Introduction
Many upcoming car buyers are looking for the convenience of an automatic, a small petrol-powered SUV, and a reasonable price tag. If your basic requirements are also the same, it's most likely you must have come across the Nissan Magnite and the Toyota Urban Cruiser. And reasonably so, you should most certainly have them on your consideration list for them ticking all the right boxes too.
The Magnite is one of the few latest entrants to the compact SUV space. It comes equipped with a CVT tech which, apart from its Renault Kiger sibling, no other rivals offer. The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza-based Urban Cruiser, on the other hand, uses a tried-and-tested torque-converter gearbox. Both these SUVs have their positive and negative traits, and here we shall highlight the performance of both, thanks to our V-Box tests.
Acceleration
0-60kmph
0-100kmph
Before we get to the in-depth figures, do note that both SUVs have a similar power output even if the Urban Cruiser is powered by a 103bhp 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, while the Magnite here derives power from a 99bhp 1.0-litre turbo-petrol mill. Straight off the line, the Nissan shows off its turbo power by putting up quick times of 4.72seconds and 11.14 seconds in the 0-60kmph and 0-100kmph runs, respectively. Meanwhile, the Toyota also didn't fall behind as it achieved the 0-60kmph run in 4.97 seconds and completed the 0-100kmph sprint in 11.69 seconds.
Roll-on times
20-80kmph in kick-down
40-100kmph in kick-down
As you might know by now, our V-Box tests follow a pragmatic approach and this particular one highlights the SUV's performance in city and highway conditions. The 20-80kmph roll-on test is indicative of the acceleration within city driving conditions. The Magnite took 6.22 seconds to sprint from 20-80kmph, while the Urban Cruiser took 7.01 seconds for the same feat. Now, the 40-100kmph sprint portrays the pulling power of the car at these speeds on the highway. It's amazing to see both the cars putting up almost similar times as the Nissan took 8.38 seconds and the Toyota 8.94 seconds.
Conclusion
We started off with our requirements as both these cars pack in a fair amount of equipment and come across as good products to appease a buyer. However, it's remarkable to see how these are at par with each other in terms of performance as well. Both manufacturers have tried to cater to a buyer's demand nicely, despite them having different engines, not sharing running gear with each other, and having so much differentiation from each other, even if they are from the same segment. Do read about our detailed driving impressions in the links mentioned below.