New Maruti Brezza 2022: Observations after a day of driving

On the open road, the Maruti Brezza is more of a sedate cruiser than an outright performer. Flooring the A-pedal gets it to the 6,200 rpm redline, but it's more noise than progress.

Driving the 1.5L Petrol AT

1.5L DualJet petrol engine produces 102 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 137 Nm @ 4,400 rpm:

The 2022 Maruti Brezza is powered by a 1,462 cc, naturally aspirated K15C DualJet petrol engine that puts out 102 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 137 Nm @ 4,400 rpm. These figures are slightly lower than the outgoing K15B unit (103 BHP & 138 Nm).

So, what's new in this 'C' version? The engine has a new head, dual-injection ports, dual VVT, and revised internals. To be more precise, now there are two injectors (Dual Jet) per cylinder that spray fuel into the combustion chamber. Having two injectors leads to better atomisation and thereby, cleaner combustion. This also means that the engine is running at a higher compression ratio than before. VVT or variable valve timing adjusts the valve timing to increase fuel efficiency and in a 'dual' VVT system, both intake and exhaust valves are adjusted to maximise fuel efficiency and performance.

Additionally, the Smart Hybrid system also receives an upgrade, with a higher capacity secondary Li-ion battery providing longer assist during acceleration and improved regeneration off-throttle. The revisions and hardware upgrades seem focused on fuel efficiency and emission management, rather than extracting outright performance. Maruti expects this engine to help it to meet CAFE norms under BS6.2 and future flex-fuel requirements. The 2022 Brezza also gets an Aisin-sourced 6-speed torque converter AT in place of the 4-speed unit of the outgoing car. The 6-speed AT has two modes - Drive (D) & Manual (M). There are no '2' or 'L' modes like the old 4-speed AT. Paddle shifters have been provided as well.

The engine is refined at idle, and crawls off from a standstill without throttle input in D. Throttle response is good when you get off the line. The engine, surprisingly, doesn't feel as free-revving as motors of yore. Sedate throttle inputs see the Smart Hybrid's ISG motor kick in with an assist around 1,400 rpm, which continues up to 2,000 rpm before disengaging and letting the engine take over fully. Notably, battery assist only works in D mode, not in M. The engine feels reasonably quick off the line getting up to ~20 km/h, no doubt aided by a little battery boost, but acceleration tapers off noticeably post the initial eagerness. With light and medium throttle inputs, you can get around the city smoothly. While driving in the city you will notice the gearbox is very eager to upshift. You will reach top gear early without even noticing the upshifts. Keeping up with the traffic and closing the gaps is not difficult as the gearbox is pretty responsive. Floor the throttle and the AT drops down a couple of gears, and you're off. However, every time you do this, you will find the revs on the higher side, which will be annoying for your passengers. Lift off the throttle completely to let the vehicle coast and you'll find that the downshifts are very much noticeable. You can feel a slight jerk every time the gearbox drops a gear. So, keep your throttle inputs smooth and you will get by in the city traffic smoothly and comfortably. 

On the open road, the Brezza is more of a sedate cruiser than an outright performer. Flooring the A-pedal gets it to the 6,200 rpm redline, but it's more noise than progress. Gear ratios 5 and 6 are too tall. The latter, especially, is muted - so much so, that flooring the throttle in 6th gear essentially does nothing. Mid-range and outright performance are average. Therefore, overtaking slower vehicles will necessitate shifting down a gear or two, especially on an undivided highway. What the engine and gearbox are great for though, is relaxed cruising. Cruising at 80 km/h in 6th gear sees the engine spinning at ~1,750 rpm, while 100 km/h is seen at ~2,000 rpm.

Engage M mode and the only noticeable change is the motor holding the revs at the redline without upshifting. Progress is still sedate, and this car is obviously not getting anywhere in a hurry. M mode is best used for the occasional undivided highway jaunt, or driving up/down a hill where holding a lower gear is necessary for control & safety. Don't expect a peppy throttle response, whichever mode you're in. All in all, the power delivery is very linear. People who have driven a turbo-petrol engine will find this naturally aspirated engine to be unexciting.

Driving the 1.5L Petrol MT

The K15C motor is also available with a 5-speed manual transmission on the 2022 Brezza. The performance of the MT is largely identical to that of the AT though there are a few differences. The MT feels slightly peppier in lower gears and accelerates better in the mid-range.

