2022 Maruti Suzuki Brezza Road Test Review – Techy, Zingy & Innovative?
Maruti Suzuki launched its 1st for India developed Compact SUV the Vitara Brezza in 2016. Since its launch the Vitara Brezza became the best selling model in its class. Now Maruti Suzuki has totally refreshed the SUV with changing times in terms of looks, features and most importantly safety. Can the 2022 Maruti Suzuki Brezza hold its dominating market position with this update or better it? We find out everything on it driving it across the lovely East Coast Road in Chennai for this road test review, read on to know all on the 2022 Brezza.
Food for Thought
Maruti Suzuki has sold more than 7.5 lakh units of the Vitara Brezza since its launch in 2016. The Vitara Brezza was unveiled at the 2016 Auto Expo and when launched it was only available in its Diesel engine option. Maruti Suzuki has dropped the Vitara name from the Brezza model with this update and they would use the Vitara name for another SUV that will be launching real soon. The Vitara Brezza was the most affordable Compact SUV in Diesel option when it was launched in 2016 priced at Rs. 6.99 lakh. MSIL launched the Brezza in 2016 with 98% of localization level which was quiet astounding. It was in 2020 that MSIL got the Petrol engine to the Brezza and discontinued the Diesel options as with all their car models due to the BS6 norms. The 2022 Brezza becomes the first car model from Maruti Suzuki to get an Electric sunroof on its equipment list and also the first compact SUV to come with an Heads-up Display too.
Exteriors
Well first things first, the 2022 Brezza with this major update now looks much more trendy, macho and muscular as compared to the outgoing model. In terms of styling the 2022 Brezza comes with a sleek design face which sports a closed front grill that’s made up of glossy grey band and chrome inserts with it. The head lamps too get extra sleek in design and sport twin LED DRL’s along with twin projector head lamps with all white glow and neatly integrated slim strip design turn indicators. The front bumper gets dual tone finish sporting a wide large faux skid plate in silver and a wide air dam. Fog lamps now come in rectangular shape with white glow in them. The bonnet retains the SUV like styling with soft character lines on it.
Coming to the sides the basic silhouette is retained with some changes. The wheel arches now get a square cut to them along with thick fiber fender cladding that also extends itself running across the lower section of the SUV finishing the bold SUV look. The top also gets a bold design roof rail finished in silver along with blacked out roof area, electric sun roof and a shark fin antenna. The fixed quarter glass now gets much larger than the older model and this makes the sides look much larger and sleeker too. The Brezza drives on 16 inch tyres with all new design diamond cut finish alloys that look pretty cool when in motion.
The rear profile is probably the most interesting and radically designed. Here what stands-out are the super sleek design LED tail lamps that are neatly infused into the body, these lights extend into the boot lid and placed between them is the BREZZA badging in chrome and large in size. The boot lid gets lots of character lines around the middle section and around the license plate section. You get the Smart Hybrid badging placed here that signifies its hybrid nature. The rear bumper also gets the dual tone treatment and sports a large faux skid plate in silver finish. Finishing off the rear section is the large integrated spoiler with stop lamp in it.
Interiors
Step inside the 2022 Brezza and you instantly spot a lot of changes, gone is the all black cabin and dash and in comes the sleek dual tone finished layered dash board with brown textured inserts around the crash pad area surrounded by silver inserts that run across it right till the centre console. The biggest highlight on the dash is the floating style 9-inch touch screen AVN system with the latest generation SmartPlay Pro+. This is the same unit seen on the XL6 and the Baleno and comes with all connectivity options which include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, 360 degree camera, FB radio, Bluetooth connectivity, voice command etc. You also get blue color ambient light on the door pads of the Brezza.
The Brezza gets a single zone climate control unit. Instrument cluster is also updated and the SUV now comes with a ana-digital system that has a large color MFD screen placed between the speedo and RPM dials. The steering is the same flat bottom three spoke unit seen on the Baleno and the XL6 that comes with leather wrapping, silver inserts and MFD butting on it. You can manually adjust it for reach and height. The automatic variant of the Brezza also gets paddle shifters placed on the steering. The other big highlight of the dash is the first in class Heads-up Display unit that projects all vital readouts on here; this is the same unit that we saw on the 2022 Baleno. Also included on the feature list of the 2022 Brezza is wireless charging. You get two USB ports in the front and a USB C type port at the rear along with a 12V outlet placed upfront. The glove box also gets cooling feature while there is a nice storage space under the centre armrest with a sliding top that doubles up as the armrest.
The seats get fabric upholstery with brown print on them matching the crash pad insert. Driver’s seat gets manual height adjusts while the head rests on the seat are large in size. The rear seats get three adjustable head rests and a foldable arm rest. You also get rear AC vents and USB C type charging port. The seats come with some extra padding that adds to the comfort level. The seat back rest incline is good and the support that it offers is excellent in all areas. Knee room, head room and shoulder room is good and even the passenger seated in the middle has good leg room due to the near to flat floor area. The cabin area gets a lot of light into it with the sun roof now helping matters big time. The Brezza retains its boot capacity of 328 liters as before.
Engine – Transmissions – Smart Hybrid
Powering the 2022 Brezza is the latest generation K-Series 1.5 Litre Petrol engine with Smart Hybrid system now mated to it. This engine makes 103PS of power and 137Nm of torque. Transmission options include a 5-speed manual and new 6-speed torque convertor automatic units to choose from. On the move the K-Series petrol engine that also powers many other models from the car maker is super silent and highly refined. We drove the Automatic version first. The power output is good and the gear shifts are quick. You can visually see the Smart Hybrid (SHVS) system come into action on the AVN screen or the MFD cluster and how the shift of power actually happens in real time. The steering feels lively and the Brezza feels a lot more mature to drive now due to the suspension that has been re-tuned.
The manual version that we drove was more fun to drive with a light clutch and a super slick gear shift action all adding up to the drive feel but the automatic version did offer lot of comfort and convenience on busy roads and also the highways. You also had the convenience of using the paddle shifters if needed to be in control of the shifts. On the manual we loved the way the 1.5L engine performed and the way the SUV drove across all its powerband offering loads of grunt all across. We missed the 6-th gear big time on this transmission tho. The ride quality is excellent and the SUV now behaves like a much larger car as compared to the older Brezza. The brakes too feel lively and aided with ABS offer the right bite.
Safety
In terms of safety the 2022 Maruti Suzuki Brezza comes with 6-airbags, ABS with EBD, 360 degree camera, ISOFIX seat anchorage, hill hold assist etc.
Competition
The 2022 Brezza competes with the likes of the recently launched Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV 3OO, Nissan Magnite, Renault Kiger.
Verdict
With this major update Maruti Suzuki has got the Brezza into todays time in terms of inters, exteriors and in terms of the rich features that it now gets. Safety features also get a major boost. The Brezza now is a lot more mature in terms of how it looks from the outside and also the way it drives. Smart Hybrid system adds to its fuel efficiency figures which are now at 20.80kmpl as per ARAI making it highly fuel efficient too.
Not forgetting the Brezza comes from the house of Maruti Suzuki which is known for its low cost of ownership, service and high resale value. Competition needs to be on their toes for sure. Prices for the 2022 Brezza start at Rs. 7.99 Lakh and go up to Rs. 13.96 Lakh for the top end ZXi+ Dual Tone Automatic that we drove.
