With compact SUVs becoming ever more popular in South Africa, the Suzuki Vitara Brezza has proven to be the perfect product at the perfect time for Suzuki Auto SA. This newcomer is just the right size, it’s well-specced and well-made, and it carries an appealing pricetag. No wonder the Brezza is such a sales success!
The right car at the right time
The Brezza has been so successful that it’s even prompted Suzuki Auto SA to drop the entry-level variants of the Hungarian-made “big body” Vitara, leaving the lower echelons of this segment entirely to the Indian-built newcomer. The reasoning is sound: The Brezza ticks most of the same boxes as the “real” Vitara and will appeal to the same customers, but is much, much less expensive.
The two Vitara models are nonetheless very closely related, being based on the same platform, even though the Brezza is cut-down quite dramatically in comparison to the Vitara. This was done to qualify for the significant tax breaks for cars that are less than 4-meters long in India – the Brezza’s initial target market.
Fortunately, this also makes the Brezza ideally-suited for South African roads: The elevated ride height easily deals with our potholed roads and speedbumps, it has adequate interior space (because it rides on the Vitara’s relatively long 2.5-meter wheelbase), yet it’s still compact enough to be very easy to drive and park.
Styling
We missed out on the pre-facelift Vitara Brezza, which was only offered in India and then only with a Fiat-sourced turbodiesel engine. This configuration didn’t suit Suzuki Auto SA’s product plans, so they concentrated on the “Euro” Vitara instead.
Good thing, too, because those earlier Brezzas were somewhat aesthetically challenged, but the 2020 facelift addressed that issue quite nicely. At first glance, the Brezza and Vitara look very much alike, but there are some differences if you take a closer look.
For one thing, the pronounced shoulder line of the larger car, which wraps around the front end and mimics earlier Suzuki off-roaders, is toned-down on the Brezza, to the point where it is almost imperceptible. This softens the smaller car’s stance somewhat, even though their grille- and headlight shapes are very similar.
This story repeats down the sides and around the rear end, where the Brezza’s window outlines and tail light shapes also follow the template set by the larger Vitara. The main difference is in the rearmost quarter light, which is more truncated and sharper-edged on the Brezza.
Our test car arrived in GLX trim, which includes 16-inch alloy wheels with machined faces, a contrasting black roof, a small spoiler atop the tailgate, and silver-painted (plastic) skidplate-lookalike bumper insert. All these items provided a nice contrast to the bright red main body colour, and added a classy touch to a rather utilitarian shape.
Interior and space
Given the Vitara Brezza’s compact dimensions, it would be unreasonable to expect limo-like interior space. However, it managed to impress for a car of this size, with front-seat occupants enjoying plenty of room, enhanced by a large side glass area and tall roofline.
Matters in the rear seat are slightly less rosy, because Suzuki opted to sacrifice some of the larger Vitara’s rear legroom to liberate a bit more luggage space. It’s not really cramped, thanks to all that headroom and upright side glass, but the cabin feels subjectively narrow, and the rear bench seat won’t have enough legroom for anyone over average size, when the front seats are set well-back to accommodate larger adults.
Luggage space is also slightly compromised, and loses out on the Vitara’s dual-height floor. This creates space for a full-sized spare wheel in the truncated-but-tall boot area, but does so at the cost of some utility space. The Brezza’s boot measures 328-litres in 5-seater mode, so it’s still very useable, and is shaped to be easy to load through the large tailgate aperture.
The Brezza’s interior styling also follows the template set by the Vitara, and is ergonomically sound and well-assembled. The Brezza’s lower price shows in the quality of the interior fittings, however, with hard plastics abounding on the dashboard, console, and door cards.
In fact, this is one area where Suzuki really needs to pay some attention: padded door armrests will go a long way towards making the Brezza feel a bit more special than a budget offering. But, as it currently stands, the door armrests are hard and unyielding, and won’t do the skin on your elbow any good on a long trip. This is particularly jarring given the GLX’s padded centre console armrest/bin, and is evidence of the Brezza’s lower-class origins.
Standard equipment
All Brezzas include a 7-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone mirroring, a rear-view camera and rear parking sensors, automatic climate control, electric windows all round, and remote central locking. This makes for a high-value base trim: The GL variant cost only R 248 900 at the time of writing, so that’s a comprehensively-equipped starting point.
GLX trim adds quite a few niceties in its standard features list, with keyless entry and pushbutton start, cruise control, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, the aforementioned centre armrest, an air-conditioned glove box, alloy wheels, automatic folding side mirrors, LED headlights, and automatic operation for the lights and wipers making their way onto the spec sheet. Finally, the audio system is slightly upgraded through the addition of tweeters, even though the sound output quality and volume is still nothing spectacular.
