though it was not the automatic in the league of the Polo/Vento TSI (both of which I have driven) or even the Honda City (technically), practically the package which came at Rs 10.42 Lakhs OTR (Appx. price of the Polo TSI) in Bangalore was a steal when compared to the others. Even Renault's final offer of Rs 15.65 Lakhs OTR for the top end AWD could not change my mind. My top concerns on the Micra which were comfort, lack of safety features and space were all addressed handsomely by the new Ertiga Automatic VXi.
The waiting: Took me 31 days to get my car from Garuda Autocraft after many nerve wracking and desperate attempts to know the status of my booking through various channels within Maruti. Even now, the car is simply not available readily anywhere and some of my friends who tried booking it were left disappointed.
The car:
This is a car that is built to be practical in most ways. It seats 7 luxuriously, and I will include the third row of seats when I say this with all responsibility. It drives very well, very smoothly and is an epitome of convenience. It is not a car for the pure driving enthusiasts or the speed demons. It is an awesome deal for those with growing families who love to take their kids, their relatives and their dog along with them. It is a car for those who love going on family outings and for shopping! The driving position is very comfortable though the lack of driver seat height adjuster in the VXi option in which the automatic is available in, can cause back pains to those whose physical structure does not suit the fixed height that Maruti has decided for its customers.
The Ertiga automatic is very convenient to drive, comfortable to seat and very economical for a petrol automatic that weighs in at over a ton. It is smooth to its very core, solid in its bearings and extremely pleasant in its interiors. All controls fall into your hands very conveniently. The audio and Bluetooth controls on the steering are delightful. The quality of the audio itself is far from satisfactory.
The never satisfied motorist in me will always ask for more in terms of an engine in the leagues of the Mobilio, an automatic in the leagues of the Polo/Vento and a ZXi trim to choose from. Phew! If wishes were horses, I would definitely ride.
I have had this baby for less than a month (19th December was when I got to take delivery) but have been able to cover over 1300 kms due to my long trip with family and cousins to Agumbe in Karnataka. Before that I had driven around 300 kms in and around Bangalore and was very satisfied with the performance and drive-ability in the city. The shock absorbers are definitely not the best one could have hoped for and are typically Maruti.
The convenience of the automatic are simply there for one to enjoy. Its a unit that does its job well for being a torque converter by design. It's upshifts and downshifts happen in decent time and at no stage did I find the unit unpleasant or discomforting at the least.
The car handles very well in the winding western ghats with the only fly in the ointment being the thick A pillar. The steering is soft and comfortable with adequate feedback though I feel the Micra was a notch or two above in terms of sheer smoothness of the unit. The highway mileage is astoundingly high at 17+ kmpl. City mileage is something that I will in the future give more inputs on, but at the moment its around 8 kmpl using normal petrol (At Shell) and 10+ kmpl using Shell's V-Power which is a good 8 INR costlier at Rs 72 compared to the normal petrol that costs Rs 64. The braking is very good and at no point did the ABS kick in uncomfortably either too early or too late which has been a common complaint with some other cars discussed on this forum.
The interiors of the car are very pleasant and joyful. The only challenge being the inability to keep it spick and span all the time due to its all beige color. The air conditioning is awesome though the mid row roof air conditioner tends to be very noisy.
I have explained point wise below the good and the bad of the car in the short time that I have used it. I hope it helps all potential buyers and enthusiasts to take the right call.
The Good
1. A complete package that epitomises 'Practicality' in every which way. The car excels in very few departments compared to the competition ( the seating comfort I believe trumps the competition) but the overall package is a very satisfying experience.
2. Glass area and the feeling of space in the car are simply superb.
3. Safety features of twin air-bags and ABS/EBD are in place even in this VXi version. Braking is simply very good. Even the wing mirrors are in place. However compared to the Micra where the wing mirrors would close each time I shut the car automatically, here its a manual process.
4. Convenience of the automatic is good and the response taken by the system to understand the increase in pressure on the accelerator to get the gears down or vice versa is satisfactory. In no way is it lightning quick, but it does its job reasonably well without in anyway being termed as disappointing or lethargic. Again these are very relative judgements of how one feels about these aspects and those used to DSG gearboxes may not be so charitable in their adjectives.
