Which is the most spacious sub-4 meter compact SUV in India now?

The Mahindra XUV300 is almost here. And CarWale just laid its hands on the interior measurements of Mahindra’s newcomer in this highly popular sub-4 metre segment. So let us have a detailed look at all the cars in this segment and figure out which sub-four-metre compact SUV has the most spacious cabin.

Front Cabin:

The XUV300 is based on the same underpinning as the Ssangyong Tivoli. Mahindra has just cut off the overhangs to keep it under the four-metre mark, but the good thing is that the wheelbase remains unchanged. So at 2600mm, the XUV300 has the longest wheelbase in the segment. This translates to increased cabin space as well.

The legroom (max/min) for the driver and co-driver is 850/620mm. This, interestingly, is evenly matched by Ford EcoSport. The Nexon comes in close at 820/630mm followed by Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (790/560mm) and Honda WR-V (750/630mm). The Vitara Brezza and WR-V have front headroom of 1000mm while the rest three measures 980mm. 

Meanwhile, at 1400mm, the shoulder room is the best in the EcoSport which makes it feel more capacious. In this aspect, the Vitara Brezza falls short by a mere 10mm followed by the WR-V, which has a further deficit of 20mm. The Nexon has a shoulder room of 1310mm and coming in last is the XUV300 with 1250mm. But the Mahindra makes up for the shortfall with the biggest seat backrest height of 650mm as compared to the 590mm in Nexon and EcoSport, 580mm in WR-V and 560mm in Vitara Brezza. 

Rear Cabin:

Surprisingly, the bulbous exterior of the Nexon lends it the most spacious shoulder room of 1380mm on the rear bench. This makes it a tad less congested if three adults are sitting in the back seat. The Brezza comes in second with 1340mm and the XUV300 with 1300mm rear shoulder room. The EcoSport has a shoulder room of 1310mm and the last on this list is WR-V with 1270mm. When it comes to headroom, the flat roof of the Vitara Brezza triumphs the segment with 970mm. The EcoSport and WR-V have 950mm of headroom each, while at 920mm the Nexon and XUV300 come in last. 

The Nexon also boasts of maximum rear passenger legroom (max-min) at 910/720mm. Dogging its footsteps is the Vitara Brezza with 900/660mm and the XUV300 with 890/320mm. Customers seeking better seats at the back will find the Nexon, EcoSport and XUV300 the most spacious ones with a common seat base length of 490mm.

The Vitara Brezza and WR-V are slightly cramped at 470mm. But the backrest in the Nexon, which stands at 610mm tall, provides ample support to the spine, which is only closely matched by the XUV300 (590mm). The WR-V has the shortest seat height of 550mm for the back seat. 

Boot space

The most important criteria to determine the practicality of a compact SUV is its boot capacity. Which, at 420mm, is the largest in the EcoSport. It measures 700/1000/600 mm and also has the lowest loading lip height of 660mm, thereby making it furthermore accessible.

The Nexon’s boot measures 710/940/550mm with 368litres of boot space, which is better than the WR-V’s 670/1010/560mm and 363litre boot space. The segment-leader Vitara Brezza measures 700/1020/480mm with a boot capacity of 328itres. And last, but not the least, the XUV300 measures 590/1050/810mm.