• Published On: 9 October 2017
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Is the diesel version of the Nexon good enough to beat the hot-selling Maruti Vitara Brezza?

The Nexon is a striking looking car, has a powerful diesel engine and comes with a competitive price-tag. But is it the best diesel compact SUV for your money? We pit it against the Maruti Vitara Brezza to find out.

On the outside

The Nexon is a good-looking car – it’s bold design gives it looks like it belongs to a segment above Rs 10 lakh. It’s quite radical on the inside too - the dashboard looks modern and the general ambience inside is of a premium car. The front seats are comfy, the high position of the centre screen, the premium-feeling steering wheel and gear lever all add to the overall premium feel inside. There’s a usable bottle holder and a huge glovebox as well. The centre storage bay, however, is too deep and narrow to access comfortably on the go, and the USB/aux inputs are hard to reach. Tata has added useful umbrella holders in the front doors, but they can only hold slim umbrellas. The car’s thick A-pillars might obstruct your view every now and then as well.  

The Brezza doesn’t look as sleek as the Nexon, but Maruti allows you to jazz up the appearance with a host of customisation options. The interior isn’t as alluring as the Nexon’s cabin, but the layout is uncluttered. Also, from the driver’s seat, you get more of an SUV feel in the Tata. The Brezza has the more practical cabin with lots of storage sapces, even for items such as your mobile phone and wallet. There are more hard and scratchy plastics in the Brezza’s cabin.

At the back, the Brezza’s cabin feels airier and offers more width to seat three, and thigh support is average. In contrast, you sit lower on the Nexon’s rear seats but the seats are really comfy and can seat three, however there is lesser shoulder room than in the Maruti. There is slightly more legroom in the Nexon.

Both SUVs get 60:40 split-and-fold rear seats, and while the Nexon has the larger boot on paper (350 litres vs 328 litres), the Brezza’s is better shaped and easier to put bags into.

Top-spec versions of both cars get dual airbags, ABS, steering-mounted buttons, auto climate control, rear-view camera, and Bluetooth audio streaming and telephone functions. Both cars also have keyless go but with an Activity Key, a wristband that doubles up as a key, so there’s no need to carry a physical key. The Tata offers rear air con vents and dynamic guidelines for its reversing camera. The Brezza offers cruise control, and auto wipers and headlights. Both have touchscreen infotainment systems and the Brezza’s larger 7.0-inch touchscreen is nicer to use than the Nexon’s 6.5-inch unit that functions with a bit of lag. The Brezza offers Apple CarPlay and the Nexon comes with Android Auto, but this might be updated in the near future.

Under the hood

The Nexon has a larger, more powerful and torquier engine. It’s 1.5-litre diesel engine makes 110hp and 260Nm, while the Brezza’s 1.3 produces 90hp and 200Nm. The Nexon is fitted with a six-speed gearbox, while the Brezza has a five-speed. The Tata features three different driving modes.

The Nexon is great in City or Sport drive modes and engine noise levels remain low throughout. At high speeds, the calm and composed Nexon does make for a relaxed cruiser though. The Brezza’s unit feels most alive when you’re driving it fast – step on the gas and the Maruti can become fairly exciting to drive. At city speeds though, the car feels lethargic and you’ll have to work the gearbox quite a bit.

The Nexon handles broken roads really well, and its 209mm of ground clearance also came handy when the going gets really tough. The Brezza offers 198mm of ground clearance but its ride is a tad firmer and low-speed ride is relatively jiggly. The Maruti’s suspension is noisier too.

Which one should i buy?

The Nexon might not take the Brezza’s position at the top of the sales charts, but it is the better product. The Tata does lacks a bit in finesse and does trail the Brezza in some areas, but has the nicer engine, better ride and lots of premium bits. The top-spec Nexon Revotorq XZ+ costs ₹9.45 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) which is cheaper than the Vitara Brezza ZDI+ that is priced at ₹9.69 lakh (9.91 lakh for the dual tone roof version), and this makes the Nexon even more tempting.