In the city, where speeds are lower and you don't need a lot of revs, the MT is very easy to drive. Low-end performance is good and you can even take off in 2nd gear from a standstill and your passengers won't even notice. There is always enough pep to keep up with traffic. The engine has good drivability too and you can potter around in the city in higher gears at low speeds as well to save some fuel. Even the MID will tell you to upshift to 5th gear when you reach 45 km/h. The MT too has the Smart Hybrid system. We saw it still assisting till 3,000 rpm. However, the regeneration is less aggressive in the MT vs the AT.

On the highway, the Brezza MT's performance remains sedate. The Brezza is strictly a relaxed cruiser with nothing for the enthusiast. It's best to enjoy cruising at speeds of 80-100 km/h. What CrAzY dRiVeR and I didn't appreciate was that the engine revs at 3,000 rpm at 100 km/h, which is on the higher side. At this rpm, the motor feels like it's work hard and your passengers will feel that you are doing a higher speed than you actually are. The AT felt way more relaxed cruising at 100 km/h than the MT. Try to pull off a sudden overtake and the lack of grunt is apparent. This necessitates aggressive downshifting. The excess engine noise at higher revs just makes things worse. Even while climbing steeper bridges at 80 km/h, I found myself shifting from 5th to 4th gear.

Overall, the 5-speed box's shift quality is acceptable. However, in today's time and age Maruti should have given it a 6th cog for efficiency and more relaxed cruising. One less cog means the car cruises at a few hundred revs higher. The clutch is on the lighter side like most Maruti petrol cars and its travel isn't very long either.

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

Overall, there is an improvement in NVH levels compared to the outgoing car. The cabin is silent while driving around in the city. On the highways though, at higher revs, the engine noise will be disturbing for the car's occupants. Wind noise starts creeping in over 80 km/h and is quite noticeable at 100 km/h. No noticeable vibrations were felt anywhere in the car during our test drive.

Mileage & Fuel economy

As mentioned earlier, the new engine is more FE-focussed. The 2022 Brezza with the 1.5L petrol and the 6-speed AT has an ARAI rating of 19.80 km/l, which is a significant improvement over the outgoing car's 18.76 km/l. The LXI and VXI variants with the 5-speed MT have an FE of 20.15 km/l, while the ZXI and ZXI+ variants have an FE of 19.89 km/l. This is also an improvement over the previous MT's fuel efficiency figure of 17.03 km/l. The car's fuel tank capacity is 48 litres.

Suspension

Ride Comfort

The Brezza comes with a MacPherson strut suspension at the front and a torsion beam with coil springs at the rear. The Brezza has always had a compliant suspension setup that was comfort-oriented and it continues to be the same here as well. Low-speed ride quality is absorbent and the Brezza soaks bumps and potholes nicely.  Moreover, the suspension works silently too when going over bumps. Big potholes are felt sharply in the cabin though. Over a patch of bad road, there's a lot of side-to-side movement and bounciness as well.

The Brezza rides on 16-inch wheels with 215/60 section tyres. The recommended tyre pressure is 33 PSI. You won't really find the need to lower it down as the car rides well in the city as well as on the highway.

Handling & Dynamics

Overall handling characteristics are very neutral and predictable. Straight line stability is good and cruising on the highways is quite comfortable. There's a hint of vertical movement at speed, but it's not unsettling. Around a long corner, at speeds that most people will be driving, the Brezza holds its line well. However, there's noticeable understeer as well when you start pushing hard. so we'd suggest keeping things within limits. Turn into a corner sharply and body roll is quite evident. Given the height of the car, you will want to avoid carrying too much speed into a corner. The 215/60 R16 MRF Wanderer EcoTred tyres on out test car provided adequate grip.

Steering

The electric power steering in the Brezza light and very user-friendly in the city. As you gain speed, the steering weighs up nicely and there's no nervous feeling or twitchiness at all while cruising on the highways. On the twisty roads, you will find that it's not very direct and doesn't relay much feedback. Sedate driving is what the Brezza is good at.   

Braking

The Brezza gets ventilated disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. They work as expected & stopping ability is par for the course. Under hard braking too, the SUV doesn't lose its composure.

Niggles & Problems

While we haven't heard of many issues with this 1.5L petrol engine, Maruti had issued a recall in connection with the motor regeneration unit some time back.  With the new tech in place, it's best to safeguard yourself with the maximum extended warranty coverage.