Safety
The Suzuki Vitara Brezza’s safety package starts off with a solid 4-star adult occupant safety rating in Global NCAP crash testing, augmented by 2 airbags, ABS, and rear ISOFIX child seat anchors. However, the omission of stability control is a questionable move, especially in a comparatively tall and narrow vehicle like this. More airbags for (at least) high-end variants would also not go amiss.
Performance and driving impression
All Brezzas are powered by a 1.5-litre, non-turbo petrol 4-cylinder engine, which is well-regarded from duty in various other Suzukis. It can be mated to a 4-speed torque converter automatic as an option, but our test car came with the standard 5-speed manual gearbox.
Outputs are rated at 77 kW and 138 Nm, but the latter only arrives at 4 400 r/min, so this engine clearly needs to be wound up tightly to do its best work. Suzuki doesn’t publish claimed performance figures, but a 0 – 100 km/h dash should be dispatched in less than 11 seconds, provided the driver is adept at swapping the close-ratio gearbox’s cogs.
Those closely-spaced gear ratios certainly help the Brezza to perform well enough, but forces a compromise at speed. Cruising at the national speed limit sees the rev counter heading towards the 4 000 r/min mark, with the cabin’s mechanical noise levels confirming that there’s a small engine working hard up front.
This short gearing may be fine for India’s generally lower cruising speeds, but leads to excessive cabin noise and greater thirst in South African conditions. Engine and gearing apart, there are other sources of noise intrusion into the Brezza’s cabin also to contend with. Road rumble is noticeable on many tar surfaces, and wind rustle from the large side mirrors is ever-present at higher speeds.
As for the driving experience, it is pretty much exactly what you’d expect in a modern Suzuki SUV. There’s quite a lot of body roll in corners, due to its compliant, long-travel suspension, although outright grip levels from the 215/60R16 tyres are surplus to the requirements of the modest performance on tap.
The Brezza doesn’t really enjoy being hustled along, though, and its Indian-tuned handling lacks that final layer of polish and control of the larger Vitara. With that said, it’s certainly no worse than any other competitor in its class, and the Brezza betters most of its opponents with its agreeable blend of ride comfort and predictable dynamics.
Fuel consumption
This is the first time that a Suzuki product didn’t quite live up to its promise of miserly fuel consumption, even though it was still by no means excessively thirsty. During our time with this test car, highway driving made up about 70% of its usage, where its blocky shape and short gearing militated against the sterling fuel efficiency we’ve come to expect from this brand.
Averaging 7.3 ℓ/100 km in this mixed driving cycle with the air-con at full blast most of the time isn’t a terrible result, but it is quite far from Suzuki’s claimed average consumption of 6.2 ℓ/100 km. Heavy loads, higher cruising speeds and an even-heavier right foot will make the Brezza thirstier still, turning it into the first Suzuki to register (slightly disappointing) fuel consumption figures.
Pricing
The Suzuki Vitara Brezza spans the price range between R 250 000 and R 315 000, with our GLX manual derivative slipping below the R 300 000 barrier with R 6 100 to spare. That’s seriously good value for money, considering the standard equipment on offer, and justifies Suzuki’s decision to drop the lower-end Vitara derivatives in favour of the Brezza.
Rivals around this price point include the Brezza’s Toyota twin (the Urban Cruiser), Hyundai Venue 1.2, Nissan Magnite, Honda WR-V and Renault Kiger – none of which can really offer a more-convincing package of power, features and space. Given this competition and their prices, the Vitara Brezza becomes a compelling proposition at the budget end of the SUV/crossover market.
All Suzuki Vitara Brezza derivatives feature a warranty for 5 years or 200 000 km, along with a service plan for 4 years or 60 000 km.
* Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but is subject to change without prior notice.
Verdict
With its strong combination of practicality, lots of standard features and a (comparatively) affordable price tag, the Suzuki Vitara Brezza meets the needs of a multitude of car buyers who shop with value for money front of mind. Sure, it’s not perfect, but for the money, it doesn’t have to be. None of its opponents are, either.
What’s really important is that the Brezza has good (if not class-leading) safety specifications, a strong after-sales package, enough space for a small family, and enough nice toys inside to make the daily commute bearable – all for a very reasonable price. Value for money is now more important than ever, and the Vitara Brezza definitely delivers on that need.
Keyword: Suzuki Vitara Brezza 1.5 GLX (2022) Review