Maruti Suzuki Brezza – evo fleet

Life of a motoring scribe is a lot of fun. Driving the newest cars and motorcycles every week, and travelling to all corners of the country and at times, the world for a story. We all love it but we do work our butts off to give you readers a nice story. We usually wake up before the sun rises for a photoshoot and catch up on some sleep when we are on a flight. Every now and then, we crave a leisurely vacation, a roadtrip not too far from home, spread over a few days where we wake up late, hang up our shoes early in the evening, have a drink and chill, till the lights are out.

The Brezza has been my daily commute but last month just before the monsoons started, I got the chance to stretch its legs out on the highway. The plan was simple, drive to Coorg from Pune over two days, lodge up at a homestay for a few days and get back. With no agenda once we reached Coorg and no plans to take any detour for the touristy stuff, I was already liking the trip before it started. The Brezza on the other hand had a challenge to face – until now, the compact SUV always ran on partial load, with two or a maximum of three passengers and no luggage. So city drives never left you wanting for power. But with four occupants and a boot full of luggage, the pace wasn’t going to be quick. Luggage for four, for more than a weekend is a bit too much for the Brezza to carry.

The 1.3-litre diesel churns out 90 horsepower and 200Nm and most of it is delivered lower down the rev range. It keeps the Brezza brisk in the city, but out on the highway when it’s loaded, it takes a while to build up speed. Losing pace due to slow moving traffic like CVs and two wheelers and building all that speed takes its toll on efficiency too, with the Brezza returning an average of 15kmpl over the 2000km round trip.

What’s nice is the ride quality. Roads at this time of year are the smoothest, with freshly laid tarmac in most stretches to battle the monsoons, but there are sections where the broken bits were yet to be fixed. The supple front suspension of the Brezza and the good ground clearance meant we could cross over all that was in store without much effort. The stiff rear setup however gives the rear passengers a less comfortable ride. It is however an easy car to take anywhere, small enough to be nimble and sturdy enough for a comfortable long trip.

Date acquired: April 2016
Duration of test: 4 months
Total mileage: 6,820km
Mileage this month: 3,267km
Overall kmpl: 15.0kmpl
Costs this month: Nil