The D mode is tuned for early up shifting of gears and you are in overdrive very soon if you maintain a pussy foot on the accelerator. Conversely if the accelerating is hard, the gears shift only when the RPM is at around 3000 or more. Two more modes of '2' and 'L' are available for taking care of steeper climbs which I did not use in this journey much except when climbing extremely tight slopes which were very few and far in number.
5. Shell V-Power petrol is leagues ahead of other fuels when it comes to engine responsiveness and mileage. It costs a good Rs 8 more than the normal fuel (Rs 72 versus Rs 64). I started using the normal Shell petrol and the computer displayed a consistent city mileage of 7.5-7.7 kmpl. The moment I changed over to V-Power, the mileage jumped to 10.2! My travel from Bangalore to Agumbe (lots of ghat climbing to Agumbe) gave me close to 17.2-17.5 kmpl (All these numbers are based on what I see on the computer and in the previous occasion when I filled up the fuel to the neck, the numbers displayed turned out to be very accurate. With NO Shell stations outside of Bangalore (except on Mysore Road) had to fill up with IOL at Shringeri and the overall average (both up and down combined) dropped down to 15.5 kmpl. I had a full load of people on the way to Agumbe and much less when I came back. So the fall in mileage is actually much higher than it seems. Have taken an oath to continue filling up with V-Power and also carry more fuel in Shell cans than to go through the pain of filling up at Non Shell stations. If anyone has some tips on other fuels such as BPL's SPEED etc, please do share
6. Super smooth engine - PERIOD.
7. Handles very well in the winding ghat sections. No complaints. On potholes however, the vehicle bounces and one has to take care. The car weighs in at 1185 Kgs and is rock solid on the highways. Handling is definitely impressive for this form factor (MUV)
8. All controls for music and Bluetooth at a thumbs distance away on the steering. Brilliant piece of convenience. All these functions work very precisely
9. Overall NVH levels have so far been satisfactory. Again I remind readers here that I have driven noisy diesels in the past and coming back to a petrol after a very long time has been a revelation!
10. Extremely versatile in terms of how you can plan the space usage for luggage loading. Specially so in the new Ertiga where the third row of seats is a split seat.
11. The front AC performance is very good. Don't miss the Climatronic Control that I had on the Micra even for a moment.
12. Mirrors are large and visibility is awesome. Period!
The Bad:
1. The car's seats though brilliant overall, are not the best for the driver, specially in the VXi which does not have a driver seat height adjuster. I am most probably investing in one at an astronomical cost of Rs 18k.
2. The engine though rated at 91 BHP and 130 NM of torque, is not exhilarating at all. Its not a chip on my earlier Micra Diesel which raced like a monster on the highways. Getting to 100 kmph or a little over that is a good speed to achieve on this car. Though to be honest, I kept the car running at sub 100 kmph levels as it was still in the running in period of less than a 1000 kms on the odometer. However there is no desire that one can feel in the engine to be revved harder at any stage beyond this. In the city however, there is absolutely no issues even with a full load of 7 passengers.
3. Thick A pillar (it thickens at the bottom) has the potential to create serious blind spots. Had to keep stretching my neck to ensure that I did not have any accidents, specially in the winding ghat sections.
4. Quality of the audio, very pedestrian.
5. Rear door takes some skill and time to understand how to shut in one go without banging it in.
6. Fit and finish at the finer levels is not up to the mark and you see rough edges of the plastic in the areas behind the steering where the speedometer is placed as well as the glove box.. Its not too evident and visible, but for those with a keen eye, its an eyesore!
Glove Box
Speedometer area.
7. Though the car is heavy and weighs in close to 1.2 tons, it is very prone to denting.
8. No special labelling for such a special first of a kind 'Automatic MPV'. They don't even have the ABS labelling any more :eek:
9. Fabric though fantastic in quality (Its leagues ahead of the earlier version) gets very dirty, very easily.
10. Mid row AC is pretty noisy.
After Market Changes/purchases:
1. 3M mats. Simply brilliant. Costed me a bomb of Rs 7.5k but a very good investment
2. 3M polyvinyl covering for the fenders and bonnet. Too expensive at around 19k, but wanted to ensure that the face of the car is kept as pristine as humanely possible.
3. 3M under chassis treatment.
4. Door beadings and window visor.
5. Michelin XM2s (Rs 2.8k paid for the OEM MRFs and 5.65k paid per new Michelin tyre). They are super silent and smooth compared to the noisy MRFs.
