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The 1.5-litre petrol engine has very good drivability and is very refined
Performance – The petrol engine powering the second generation Maruti Ertiga is the new K15B 1.5-litre petrol engine producing 103 HP at 6000 RPM and 138 Nm of torque at 4800 RPM. Offered with this engine is either a 5-speed MT or a 4-speed AT. The engine is super refined and is quiet for most part but starts getting vocal at high RPMs. Power delivery is smooth and punchy and the redline comes in at around 6000 RPM. The engine feels livelier with the 5-speed MT which offers slick shifts and a light clutch while the 4-speed AT feels sluggish in comparison. However, it does its job fairly well under regular driving, though the shifts aren’t lightning quick. Maruti will launch a CNG variant of the petrol engine next year.
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The diesel engine is the same old 1.3-litre unit
Both the engines score high on fuel efficiency thanks to the SHVS tech
The diesel engine powering the Ertiga is the same 1.3-litre unit that we’ve seen on multiple Maruti cars since many years now. It produces 89 HP at 4000 RPM and 200 Nm at 1750 RPM. This engine is available with only a 5-speed MT but there is a possibility of Maruti launching an AMT version in the future. This engine has a lot of turbo lag but thankfully the mid-range has juicy performance. For a diesel engine, it redlines quite high at close to 5000 RPM. Compared to the older Ertiga, refinement has improved on the new car.
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The SHVS mild hybrid tech further boosts the fuel efficiency
The petrol engine comes with the second generation SHVS tech which does 3 things – regenerative braking, torque assist and auto start-stop. Due to this, the multi-information display on the petrol car is different from the diesel variant. The new SHVS gets 2 batteries – a traditional unit and a Lithium-ion unit. It also boosts fuel efficiency. The diesel engine continues to come with the older version of SHVS. The petrol engine delivers between 13-17 km/l (MT) and 12-15 km/l (AT) while the diesel engine delivers 15-20 km/l depending on driving conditions.
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The ride quality on the new Ertiga is indeed impressive
Driving Dynamics – The suspension on the new Maruti Ertiga gets a soft setup and ride quality is just excellent. The MPV tackles bad roads very confidently and feels much more stable too compared to the older car. But, the steering could have done with more feel and feedback. Body control is very good even though there is some body roll. This car isn’t really meant for driving fast on the corners, it’s more about cruising. Braking performance is also very good while the tyres have decent levels of grip.
