Back again

The Maruti (not a Vitara anymore) Brezza returns to the CarWale long-term garage after a five-year hiatus and this time in a petrol automatic guise. If you remember, the last time around, in 2017, we had a diesel manual in the ZDi Plus trim.

This second-generation Brezza was launched in India in June of this year and it gets a host of major updates over its predecessor, the likes of which include a revised design, feature list and powertrain option. It’s of course Maruti's competitor in the hot-selling B-segment sub-four compact SUV race where there are currently 10 cars duking it out for market share and this means Maruti has brought its best weapons to the game. After all, the Brezza arrived at the right time in 2016 and went on to become one of Maruti’s most successful nameplates in the previous decade

Engine Bae

Powering this Brezza is Maruti’s 1.5-litre K15C engine producing 103bhp/136.8Nm and can be had with either a five-speed manual or a six-speed automatic (which is what we have). With an ARAI fuel efficiency figure of 19.80kmpl (combined) this Brezza automatic, on paper at least, should make light work of my 44km round trip both in terms of effort and money.

Infotainment

One of the things I’m looking forward to using is the new touchscreen infotainment which is a 9.0-inch unit running the automaker’s Smartplay Pro+ OS. It’s been mated to an ARKAMYS sound system and as a part of the larger deal even gets a head-up display. It’s actually the last one that I’m keen on using for the most part for its usefulness and partly for its novelty value. Now that the Maharashtra monsoon has passed, it will be interesting to see how this display performs in the winter sun.

Next Episode

Now that the greetings have been done and dusted, let’s get down to business and our first order will be to see how the Brezza performs in the city. We are talking about performance in traffic, ease of use of various systems while on the go, ergonomics and of course ease of parking in tight spaces. Do check back next month to see how the Maruti Brezza performed in city conditions.

Photography: Kaustubh Gandhi

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