6. Rear Spoiler
7. Driver seat with height adjuster proposed in the near future.
8. Goodyear Digital Air Compressor
9. 3M carpet covering plastics. No fear of dirtying the carpets in areas that the mats don't cover anymore!
10. 2 years extra warranty.
First Service Feedback:
Got the engine oil and filter changed despite Maruti telling me that it was unnecessary. Did this for my personal psychological peace! The car seats came back much dirtier than ever. Some plastics scratched as well. A dent on the door to compliment.
Other Trivia and Observations
1. The Braking system is supplied by Bosch
2. The Automatic Gear system is supplied by Aisin. Posting a few snaps here for the ones with penchant for detail!
http://www.aisin.com/product/automotive/ Open the link "Drivetrain related products" and it opens a window where you could see the same symbols as in the above snaps
3. The meters clearly indicate that Maruti has the options of ESP and Cruise put in place!
4. Bridgestone Rubber used for the AC pipings
5. The handsome front facia of the car with the much improved bumpers and chrome
6. The new VXi gets the music system of the earlier ZXi
7. There seems to be part plastic cladding protection for the underarm suspensions in the front
8. Getting into the third row of seats is not too tough
9. Lots of neat cubbyholes to keep the change.
10. Lastly, my son and me in the western ghats
Congratulations on the purchase and thanks for the detailed report. Good to see that the Ertiga AT is a competent performer. One doubt I had since its launch was how the 4 Speed AT would perform in a relatively heavy 7 seater MPV with a full load. From your experience looks like it did a pretty good job.
Did not know that the rear seats had the split option. A good essential feature for an MPV.
Interesting to note Maruti dropping the 'Auto' badge. Normally they do have it.
Wish you all the best.
Heartiest congratulations Niranjan (If I may call you so):thumbs up. Thanks for the pics and detailed description.
I would be interested to know the cost of the Goodyear Tyre inflator and the carper covering plastic from 3M. Did you buy the 3M Nomad mats? I have had some bad experience with these on my Punto eps the driver side where the carpet has gone bald at the spot where the left foot rests on the mat while depressing the clutch pedal. :Frustrati
Happy mile crunching and drive safely.
Congratulations on your car. Wish you lots of safe miles and happy memories ahead.
Nice writeup and good to see that the Automatic Ertiga comes out to be satisfactory in most departments.
I have spent about 120km of travel distance in a Ertiga and the one thing I will say is, Wow. Off course, I don't look at it as a 7 seater. The comfortable passengers are only in the first two rows. If you want to call it a 7 seater, I do believe the last row of passengers need to be at equal comfort of the front or middle row, which no 7 seater offers, not even a Toyota Innova.
Anyway; this car I was travelling in was a cab in Goa and it was a petrol. Now this was a surprise and I noticed that a majority of Ertiga cabs in Goa are petrol. I guess the lower price of gas helps. The first thing that impressed me was the overall quality of the car. The materials used are a step above the Swift. The front and middle row seats are very comfortable. Excellent air conditioning. The surprise was the 1.4l engine. It is very peppy. I was always under the impression that the engine won't cut if for the Ertiga. I was so wrong. There was one point where the cab driver pushed it to around 4500rpm in second and we hit 70 kmph in no time. Seemed to be a refined and tractable engine. The car seemed to handle quite well too, by 7 seater standards.
Excellent choice for your new family car. Good thing you picked up the AT.
Did you source the Sharp air purifier unit from Amazon?
Thanks for sharing. Nice write up.
How do you find the ground clearance on the Bengaluru Roads (or excuses for calling roads). Does this scrap them like sedans when loaded fully? Is the ground clearance better then the sedans.
AT Transmission looks more polished than the AMT that is fitted on the other cars like the Celerio, etc.
Plan to upgrade my car as well, given the Bengaluru roads plan to move from a sedan to a MPV or SUV read (XUV).
Congratulations on the new purchase and being part of the Ertiga AT Club. Very well written and no doubt its one of the practical car(s) for the growing families in many aspects you've mentioned. Cheers!
I am a die hard fan of this Car, Though I love the DDIS motor more.
Yes the facelift is much better and the car actually looks refreshing. Its also awesome to see that Maruti was still able to sell approximately 6000 units in December month, that to with no discount offers.clap:
Congrats Niranjan. Can u please tell me more about the 3m carpet protection sheet,like the cost etc and availibility. I also want it for my new ertiga ZDi+.
