Introduction

We have quite a selection here. An old school setup of a ladder-based SUV (read Mahindra NuvoSport); a more modern monocoque SUV (Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza); a car-based SUV (Ford EcoSport); and finally, a hatchback that thinks it’s an SUV (Hyundai i20 Active). But, they do have one thing in common; these are all under 4 metres and therefore classify as compact SUVs. Okay, maybe not the Hyundai so much, but we have good reason to bring in the Korean to this fight. Here’s why…

A compact SUV was essentially invented to do one thing – persuade you, the buyer, to steer clear of sedans and go for something more adventurous. But, adventurous here never meant going where no man had gone before. Or, in fact, taking an off-road trail for that matter. Adventurous in this context is simply higher ground clearance, some body cladding, butch styling and stance, and some enhanced practicality in the form of a large boot and folding rear seats. Which, you would agree the i20 Active manages too. Maybe not as well as the others, but it suffices.

So, if you have around Rs 12 lakh to spare, need a diesel, and love being adventurous, well, this should help…

Butch exteriors

The Mahindra NuvoSport wins the butch contest hands down. It towers over the others and draws more eyeballs courtesy its bling factor. That bright orange hue, those jewel like daytime running strips and all that excess plastic cladding only adds to its road presence. But, the NuvoSport isn’t exactly a modern looking vehicle. It’s looks more current than the Quanto, yes, but somehow even with all the new garnishing, it fails at hiding its age. It looks the most dated car in this bunch.

Speaking of cars, the one area where the Hyundai i20 Active simply can’t match its competitors here, is road presence. The bulkier looking bumpers, the black cladding, the larger wheels and even that technical looking large fuel filler all look good, but these still can’t mask the Active’s i20 roots. If butch matters to you, the Hyundai won’t.

The EcoSport and the Vitara Brezza are in a sense just the right size and form for a compact SUV. The Brezza more so. The EcoSport still looks a little too sporty to carry that rugged SUV aura, but the Vitara with is squarish proportions, less swipes and cuts, and a squatter stance, looks every bit an SUV that you and I generally perceive. And though our car was a flat white, one can order the Brezza in ZDI+ trim with a contrasting white or black roof. And that takes its desirability at least two notches higher.

Plush interiors

Maruti has also done a great job with the Vitara Brezza’s interiors. Like the exterior, there’s hardly any bling, but it scores high on both functionality and quality (at least among this lot). It’s car like, no question. The ingress isn’t too high, the seats are large and comfy (but a little too cushy for our tastes), and it feels bigger on the inside than it is. The visibility is great; the ergonomics are sound; and there’s enough equipment on board (in this ZDI+ trim) to justify the Rs 10 lakh spend. The Brezza is spacious too. It matches the larger NuvoSport when it comes to head and kneeroom and only loses out to the Mahindra in terms of shoulder space.

The NuvoSport also has the biggest boot in this contest, and a highly usable on at that. Add to it a rear bench with acceptable thigh support and a backrest that reclines (only car here to have it), and it makes it ideal if you want to seat three abreast comfortably and carry their luggage across cities. It doesn’t have the most pleasing interior, though. It is lifted straight off the Quanto. So, not only does it look old but the quality isn’t up to class standard either. It’s also not the easiest to get in and out of, given the high ingress height.

The EcoSport has no such ingress issues. It is easy to get in and the seats strike a good balance of firmness and support. The space inside isn’t bad either. Contrary to what its sporty shape and dark insides might suggest, the Ford isn’t cramped. It has lesser headroom compared to the Maruti, but it has more elbowroom at the front and in fact more kneeroom all round. It also has a bigger boot than the Vitara Brezza. But, the EcoSport even in the Titanium+ trim with leather seats doesn’t feel as upmarket as the Maruti thanks to the hardwearing plastic and the grey shade on the dash.

