Maruti Suzuki Ertiga: Fall in LUV with this game-changer!

Technically speaking, the Ertiga isn’t exactly the first seven-seater to emerge from Maruti’s stable. There were the Omni E and the Versa and then the Eeco which all take care of the people-carrier duties in their range. But the Ertiga, it’s a little different. Where the others were bare and featureless, the Ertiga is decently specced-out as a significant value-for-money composition. Where the earlier models were meant to be bought by fleet operators, the Ertiga aims straight for the family man. In doing so, India’s largest carmaker is creating a new niche that it calls ‘Life Utility Vehicle’ or LUV that essentially offers hatchback upgraders and sedan-buyers a car that’s part sedan, part MUV.

Looks


No surprises here, the Ertiga bears a very strong resemblance to the new Suzuki Swift and the DZire. It is based on the Swift platform, but it is a good bit longer than the Swift. It’s not quite in the same dimensions as the Innova though - call it a compact MUV. If you have seen the Ford Fusion, you will get the idea. Now exponentially increase it. The fascia has the now familiar Suzuki egg-crate grille with stretched peeled-back headlamps. This visage of the car is possibly its best-looking side. Side on, the similarities to the Innova can’t be missed, especially the stance. The shoulder lines are solid, but the Ertiga’s rear is like any other people-mover’s, quite bland, with the tail-lights the only distinguishing feature. In the pictures, you don’t notice it much, but the scale of the vehicle is the clincher. The 15-inch alloys (top variant) feel smaller for a car of this size.


Interiors


On the inside, you’re greeted to the Swift family interior, a bit of a mix and match between the Swift and the new DZire. The Ertiga has the two-tone, beige and black dash like the DZire, lot of electronics, immobilizer, bottle and knick-knack spaces. It skips the faux wood trim in favour of aluminium found on the Swift hatch. The waterfall centre console has the same six-speaker music system found in the Swift. There’s no leather seating, its fabric across variants - guess this has been done for price competitiveness. From the front row, you won’t be able to tell the difference unless you really pay attention. In the middle row, you now have adjustment options to move the seats forward and backward to accommodate the last row passenger’s feet. Neat!


Ride and handling


Unlike the other MPVs/MUVs in the country, this is not a body-on-frame vehicle; it’s a monocoque construction, which means that the car is lighter, more rigid and offers a very, very car-like ride instead of the slightly heavier ride of the Innova, Tata Aria and the like. With the new DZire, Maruti started making cars that actually muffled the road imperfections and potholes and that only gets better with the Ertiga. Ride quality at the rear is very nice, sound damping excellent and even the last row passengers enjoy a decent ride. As for the handling, it’s not really important on an MPV, but with the Ertiga’s chassis pushing the wheels towards the corners to maximise the interior space, they’ve inadvertently created an MPV that handles well.The turning radius is fantastic at just over five metres. The Suzuki engineers sure put in a lot of work into the chassis. They didn’t just extend the wheelbase, add another row of seats and call it a day; they added some high-tensile strength steel and other materials to retain the rigidity of the Swift even in this extended form.