The Heart Of The Matter

We pitch the two bestselling sub-4m SUVs against each other to not only find out which of them is a better buy but also to decipher which of them is most uited to your needs!

- Yogendra Pratap

The compact SUV segment has not only been one of the fastest growing segments but also one of the biggest in our country and has been dominated by the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza ever since its launch. However since the advent of Hyundai’s sub-4m compact SUV last year, things have not been so straightforward for Maruti’s bestseller SUV. Besides, unitl last year, the Brezza was available with only a diesel powerplant while the Venue had a wide range of options with two different petrol engines as well as a diesel. However, BS6 changed all that for Maruti and with its clear policy of exiting the diesel segment, the company had to tailor make a larger BS6 compliant engine to do duty in its range of larger vehicles which were all primarily dependant on the Fiatderived 1.3 diesel. Thus the Brezza was relaunched earlier in the year with a new 1.5-litre petrol engine along with some cosmetic changes. It also comes with an option of two transmissions - 5-speed manual and a 4-speed torque convertor automatic. We decided to pitch the Brezza with its closest rival in the market and picked the variants that were very closely matched in price as well. Thus, we have the most advanced petrol engines on either side, Hyundai’s with direct injection and turbocharging while in the case of the Maruti, with an integrated starter generator motor making it somewhat of a mild hybrid.

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