The i20 Active meanwhile gets a blue shade on the dash. And as on the Ford, it completely takes away from the feel of quality. Now, even though the plastic inside its cabin might not look as good as on the Brezza, the touch points – the steering, the knobs and buttons all over, and the gear shifter – feel richer to the touch. Space though, be it for occupants or luggage, not surprisingly, is the least inside the Hyundai making it the least practical SUV here. But, at least it has great seats – good thigh and back support and with just the right firmness.

So, if you were looking for closure, we’d pick the Brezza for its nice interiors, good equipment, that crucial airy feel, decent practicality and reasonably good interior room.

Here’s a quick look on how these stack up in terms of features.

A mixed drive

It’s behind the wheel that the difference in the roots of these compact SUVs come to the fore. The Mahindra NuvoSport with its ladder frame, its vague and slow steering, and all that extra weight, feels the most tedious to drive. It feels ponderous around a switchback with slow turn in, high body roll, and the inability to keep up with quick direction changes. The ride isn’t great either. It never feels harsh and it takes the roughest of terrains in its stride, but it lacks refinement, pliancy and plushness. There’s a constant jiggle to its ride, and when not loaded, it bounces around as well.

The Vitara Brezza doesn’t ride well either. It’s less bouncy and jiggly than the NuvoSport and it feels way more planted at speed, even on poor roads. However, the ride is still harsh and noisy; and not the best suited for low speed city commute. Handling though, is completely car like. The Brezza is a light car, and one can feel it in the ease with which the Maruti enters corners, holds its line and feels so manageable even when subjected to sudden inputs. It has a quick steering as well, but in typical Maruti fashion, it is completely devoid of feel. It feels a bit artificial in its reactions too.

But, it’s the i20 Active that walks away with the award for the most artificial feeling steering. It’s unnecessarily heavy too; more like a poorly calibrated video game unit. But, at least the Active feels light on its feet and confident to chuck around bends. It’s also stable in a straight-line at speeds. Load it up though and show it an undulating highway, and its soft suspension setup, gets the better of the car. It wallows, and if the road surface deteriorates – bumps, potholes or pronounced ridges, the Active tends to crash into them, sometimes severely. It does ride well at slower speeds, nonetheless.

The compact SUV that manages its ride and handling balance the best is the Ford EcoSport. It has an underlying stiffness to its ride but it still works well. When loaded, it doesn’t feel unwieldy, be it in a straight line or around bends. When driven with a single occupant or two up, the EcoSport’s driving dynamics are at par with a well setup hatch, its tall stance notwithstanding. The EcoSport has the best steering response and feel, the most pliant ride, and when it comes to a set of corners, it might not feel as light as the Hyundai at turn-in, but it certainly feels more sure-footed.

Performance equation

The Maruti Vitara Brezza has the smallest engine; it makes the least amount of torque; and horsepower wise, it is right at the bottom with the i20 Active. But, it is also the lightest car in this test; it’s the only one here that weighs under 1200kg. Not surprisingly, it is one of the quickest off the line and even in driveability terms, it is right up there with the best. It completes the 0-100kmph run in 12.78 seconds and the 20-80kmph in 3rd gear in 12.87s. The 40-80kmph run in 4th gear – a measure of a car’s cruising and overtaking ability on the highway – is completed in 15.98s, which isn’t fast, but suffices.

The i20 Active is equally quick. It too isn’t exactly heavy, weighing in at a little over 1200kg, but more importantly it makes a healthy torque of 220Nm coming in at 1500rpm; lowest in the rpm range compared to its competitors. As a result, it is the quickest car here in all respects. 0-100kmph is dispatched in 12.72s, the 20-80kmph in 12.3s and the 40-100kmph run in a super quick (for a manual, mind) 13.70s. What’s more, the Hyundai’s engine is also the most refined, it has the most alert throttle response, and it has the most seamless revving engine.

