Maruti Suzuki Ertiga vs Mahindra Marazzo

It's got stylish looks, new features and is even better equipped than the Ertiga. This statement held true for the Mahindra Marazzo till last year until the new-gen Ertiga arrived. The latest Maruti MPV comes with a refreshed design and many more features, giving us enough reasons to pit it against the Mahindra. After all, it's now based on a new Heartect platform and still sports a monocoque chassis compared to the body-on-ladder frame that underpins the Marazzo. But does the new Ertiga have enough firepower to continue to establish a firm foothold in the entry-level MPV space? Let's find out by pitting the top-spec models of both front-wheel-drive diesel powered manual transmission vehicles.

Even if the Ertiga has grown slightly over its outgoing model, the Marazzo clearly is bigger and its dimensions exceed by a significant margin. This Mahindra is 190mm longer, 84mm taller, 131mm wider and has a 20mm larger wheelbase than the Maruti. Also, the Ertiga gets smaller 15-inch wheels across trims, while the Marazzo rides on 17-inch alloys in the top-end M8 variant like in this test (16-inch wheels on the rest of the trims). Design-wise, the shark-inspired Marazzo brought in a new avatar to the MPV segment with highlights like a shark tooth grille and C-Shape detailing on the sides. Meanwhile, the new Ertiga has stepped up its appeal with a high hood line, wide and mature looking chrome grille and a nicely sculpted bumper in the front. Then, elements like a scooped tailgate that sports Volvo XC60-like striking C-shaped LED tail lamps add much more appeal to the rear. We certainly like the looks of the Ertiga more than the Marazzo now.

People looking to buy an MPV are mostly the ones who don't want to drive around a big burly seven-seater SUV or those who can't find one in their budget. So, let's first get to the most important aspect that matters here the most - cabin space and comfort. Both the vehicles are undoubtedly roomy, but the Marazzo has larger dimensions and its cabin is more spacious than the Ertiga. With more legroom and shoulder room, even the sense of space is easily more in all rows. Getting in and out from both vehicles is easy but not from the third row. Access to the Marazzo’s last row of seats feels like a task due to a taller ingress. On the other hand, it's not easy in the Ertiga either, but yes, it is marginally better. Also, the under-thigh support is more effective. However, given a choice, I would still not prefer to sit in either of the third rows. They are best suited to short and slim individuals or children. Otherwise, all the seats in both the cars are well-cushioned with a good bolstering. Still the Marazzo’s leather seats give a more upmarket feel than the Ertiga's fabric ones.

Nonetheless, Mahindra could have worked on the ergonomics. The aircraft-like lever is a good innovation, but it hinders access to the low placed centre console’s stowage space. What's more, even if there's space on the left of the clutch pedal, the footrest is placed too deep inside. Unlike things that fall within an arm's reach in the Ertiga, one needs to stretch the arm out in the Marazzo. Otherwise, both the MPVs score well on the utility factor with more than six bottle-holders and abundant storage spaces.

Moreover, it should be noted that the Ertiga is sold only with a bench-type seat in the second row. On the other hand, the Marazzo can also be had in the captain seat configuration. Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki has worked on the boot space of the Ertiga and now at 209 litres with all the seats up, it's more than the Marazzo's 190 litres. But again, with the seats folded, the Marazzo offers overall 1,055 litres. That's way more than the Ertiga's 803 litres.

Mahindra has upped the quality of materials in their vehicles and the Marazzo’s interior also feels more upmarket. It’s the same case with the Ertiga with new materials and smooth surfaces. That said, there are still some hard plastics in the lower sections. Then, the Ertiga’s rear air-con is laid out in a traditional horizontally mounted fashion and on the roof. Meanwhile, the Marazzo’s unit on the roof runs across the length of the second and third rows with a diffuse function to dilute the air flow. Different, yet functional.

Now, both the MPVs have their fair share of common features like a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic climate control, HID Projector Headlamps, LED tail lamps and more. Still, the Marazzo has an upper hand here with a multi-colour MID between dials, cruise control, rain sensing wipers, cooled glove-box and calling emergency services.

Yet, there’s a glaring deficiency of some features on each end. For example, the Ertiga misses out on DRLs and the Marazzo on an engine start-stop button. These are some features which even small entry-level vehicles boast of these days. Thankfully, both vehicles get dual airbags, ABS with EBD, a reverse camera and an engine immobilizer.

