[ashis89]

Two months ago, RoadRunner (An "adopted" blue eyed boy | Pre-owned Maruti WagonR | EDIT: 13 years, 96000 km and SOLD!) went away and in came a new dude to take it's place - Maruti Suzuki Brezza VXI MT. Bigger, stronger, better in every possible way than the outgoing car.....or is it?

The yellow eyed boui!


The Good
- Simple and reliable NA engine which is E20 compliant
- Refined engine with good low end performance
- Good fuel efficiency
- Light steering and light clutch make it a breeze to drive in the city
- Standard safety features and based on a safe platform

The Bad
- Engine doesn’t revv as cleanly as the predecessor
- Engine runs out of breath fairly quickly along the rev range
- Seats are not comfortable
- Headlight throw is average
- A super boring design in a sea of swanky cars
- Steering doesn’t return to centre post a turn
- Limited suspension travel

And the Ugly…
- Cost cutting in the interiors and exteriors is clearly evident
- Uneven fit and finish in many areas
- Criminal act of adding rear seat belt reminders without providing any weight sensors

[ashis89]

Requirements and Purchase decision

The outgoing car, fondly called as RoadRunner, was a WagonR inching towards its 13th year. In the last few years, it had covered fewer kms but had suffered some bruises and felt its age. My father is the primary user and he loved the WagonR. It was compact, had upright seating and easy to drive. With excellent visibility, it was a breeze to pilot around in narrow busy roads. Being an old car, he didn’t flinch when the car got a few bruises. And it was a Maruti. All the features worked without fail and local Maruti dealer Sky Auto took good care of it. Also the usage was a 1000 kms per annum, maybe 2.

Why change something that ain’t broken?

The car felt its age. The windshield had picked up scratches which caused a lot of glare while driving at night. The interiors rattled on bad roads. The paint had picked up scratches as well. The lack of low end torque on the K10 engine made the city drive frustrating at times. Fixable issues but spending 50k on a 13 year old car didn’t make sense. Also the car felt small at times when we were full house.

- Should have more space than the WagonR yet not too big for daily use
- Should be easy to drive with good visibility all around
- Should have a strong AC to beat the humid climate
- Should have good driveability with good low end torque
- Should have rear camera, parking sensors
- Should be a Maruti and should be a manual (father’s clear requirements but more on that later)

Then why not another used car?

It had to be a new car. My father’s first car was a used 2 yr old M800 (back then needed a car immediately without waiting period) which stayed with us for 11 years. The second car was the used 2 yr old WagonR (saw a good deal and I bought my first car) which stayed with us for another 10+ years. This time I wanted a new car for him. One should experience the feel of a new car atleast once in life. This had to be it.

Contenders:

Baleno/Swift: My father was impressed by the Baleno as it was a popular model, spacious and looked good. But I have spent considerable time with this model and I suggested the Swift instead. Same engine, upright seating and better visibility. He agreed.

Dzire: After agreeing on Swift, he said he should get a DZire instead which is a slightly bigger but a sedan. But it is old and from a dying segment. His current office ride is a WagonR or a yellow plate Dzire and too common on our roads. And he also experienced that the new Dzire is not comfortable on longer trips.

Jimny: Some time last year when Maruti announced discounts on the Jimny, I pitched the idea to him on a Sunday afternoon – how about getting a Jimny? He never heard of the model and was curious. So I sent him few pictures of the Jimny. Minutes later he calls me back and says that the Jimny was a Maruti Bolero. A Bolero SLX was his ride for many years when he was in service. He can’t drive such a car as his personal ride. End of discussion.

Brezza: A few months ago, I drove a Zoomcar Urban Cruiser on a 600 km trip, on good and bad roads. I have also driven the S-Cross petrol for 2000+ kms as well as TDed the Ciaz petrol which has the previous K15 series engine. I knew the engine was perfect for city use and managed to do the job on the highway. And the Brezza felt like a bigger and more comfortable WagonR which addressed all its shortcomings. My father was surprised to know the Brezza was marginally costlier than a Dzire. His thought was that the car is successful in the market, sold/serviced by Maruti, looked good, was reasonably priced and hence, a good choice.