The EcoSport is one of the two most powerful SUVs here. The near 1.5-litre engine makes 99bhp. The peak torque at 205Nm isn’t as noteworthy, but it is more than the Maruti. However, the EcoSport has nearly 1300kg of kerb weight to contend with. It’s the third quickest as a result. The 0-100kmph time is 13.36s while the 20-80kmph and 40-100kmph runs take 13.31s and 16.29s, respectively. One must also note that the EcoSport for reasons like weight and throttle mapping doesn’t feel like a 100bhp car, be it in its throttle response or the way it gathers speed.

The Mahindra NuvoSport is a mixed bag. It weighs almost 1600kg; that ladder frame construction playing spoilsport again. So, even though it is the most powerful (100bhp) and one with the most amount of torque (240Nm), it still can’t keep up with the monocoques. It takes a lazy 16.24 seconds (22.59s in Eco mode) to hit 100kmph. But, it compensates for its weight by shorter gearing. As a result, the 20-80kmph run in 3rd gear is quick 11.27s, and it takes lesser time than both the Maruti and the Ford to compete the 40-100kmph 4th gear slog as well with a time of just 14.13s.

As far as fuel efficiency figures go, the Brezza returned 14.1kmpl in the city, followed by the i20 Active and the EcoSport returning exactly the same figure of 13.8kmpl, and as expected given the extra weight the NuvoSport carries around, the Mahindra only managed 11.7kmpl in the city.

Verdict

Mahindra NuvoSport N8: Rank 4

Final Score: 349/600

Price: Rs 11.97 lakh, OTR, Mumbai

Mahindra has done well with the NuvoSport by making it a better buying proposition than the Quanto ever was. But, in today’s world of efficient, compact and easy motoring, the NuvoSport feels a little outdated. The ladder chassis robs it off dynamics and efficiency, and having used the Quanto’s shell and its interiors, makes the NuvoSport feel dated in this company. It has road presence and it is rugged, but that’s not enough to hand it a win.

Ford EcoSport Titanium+: Rank 3

Final Score: 373/600

Price: Rs 11.40 lakh, OTR, Mumbai

Ford realised early the potential Maruti’s compact SUV holds and it rightly cut the EcoSport’s prices to make it more competitive. Given its edge when it comes to both ride and handling, and of course safety, the Ford did have a fighting chance here. And as our ScoreCard reveals, there’s no single big flaw with the EcoSport; it’s the many smaller aspects that come together to push it down to third place in this test. It struggles to match up to the Hyundai and the Maruti in areas like visibility, quality, and driveability.

Hyundai i20 Active SX: Rank 2

Final Score: 384/600

Price: Rs 10.53 lakh, OTR, Mumbai

The Hyundai i20 Active comes very close to winning this contest. It’s not a proper SUV, we agree. But, then neither is the Vitara Brezza or the EcoSport. However, as a car to live with everyday and to take off over the weekend, even if it involves some dirt roads, the Active is pretty much up to task. It is the quickest car here and with a fine balance between ride and handling. It scores well on quality and comfort and is the cheapest to buy in this lot. But, it’s not as flexible; as domineering (in looks); or spacious as some of the other SUVs in this test. Mostly, it fails to keep up with the Brezza.

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza ZDI+: Rank 1

Final Score: 387/600

Price: Rs 11.53 lakh, OTR, Mumbai

The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza wins. It doesn’t win by a big margin as a product, but as an SUV for the city, it ticks most of the boxes. It has the SUV stance, the right clearance, adequate space, flexibility, and it is the easiest to drive courtesy great visibility. It’s also efficient, should have great resale, and is almost car-like around corners. It doesn’t ride too well and the seats could do with some additional firmness. The Brezza could also do with better steering response. But, these shortcomings and the degree of these shortcomings, isn’t enough to repel buyers. No wonder, it has received such a good response. So, if you have around Rs 12 lakh to spare, need a diesel and want SUV posturing, well the Vitara Brezza would be our pick.

Photography by Kapil Angane

Click here to read our Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza First Drive

Click here to read our Mahindra NuvoSport First Drive

Click here to read our Ford EcoSport First Drive

Click here to read Mahindra TUV 300 vs Ford EcoSport

Specifications

Test Data

Score Sheet