Maruti S-Cross Long Term Review – First Report

Maruti S-Cross Long Term Review

Maruti’s flagship offering scores high on space, features and comfort

I have been driving various Maruti cars on an almost daily basis since more than 2 years now. First up came the Ciaz diesel which I truly liked and following it was the Vitara Brezza. Post that came the Ignis and Swift (both diesel variants) and now I have the facelifted S-Cross Alpha as my daily runner. Needless to say, I’m quite familiar with this diesel engine but there are certainly other areas where this crossover really stands out and here I’ll share my experience of using the S-Cross daily.

Since I was driving the Swift diesel MT before this, the S-Cross came across as a nice upgrade because it is bigger, luxurious, gets more features and delivers more power. However, the picture isn’t entirely rosy because while the Swift offered zippy performance in its 75 PS tune, this same engine on the S-Cross makes 90 PS and 200 Nm but comes with a lot more turbo lag which gets annoying.

The lag makes you shift gears more frequently and takes a while to reach 2000 RPM when the turbo starts spooling and delivers a strong surge of power. Since my Ciaz days, this is I think the only significant thing that I’ve disliked. Other than that, this engine is efficient, offers very good performance past the lag and is pretty reliable too. Yes, it is very noisy but that doesn’t matter much to me.

What matters to me is the luxurious feel that the Maruti S-Cross offers. The interiors feel rich; the leather seats are plush but might I say that the surface of the seats feels a bit slippery. The leather-wrapped steering wheel feels great to hold and comes with a familiar layout and design for the phone and audio controls. While the crossover shares a lot of switches with lower-priced Maruti cars, there are some feel-good factors in the cabin too. The front centre armrest is a nice touch, especially since it is adjustable.

The automatic IRVM is a useful feature and so is the keyless go function

I like the driving position because it offers a clear view of the road ahead and the well-shaped ORVMs do their job well too. The automatic day-night IRVM is what I really appreciate because I do a lot of night driving and I just like the fact that I don’t have to flick any lever for day and night modes all the time. The SmartPlay infotainment system is being used in Maruti cars since ages now, it works fine for most part but tends to throw some random glitches. I was particularly annoyed when I was heading out on a long drive and the infotainment system kept restarting every few minutes. The S-Cross comes with a 6-speaker set up with fairly good sound quality. The USB and Aux-IN ports are located inside the front armrest and it sometimes gets a bit inconvenient because you need to push the arm rest back, open it, locate the USB port and then insert the cable. A conventional position in the centre console, like other Maruti cars, would have been more user-friendly.

In terms of driving pleasure, well this car isn’t really meant to be pushed on the corners all the time. It is more of a mile-muncher and does its job well. The steering lacks feedback and feels lifeless at times. However, I am a complete fan of this suspension because it is so nicely tuned that it does a stellar job on our pothole-ridden roads plus it makes the car feel very stable no matter what kind of roads you’re driving on. The space and comfort that S-Cross offers is indeed a selling point.

The older S-Cross was very good but the new one is even better as a package

Talking about space, the front seats are large in size and offer good support while the rear seat is also fairly comfortable. The backrest can be reclined which is a very nice touch and I actually used the rear seat for a few days when I had injured my shoulder and used a chauffeur for my commute. The boot is quite large, it swallows a lot of luggage with ease but the parcel tray on our car comes loose all the time and keeps rattling. Also, the front left door doesn’t shut properly in the first attempt. You always have to shut it twice. The panel gap between the front left door and the fender is also larger than usual, maybe the car had a shunt before it came to us?

As of now, I’m very happy with the S-Cross. The crossover has some irritants like the turbo lag but otherwise, it is a very good car. The facelifted model comes with some cosmetic changes that really uplift the appeal of the car and some non-petrolhead friends of mine even commented that the front now looks a wee bit similar to the new BMW X1. I plan to keep the S-Cross to myself and not share it with any of my colleagues because I know all of them like it, but let’s see, we also have a Honda WR-V long termer now, which is essentially in the same segment as the S-Cross.

What’s Cool

* Excellent ride quality and suspension setup for Indian roads
* Fuel efficient engine
* Spacious and feature-loaded interiors
* Maruti’s reliability and wide service network
What’s Not So Cool

* Turbo lag below 2000 RPM
* Infotainment system has some niggles

Further Reading –

Maruti S-Cross Review
Maruti S-Cross Video Review