Grand Vitara was another option but it would be big for a small city use. Given the use case of 1-2 people using it within the city on most occasions, GV would be an overkill. Some suggested to checkout the Fronx as it was the new SUV on the block but I could never digest its looks. The smaller engine was another factor so we never checked the car in the first place.
Other brands didn’t stand a chance as it had to be a Maruti after all.

So Brezza was finalized. Father wanted me to book the car but I forced him to take a test drive first. And yes, only Brezza was test driven, rest were struck off on paper.


Variant and color

This was easy to decide. White was dull, red and blue were too loud, khaki was an oddball, black was unavailable in the lower variants. Between grey and silver, the latter was preferred by all of us unanimously.

Among the variants, I chose the VXI as it had all the essential features that we were looking for and then some more. ABS, airbags, ESP, rear head-rests, rear ac vents and an Android Auto equipped head unit were important. Hill Hold Assist, automatic climate control, power folding mirror and steering mounted audio controls were bonus features.

[ashis89]

Test Drive Experience

Checked online for the nearby dealers and booked a home TD visit. A week went by and nothing happened. Then reached out to few contacts in a local dealership, Sky Automobiles and asked to get me a test drive. That did the trick and I got a call from the sales team asking when they can come for TD. Any morning worked for my father and me but they should call in advance and come. So they offered to come the very next day and also confirmed that we are looking for a manual car.

Next day they arrive in a red dual tone Brezza ZXI+ AT. I wasn’t sure how else could I have been more clear about needing a manual car. Nevertheless, we went for a short drive. Asked the driver and SA to drive while me and my parents got on the rear bench. It was a squeeze but doable. Leg space worked for us and the rear AC vent too. Next, I asked them to get us a manual car only.

Next day, the team got a manual Brezza ZXI+ in the same dual tone shade. I did a TD for 0.2 km (not a typo) and got my answers. Then I handed over the car to my father and asked him to go on a longish TD with the driver. Meanwhile, me and the SA walked back the 200 meters to discuss about exchange offer and price.


Booking and delivery

The SA from Sky was a very nice guy. Brezza was one of the rare models not running any discounts but he mentioned he will try for the best deal possible since he knew I came from a reference. They also had the car readily available in stock. If I booked today, they could deliver it in 2-3 days.

On the other hand, my father found some contacts at another MS dealer, Jyote Motors. Jyote promised my father to match and better the deal that we already had from Sky. So finally, I paid the token 11k and booked the car on Jan 20 2024, with Jyote - a Splendid Silver Brezza VXI MT. Delivery was promised within Jan and we were in no hurry. I also explained the situation to the Sky team and thanked them for their diligence.

No hurry is fine but I wanted to know a tentative date when the car would be available. We were in February and Jyote only had one thing to say always – disruption at MS plant and hence, dispatch is delayed and he would confirm in 2 days. Those 2 days never came after a few follow-ups. My father was irked as well. I spoke to friend who confirmed there are no issues with Brezza dispatch.

I didn’t like this opaque, unethical approach. So on Feb 15 2024, I called up the Sky team and asked if a silver Brezza was still available with them. That piece was already sold but they were ready to place an order immediately and get it dispatched from factory in the current lot. Promptly paid the booking amount and booked the same variant with Sky. Over the few days, I was apprised of the status of the car arrival. The SA came and collected the cheque from home.

On Feb 22 2024, the new car was delivered at my parent’s place after duly registered, HSRP and basic accessories fitted. All this, within 7 days and everything done from home. We got some cash discounts, accessories and better exchange price for the RoadRunner. They got a cake for my parents to celebrate the new car. Then they took away the old car on the same day after delivering the new one. Overall, the experience with Sky was very good. Their service team had been maintaining the outgoing WagonR for several years now and we should have stuck with them in the first place.



Meanwhile I cancelled the booking with Jyote and the amount was credited 1.5 months later after following up once.

[ashis89]

Engine and performance

This variant comes with K15C 1.5L petrol engine which is E20 compliant. It doesn't have the Smart Hybrid setup. Press the clutch and then, you can crank the engine. When cold, the engine is audible but smooth. When warmed up, the note is barely audible at low revs. I haven't pushed it much yet but the engine wasn't 'loud' at higher rpms.

