The Maruti Brezza arrived in the MotorBeam long term fleet just at the right time because my other long termer (incidentally that one also has a 1.5 petrol engine, but turbo) had gone back to its manufacturer for a few days for an event. I had planned a trip to Shirdi with my family and the Brezza arrived just two days prior, so I decided to head out in this car itself.
We got the top-of-the-line ZXi+ Dual Tone variant with the automatic transmission. I was really looking forward to the drive because this new gen Brezza has skin-deep changes and a lot of major upgrades so I wanted to experience the car properly since the first drive event happened a few months back in Chennai.
We left from Mumbai early in the morning and we were just three of us with a small bag for some water bottles and snacks because we weren’t planning on staying overnight anyway. I paired my phone to the vehicle’s infotainment, filled up the tank to the brim and off we went. Shirdi is around 250 kms from my place and I drove over roads of different types. There were potholes and broken patches at a lot of places and I really appreciated the ride quality which felt comfier than the erstwhile Vitara Brezza.
The audio system kept us entertained during the drive. While the touchscreen is much improved compared to the older 7-inch screen, the speakers and tweeters are average and you really need to fine tune the equaliser settings. The cabin of the Brezza is extremely practical though, there’s enough space for all passengers and Maruti has given a number of storage areas too.
I hit the highway pretty soon and after Bhiwandi the stretch was quite good barring a few unexpected potholes. I was driving the Brezza in a very relaxed manner and it does feel comfy doing speeds of 80-100 km/hr but when you wish to extract some punch is when you realise how lazy the engine feels. You really need to rev hard and push the car to make some quick overtakes and even during outright acceleration the Brezza feels a bit slow to respond.
It is good that Maruti replaced the ageing 4-speed gearbox with a new 6-speed unit which is very smooth but again it is more suited towards relaxed driving. You do get a manual mode which can be used with the paddle-shifters but there is no tiptronic mode. The K15C delivers amazing fuel economy though. I left from home with the DTE showing 623 kms and after covering 175 kms, the DTE was still 578. However, these numbers do drop when you rev hard, and you often have to do that on the highways.
It was a Sunday but the roads were surprisingly empty. I had fun driving on the Kasara Ghat section and we made it to Shirdi by 11 AM. None of us were even remotely tired because the car kept us really comfortable. The seats are very nicely-shaped and even though there’s only basic fabric upholstery in the cabin (no leatherette), the seats feel quite nice.
We finished our temple visit, had a quick lunch and left for Mumbai at 2 PM with an aim to reach home by 8 PM which we did. The AC was cooling the cabin really well on this hot afternoon and by the time I reached home, the trip meter was showing 509 kms and the DTE was 103 kms. The LED lights are quite strong at night and my family appreciated the car overall.
After this trip, the car has been assigned for shoot duties at the MotorBeam office though I still drive it occasionally. My colleague Javeid has been dailying the car now because he also owns a Vitara Brezza so his insights in the next report will be quite interesting to know. Until then, drive safe.
