Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza ZDi+ Final Long Term Report

Opening

The Maruti Suzuki Brezza during its time here at CarTrade garage was the workhorse of our long term fleet. Apart from a daily drive of almost 80km, this compact SUV has also done a multitude of Mumbai-Pune trips and of course a super duper Mumbai-Kolar-Mumbai round trip. So from 10,177 km that I got the car with in January, the Brezza has already clocked 18,571km till date. That’s a whopping 8,394km in a span of just three and a half months. That is some serious mile munching and the Brezza has taken it all in its stride with just a few rattles here and there. In its time with me, the Brezza has served well and despite a few shortcomings, I have grown quite fond of the car. But then all good things must come to an end and the time to bid goodbye to the Brezza is finally here. Here are the two good and two bad things observed during the Brezza’s final stint.

The Good

Fun to Drive

The Brezza might be a compact SUV, but thanks to a stiff suspension and light weight, it’s an absolute delight to push in the corners. The turn in is quick with minimal body roll and as a result the Brezza pretty much takes the corners flat. While there isn’t much feel in the steering it is pretty direct and darting through traffic is just a case of pointing in the gap and gassing it. Even on fast corners that we experienced during the Mumbai-Pune trips, the Brezza feels extremely confident with plenty of grip. We pretty much bill the Brezza as one of the best handling SUV’s.

Parking Delight

The Brezza might be an SUV but thanks to its minimum overhangs, there is not much that can scrape or touch. What further helps is the reversing camera which works to the T, giving a very good view even in the dark. So even if it’s a tight parking spot on the streets or a choc-a-bloc mall, parking the Brezza is no sweat at all.

The Bad

Turbo Lag

Now overall, the Brezza makes for quite a peppy runabout around town. But to make it feel peppy you’ve got to keep that turbo spinning. The moment the revs fall below 2000 rpm, the Brezza feels like it’s running on two cylinders. There is barely any juice and should you need the poke to find that gap or overtake that annoying rickshaw, downshifting is the only way to go. And then when the turbo does get spinning at 2000 rpm, there’s wheelspin and torque-steer to deal with. The DDiS unit is getting a little long in the tooth now and can do with a significant update as far as refinement and performance is concerned.

Reverse gear woes

The 5-speed gearbox on the Brezza is usually a slick shifting box with short throws making it a breeze to use. But slotting it in reverse can be a little cumbersome as we noticed. And it happens when you least expect it and in a hurry to reverse the car. The gear just won’t slot no matter what you do. The only way out is leaving it in neutral and then trying to slot it in reverse again.