The engine is tuned for low end response and that manifests in city drive. Slot into 1st(or even 2nd) and release the clutch, the car moves away smoothly. Just like a diesel, this petrol car can climb mall slopes with little or no accelerator input. Our apartment has a rather steep ramp up from a narrow road which requires a sharp 90 deg turn and climb. This car climbs without any A input and no momentum.

In the city, the short gearing means the car doesn’t ask for downshifts. I could potter around at 20 kmph in the 3rd/4th gear or 40 kmph in 5th gear. Out on the highway, the car is quick until 80-90 kmph before the power starts tapering off. Just like the WagonR, it can do 100 kmph@3000 rpm. Short gearing means the car feels quick in the city traffic. Keep the RPM below 2.5k, the car remains peppy but very silent. For my father, this is an upgrade from the WagonR which was lethargic at times and also bogged down by the AC running at all times.

The clutch is super light. I covered 100+ kms on multiple days in city/highway conditions and never had a reason to complain. The gearshift is acceptable with a hint of resistance at times. That 6th is always missed on the highway.

Engine bay doesn't have any paint






Air intake is at the front




Bonnet has an insulation








The underbody guard barely extends 1 feet beyond the radiator





Fuel economy

The engine is tuned for fuel economy and that shows in the performance but also while visiting the fuel bunk. This variant doesn’t come with any hybrid assist. Drive sedately and I could see 25+ kmpl on the MID. After driving for 500 kms (70% city/30% highway, 100% AC with idling time), the MID was showing 17.4 kmpl. T2T numbers were 15.8 kmpl. That's a usable range of 500 kms at least. This could improve as the engine opens up further but for a 1.5L NA petrol, I was expecting much less.



Suspension

It is a soft pliant suspension which is good for the city. Sharp bumps are felt with a jolt but smaller ones are masked well in silence. Out on the highway, the body roll can be felt and so does the vertical movements, due to the soft suspension. I felt less comfortable driving this aggressively than my Seltos.

The rear suspension travel is sub-par. In axle bender situations, the rear tyre can lift up easily. Our parking is the first one next to the boundary wall while the parking space itself is 3ft above the road. While taking the car out, one has to take a sharp right turn onto the gradual ramp down to the road. The Brezza almost invariably lifts it rear left wheel while taking the turn whereas my Seltos never did so.

The underbody is clean without any protrusions and the ground clearance is better than the Seltos. That said, the small plastic underbody guard is barely of any help.

Steering and brakes

Steering is feather light and good for city use and a boon at parking speeds. But the steering lacks feedback and feels lifeless on the highway. It doesn’t return to centre post a turn and that’s another drawback. I was expecting the car to have a tight turning radius given the smaller footprint but I find it no better than my longer and wider Seltos.

It has the new trending flat bottom steering


ESP button available to the right of the steering wheel. Aftermarket fog lamp and headlight leveler buttons are also seen in the pic


Brakes are progressive and provide good feedback. Unlike the Koreans, the ABS is well calibrated. Tyres are wide 215/60 R16 MRF Wanderer Ecotred. This is probably the only Maruti where the company provides the same size of tyres from base till the top model. Spare wheel is also of the same make and size, fitted on steel wheels like other 4 tyres. The MRFs are loud on the highway.

Car comes with a dead-pedal which I am used to know and find comfortable

[ashis89]

Seating

I had one major concern with the old Brezza – limited front seat travel. My legs used to hit the dashboard even with the seat pushed back to the maximum. Thankfully that’s resolved in the new Brezza or we would have had to chuck this car out from the shortlist. With the front seat set according to my comfort, I can get in the rear seat with my knees raring to touch the front seat back.

The front seats themselves are not too comfortable. They are narrower than my Seltos and have less than ideal thorasic+lumbar support. Unlike my Seltos, I would mind spending 6-8 hours in this seat. That said, the underthigh support is good. The rear seats are hard and lack contours but have decent underthigh support.










Interiors and Controls

I would call it functional. This variant has all black interiors with few bits of grey and silver. Apart from twin cup holders, there's ample storage space below the AC controls. There's a 12v 120W outlet and a USB port (connected to AA or Carplay).

Close view of the patterns on the dashboard






Doors open wide open




There's a hook available beside the grab handle



There are bottle holders on all 4 doors which can hold standard 1L bottles. Apart from this, the front doors have additional space for random items.

