Second report: After driving a high-performance sportscar all day, the Brezza felt like being back in your own bed.
Loud, harsh, unforgiving and eerily low are all perfect adjectives to describe the Porsche 718 GT4 RS. A full day of shooting and yelling expletives as I tried to wrap my head around the 500hp road-legal monster was nothing short of exhausting. So, once the cameras were packed and my heart rate restored to normal, the Brezza, which had been an incredible support throughout the day, felt like home. As amazing as the Porsche was, it was lightyears behind the Brezza when it came to daily duties. Getting in was a breeze as the seat height and ingress are perfect. Once in, sitting on the soft seats felt like lounging on a cloud in comparison, and the smooth petrol engine meant my ears weren’t bleeding any more.
Quick-cooling AC is a boon to battle heat waves.
The Brezza had been confined to city runs for the most part, but this shoot allowed it to stretch its legs and venture out. It had been superb as a city runabout, despite being a manual, so a highway run was perfect timing. If comfort and laidback driving are what you like, the Brezza does wonders. On the highways, it sits happily at triple-digit speeds with barely a thrum from the engine. You’d imagine a sixth gear would have made it even softer while cruising, but the 5-speed manual suits the engine tune rather well. However, quick overtakes do require you to wring the engine and you won’t find the surge in power early on.
That aside, the Brezza makes light work of A to B commutes even with a boot full of heavy camera equipment, and an entire crew with all five seats occupied.
Surround Sense allows for accurate audio tuning.
What stands out, however, and this is true for almost all Maruti cars, is the incredible cooling from the AC. The cabin cools within minutes and no matter how hot it is outside, the cabin remains winter-cool on the inside. Just makes you imagine how perfect it would have been if there were ventilated seats.
Auto Start/Stop cuts off engine, but also the AC compressor.
Now, of course, it doesn’t have the aural drama of the Porsche, but what the silent engine allows you to do is listen to some good driving music with good quality audio. The SmartPlay Pro+ gets Arkamys tunes audio, which is great, but what is even more impressive are the Surround Sense modes, which can be altered for specific types of music. That said, the one problem that plagued the long-term Baleno had crept in here as well. The voice assistant that should only engage when you say “Hey Suzuki” comes on randomly and won’t deactivate until you say “Cancel”. It often interrupts conversations and music, and is quite an irritant.
Efficiency-wise, the best the Brezza managed after the highway run was 13kpl and that number would have only gone down if I was even a tad more enthusiastic.
Tinted glass on the HUD is distracting.
At the end of the day, as I engaged the parking brake, the only feeling I had was how relaxing it made everything. It is a no-nonsense SUV that gets the basics spot on. A good driving position, hugely comfortable seats, a superb AC to beat the heat and a solid music system to drone out the chaos. It’s not for the ones who want their heartbeats racing all the time, but for those who want them relaxed. In the real everyday grind, it is the latter that matters.
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