News

13000 km & a year with my Grand Vitara: 4 pros, 4 cons & real world FE

17th October 2023, 08:03 by Dev Shah

Though the ergonomics like seat comfort is good, the ergonomics in my Etios Liva were better.

BHPian DImPo recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My Grand Vitara Zeta 6AT will be 1 year old in another 10 days and here is my short review after about 1 year and 13000 KM of usage. My earlier ride was a Etios Liva Petrol.

Pros:

The seating position is higher and ride quality is good
Very good fuel economy - I used to get 15KMPL in Highway and 13 KMPL in City in my earlier drive. Despite being heavier and a bigger 1.5 L engine, GV gives around 20 KMPL in Highway and around 16 KMPL in City.
GV's Engine is more refined and silent than Liva's engine
Engine Stop Start and regenerative braking is the secret to better mileage in City.

Cons:

Though the ergonomics like seat comfort is good, the ergonomics in my Etios Liva were better.
Quality of windshield wiper is not as good as in Liva (even though Liva had a single wiper)
The service quality of Maruti Nexa is not good as compared with Toyota. For my 10 K service, I preferred the Maruti Suzuki Arena Service centre instead of Nexa and it was OK.
The driver side Nexa accessory mat was placed without provision for locking. After taking up couple to times, the dealer arranged for the safety locks.

There has not been any issue with the vehicle till now. Installed Viofo A139 Pro 1 Channel Dash cam which I consider a must nowadays. Thinking of adding a Rear camera also.

The details of the fuel efficiency in my last two long trips:

Chennai - Tuticorin - Chennai (1190 KM, 95% highway, Average Speed 75 KMPL, FE- 19.1 KMPL)

Started off from my home near Thiruvanmiyur at 5:45 AM and reached Tuticorin at 2 PM and started by return journey at 3:45 PM and reached home at 11:45 PM. Had one break each way for breakfast/ dinner approx 20 Minutes each. So 1190 KM covered in approx 16 hours at a average speed of 75 KMPH despite some rains in between. With 2 passengers including me, the average fuel economy was 19.1 KMPL as per MID and 19.2 KMPL on Tank Full basis(1190 KM, 62 Litres)

Chennai - Venkatagiri - Chennai ( 355 KM, 70% highway, 15% peak hour B2B traffic, 15% Early morning city traffic Average Speed- 45 KMPH, FE-19.3 KMPL)
Started at 6:30 AM from home (south Chennai) and crossed chennai city in early morning traffic, reached Venkatagiri at 10 AM. MID Displayed a FE of 20.4 KMPL for 172 KM.

Return journey started at 3:45 PM and reached home at 8:15 PM after enduring B2B peak hour traffic from Redhills to Thiruvanmiyur. Overall FE is 19.3 KMPL (as per MID)