This variant doesn't have variable intermittent wipers. There's a separate switch to turn on the fog lamps when the headlight or parking lights are on. We also have two chopsticks on either side of the instrument cluster, to toggle the view on the MID!






Head unit

A basic unit with 4 speakers which supports wired Android Auto and Apple Carplay. With the little time I spent with it, the system was bug-free. Sound output is decent for a stock unit. But the screen sticks out as a sore thumb from the dashboard and looks aftermarket.

On the left spoke of the steering wheel, one gets volume, Next, Previous, Mute and Mode buttons. The volume toggle button lacks feedback. There's an island behind the steering with 3 more buttons - call receive, disconnect and voice command. The receive and disconnect buttons feel different when touched. Needs some getting used to after which, one car operate without looking at them. Rear camera is connected to the HU and the display is clear.



Camera from the ZXI variant flush fit above the number plate



The AC and volume controls are amber back-lit at night.






AC

From the limited time spent with the car, I found the AC to be very good although the blower is noisy. The rear blowers also do a decent job of keeping the rear passengers happy.


Fit and finish

This was a big disappoint for me. The parts could be durable but they sure aren’t finished well. There are panel gaps in the side cladding and interior panels. Some panels have sharp edges too. The AC buttons are ill-fitted. My benchmark was my Seltos and this one is far behind in terms of F&F.

Note the misaligned AC button. It is loose but works fine


Another misaligned panel





The cuts in the front wheel well, probably for ventilation, look like it was done by a kid for their school project.


And a kid could press the rear bumper with their their little finger!


Boot

The boot is spacious and an inch below the loading lip. The wheel wells eat space on either sides but the boot height and depth is sufficient for longer trips. The rear hatch is straighter than the previous gen Brezza which allows big suitcases to be kept in standing position. The old model didn't allow that.





There are deep pockets on either sides of the boot where one can store knick-knacks for easy access. No boot light on this variant.

The spare wheel is placed below the boot tray with the tow hooks and spanner on either side. The tray itself is very thin just like our WagonR which ‘broke’ when I had placed an empty cylinder its boot one day.







Tyres are Jan '24 make


Handle to pull the hatch down

[ashis89]

Cost

The VXI MT costs 11.25L on-road, Bhubaneswar. This includes insurance and 5-yr extended warranty as well. After exchanging the old car and also opting for some accessories, we ended up paying 10L.

Accessories

Maruti offers a huge variety of accessories for Brezza, especially the body kits. My SA suggested I could opt for a few of them but I was reluctant. These kits are stuck on the body using tape which could come off in the long run and will look ugly. Didn't opt for any such kits, chrome or cladding.

I was skeptical about the LED fog lamp as well. They are known not to be very functional and would look odd with the halogen headlamps. But got them fitted eventually. This is the whole of accessories that we opted for:

1. Seat cover (not recommended)
2. Steering cover
3. 3D cabin mats
4. Mud flaps
5. Rear camera (MGA from ZXI variant)
6. Fog lamps
7. Rear parcel tray

I have custom stitched seat cover on my Seltos (and the outgoing WagonR). In comparison, the fit and finish of the MGA seat cover is not upto the mark. I didn’t have time to look for a reliable place which can stitch a good seat cover and opted for these to start with.

[ashis89]

Other observations

- Maruti has enabled seat belt reminders for all 5 seats. But the weight sensors are present in front seats only. That means the belts for the rear seats have to be buckled up even if no one is seated there. This defeats the whole purpose of seat belts as people tend to sit on the belts at all times.

And it was very confusing the first couple of days, trying to figure out why the car was beeping. One day, I dropped of my sister who was on the rear seat and had belt on. She unbuckled the belt, stepped out and left. I start driving and the car starting chiming. It was heavy traffic and I had to finally find a spot to park, go to the rear seat and put the belt back on the empty seat.

The rear seat belts are always fixed. I see this in most new Maruti's on the road



- Lights: The projectors with halogen bulbs are just enough for city use. If I were to use it frequently on the highways, I would explore options for upgrade. The LED fog lamp has limited throw.