Let's consider the Marazzo that gets a newly developed 1.5-litre, four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Churning out 121bhp and 300Nm of torque, this mill is considerably more powerful than the Ertiga's tried and tested Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre motor. The four-cylinder DDiS 200 diesel unit produces 88bhp and 200Nm of torque and is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. On paper it clearly has an advantage, but at 1,680kg the Marazzo is more than 400kg heavier than the Ertiga.

To get it going, you just have to feed a little extra throttle to prevent it from stalling. And when it gets going, part throttle inputs are more than sufficient to keep going. Still, the additional power makes up for carrying around the bulk. It doesn't feel bogged down like the Ertiga and, in fact, its linear power delivery along with a broad torque spread helps it chug along nicely. The extra weight does hinder straight out acceleration and speeds are built in a relaxed manner. That said, the Ertiga also isn't quick as such and both take their sweet time especially when the cars are loaded. So while overtaking one will need to shift a cog and plan it correctly especially on a single-lane road. Otherwise in the city, both cars provide enough thrust to not require constant gear shifts.

Interestingly, the Marazzo's engine is quieter, feels more refined and the clutch is the lightest amongst the MPVs we've tested. This helps a lot when driving for long distances in traffic. Even the six-speed gearbox does have an advantage especially when cruising on the highway. However, the gear stick and its throw is long unlike the nice and short ones in the Ertiga. But then its steering is surprisingly light and doesn't feel over-assisted like in the Ertiga. Still, the Maruti is easy to maneuver and will squeeze into gaps in traffic or narrow roads where you will think twice before taking this Mahindra.

Even if the Marazzo is taller and yet easy to drive with a light steering, the Ertiga feels more car-like to drive and portrays well-contained body roll. Its suspension is well-tuned for our roads even if you can hear the thunk and thud over bad patches. The Marazzo, on the other hand, with a longer suspension travel and greater ground clearance takes sharper potholes, bigger bumps, broken roads etc. in its stride effortlessly. You can take it through a broken patch of road with confidence as it never bottoms out and manages to flatten out most of small obstacles that come in its way. The ride surely feels more absorbent than the Ertiga and this solid suspension remains one of its major USPs.

Let's now get into the nitty-gritty of the tests on our V-Box. The lighter Ertiga and the powerful Marazzo put up an interesting fight with minimal differences in figures. The Ertiga zoomed from 0-100kmph in 12.27 seconds, while the Marazzo did it in a leisurely 14.15 seconds. But then, in the in-gear times, the Marazzo put up a great show with roll-ons of 10.07 seconds and 14.51 seconds in the 20-80kmph and 40-100kmph runs. The Ertiga put up slightly slower timings by taking 11.63 seconds for 20-80kmph and 15.02 seconds for 40-100kmph. This shows how the extra torque and closely stacked ratios of the Marazzo's gearbox aided it clearly in these roll-ons. Under the ABS assisted brake test, both cars posted similar figures with good bite and sufficient feel at the pedal. The Mahindra has all surround disc brakes, which helped to stop the heavy car, while the Maruti manages this with disc brakes only in the front and the rear wheels equipped with drum brakes.

Another important aspect Indian buyers consider while buying a car is fuel efficiency. And the Ertiga being the lighter car, predictably, returned better figures even if the Marazzo managed respectable results. A city fuel economy of 15.39kmpl and highway efficiency of 20.22kmpl is higher than the Marazzo’s 11.20kmpl delivered in the city and 17.43kmpl on the highway.

Rank 2 Mahindra Marazzo M8 7-seater

Final Score: 359/575

On-road Price Rs 17.43 lakhs

So there you have it all. Both the MPVs tick nearly all the boxes that one would expect from a family-oriented MPV. The Marazzo is more spacious, gets more equipment, drives and rides well and doesn't have many flaws to back it down. But yes, it’s expensive. Yet, it does make a great contender and is surely worth considering if one can stretch budget for those extra features and more space.

Rank 1 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZDi Plus 1.3 DDiS

Final Score: 365/575

On-road Price Rs 13.08 lakhs

But then, this second-gen Ertiga looks good with a refreshed design, is lighter, easier to drive, more fuel-efficient and most importantly - cheaper. Sure it misses out on a lot of equipment that the Marazzo has, but then all those added perks come at a cost. In comparing the top-spec trims, the price difference is close to three lakhs making it significantly expensive. Besides, the missing equipment in the Ertiga doesn't make it less practical. And, in a price-sensitive market like ours, this definitely makes the needle point in favour of this Maruti.

Pictures by Kapil Angane