Maruti Suzuki Brezza Vs Hyundai Venue: Battle of the Automatics

For the last three or so years the Hyundai Venue has been the go-to choice for many looking to get a small petrol automatic SUV but it’s about to get very difficult. What you are looking at here is the 2022 update and it’s not going to be as easy as it was for the original Venue because competition has finally caught up. Now, it’s up against cars like the all-new Maruti Brezza which has made a quantum leap in technology and features so let’s find out how these two fare when we bring features, performance, fuel efficiency and price into the picture.

All the cars in the compact SUV segment are now fully loaded with the latest in technology and comfort oriented features and the top spec versions we have here are no exceptions. In the Brezza, you get a 360-degree surround view cameras, a sunroof, LED headlights, LED fog lamps, a wireless charging pad, ambient lighting, engine start/stop, reach adjustment for the steering and a heads up display.

The Venue, on the other hand, gets an in-built air purifier, electrically adjustable driver’s seat, a tyre pressure monitoring system, two step recline for the rear seat, drive modes including Sport and Eco and leather seats.

Both come with six airbags, ABS and EBD although it’s a close match between the two when it comes to equipment overall because there are certain important features that the Venue doesn’t get but at the same time the Brezza which is noticeably more expensive of the two, lacks novelty features that are now so common in similarly priced cars.

The Venue is clearly the quicker car of the two. It’s actually this 1-litre turbo engine’s torque advantage that puts it way ahead of the Brezza when it comes to speed and how it’s delivered – you get 118bhp/172Nm of torque compared to 102bhp/136Nm in the Brezza and let’s not forget that the Hyundai is lighter and that it has a quick shifting dual clutch automatic gearbox.

The Brezza gets a relatively old fashioned torque converted automatic paired to a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre engine. Considering the Venue’s power-to-weight advantage, the figures that we got from our performance tests make complete sense. From zero to 100kmph, the Venue is full four seconds quicker and the gap only gets bigger at 120kmph. Its one and a half seconds quicker in the 20-80kmph roll-on acceleration test and nearly four seconds quicker from 40 to 100. The Venue is quick even in normal drive mode. Put it in Sport and it becomes even more eager to get going. The combination of the turbo engine and the responsive dual clutch automatic is very appealing and dynamically, the car feels agile, stable and nimble.

The new K15C engine in the Brezza makes 102bhp but because it’s naturally aspirated it doesn’t make as much torque. At 136Nm, the torque is just about adequate for everyday driving and because Maruti has tuned this engine to be more efficient than before, it has taken a toll on its drivability especially in the mid-range. The Brezza clearly is more of a relaxed cruiser than an eager performer. There are paddle shifters behind the steering and they do help in making quick progress because you can quickly downshift and bring this engine into the meat of its power band but then again there’s only so much this torque converter gearbox can do. All things considered, this naturally aspirated engine paired to what is a very smooth shifting automatic makes for a sedate, comfortable daily driver but it is a little underwhelming when you want to make quick progress.

The Brezza cannot match the Venue for its outright speed but it makes up for it with its extremely refined and well damped suspension. Be it any surface other than smooth tarmac, it’s fractionally more comfortable than the Venue. Now because it’s got a softer set up, you feel less of major road imperfections like potholes and expansion joints in this car. We tested both vehicles on all sorts of road surfaces, most of which were pretty bad and the initial impact when you hit a pot hole or a sharp bump is softened and rounded off much better than the Venue which is noticeably more stiffly sprung.

The Brezza’s cabin is also prominently quieter at low to medium speeds. You hear less of all the honking, the road noise and other vehicles around you. At highway speeds though there isn’t much splitting between the two and when you are cruising at triple digit speeds it’s the Brezza’s engine that’s more vocal.

Things get very interesting at this point. So you have a compact turbocharged engine paired to a modern dual clutch automatic versus an old school naturally aspirated engine coupled to a torque converter automatic. The Brezza also weighs quite a bit more than the Venue mainly because of its larger engine but then again, it’s also the one with mild hybrid technology including an integrated starter generator and a small battery. In our tests, we got 13.10kmpl in the city and 18.63 kmpl on the highway out of the Brezza. As for the Venue, it achieved 12.58 and nearly 18.80 kmpl during the same runs. Clearly there is little to split on highway efficiency but the fact that the Brezza with its much larger engine is more efficient than the Venue is simply down to the mild hybrid technology and this is how it works.

At low rpms and mild throttle inputs, the ISG motor helps the petrol engine by delivering a certain amount of electric assist. And in so doing it’s reducing the engine’s load at low speeds, ultimately making it more fuel efficient. In reality, if you drive the Brezza sedately in urban conditions it is bound to be the more fuel efficient car here.

The ex-showroom prices for the entry level variants of the Brezza are on par with the competition but as you move up the ladder, it tends to get more expensive than the competition. The top-spec automatic version that we have here is a prime example of that. At Rs 13.96 lakh, it’s over 1.2 lakh rupees more expensive than the top-spec Venue automatic. Sure, the Venue is missing some essential features that the Brezza gets but let’s face it, the difference in on-road prices would be larger still.

There are many strong reasons for choosing either of these cars though I suspect on this occasion it will be a difficult choice given that both have their own set of strong points. In the end it all boils down to what you want so if it’s a no-nonsense compact SUV that is smooth, quiet and efficient in the city then the new Brezza is a great choice. The Venue, on the other hand, has a nicer cabin and effortless performance to offer without sacrificing too much on efficiency and ride comfort. So in some ways it feels like a more complete vehicle although I wouldn’t blame you if you go for either because they are genuinely good compact SUVs after all.

Pictures by Kapil Angane