Projector headlight with halogen bulb and halogen bulb indicator


Close look at the projector


And the LED fog lamp (it is actually a round unit but with a capsule like reflector)


Only fog


Low beam + fog


High beam + fog



Tail lights are supposed to be LED and have a funky design


They are less bright than the LED lamps of the previous Brezza



- The VXI variant comes with a single cabin light, present at the centre of the car. The smaller WagonR had two of them at either ends of the car!

- The dual horn is not too meek and gets the job done. Just like the predecessor, the car has a cut-out on the bumper to show the horn


- Having seen it in the Seltos, my father was interested in the Android auto so he could see Maps on the go. He learnt the trick and has used it a couple of times already.

- The height adjustable seat helped me get a slightly better seating posture. Raised to the maximum helped me get some more underthigh support.

- I had an aftermarket handrest on the WagonR and OE one on my Seltos. They are too good and me/father use them at all times. Unfortunately, this variant of Brezza missed out on handrest. I enquired about getting the parts but the dealer wasn't sure what I was talking about. So I left it for now.

- WagonR had power mirrors. Brezza has power fold option as well. Helps in occasional tight spots.



- MID displays time, outside temperature and only one other information from the list of avg. FE, real time FE, trip meter A, trip meter B, Odometer and Range. There are 2 chopsticks to poke the MID to show the next possible info. This is frustrating. With the real estate available on the LCD, at least 2 more info could be displayed full time.

Avg. FE after driving 650 kms


Range


Real time FE


Odo reading


Trip meter


- Many people who saw the Brezza, mistook it for my Seltos. Similar silhouette, similar color.

- Some of my father's friends asked him why he didn't go for an automatic. He forgot why and asked me one day if the automatic variant was very expensive. I told him it was not. Then I reminded him that he wanted to continue driving a manual car because he was capable and enjoyed driving one.

- I was home for a week some time after the new car was delivered. It was a very busy one and I ended up driving it for 600 kms. Since then, it has run another couple hundred only and undergone the first free service. My father is comfortable driving it now but doesn't get much opportunity to drive it.

All the pictures I have were captured in hurry and are not the best clicks. I clicked them when I was out running errands and waiting in the car. It is no looker. Just a safe boring design.





I got to wash-n-wax it once. Got the Turtle liquid wax and the Turtle Seal-n-Shine to try









RoadRunner

A couple of days post delivery, I had been to Sky dealer showroom to collect some documents. Their TrueValue yard is on the adjacent plot. I was curious to see my first car, one last time. Among 40-50 cars, there were 7 WagonRs, 4 of them in the same Breeze blue color. Right in the middle was my ex-car. Two prospective customers were checking it out with their families and hence, I couldn’t get a good look. Afterall, it was no longer mine. I just left, a little sad. Within a month, the ownership had been changed.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of cars have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also gone here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[nsbhagwat]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Accessories

I was skeptical about the LED fog lamp as well. They are known not to be very functional and would look odd with the halogen headlamps. But got them fitted eventually.

6. Fog lamps

Hi Ashish, which brand of LED foglamps did you fit? Was it MGA from ZXI version or third party? What was the cost? Please do let me know.

Regards
Nikhil

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by nsbhagwat

Hi Ashish, which brand of LED foglamps did you fit? Was it MGA from ZXI version or third party? What was the cost? Please do let me know.

Regards
Nikhil

These are MGA from ZXI+. Cost about 6k for the pair.

[som2024]

Very good review.
Wondering why MUL engineers do not rectify Steering doesn’t return to centre post a turn!

[indivic]

Hi Ashish,

Would you have any update about the mileage figures of the Brezza?

Thanks

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by indivic

Hi Ashish,

Would you have any update about the mileage figures of the Brezza?

Thanks

The car resides in my hometown and sees very few kms every month. The one time it went on a ~600 km trip, the FE was 15.xx kmpl (driven sedately on a mix of 2 lane, 4 lane and ghat roads, with 4 adults and 100% AC). The others are very short trips within the city and my father doesn't calculate the FE. I can share another update when I go home next month and spend a couple of weeks with the Brezza.

[Trueno]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Maruti has enabled seat belt reminders for all 5 seats. But the weight sensors are present in front seats only. That means the belts for the rear seats have to be buckled up even if no one is seated there. This defeats the whole purpose of seat belts as people tend to sit on the belts at all times.

If your Android HU is a Smartplay system, then you can disable the seatbelt reminders through settings.