With a highly affordable price tag, the new Suzuki Vitara Brezza is here to cause a ruckus in the South African compact SUV segment. The Brezza spent seven days doing family duty with us on a variety of surfaces. Is this a car I would consider as my daily drive?
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Photo GridThe Brezza has a square and stocky build, sporting all the latest styling cues that are deemed desirable on modern-day SUVs, including faux skid plates, alloy wheels, practical black cladding on the bottom edges of the Brezza's flanks and wheel arches, elongated LED lights (with a 3D effect at the rear), and a stylish chrome grille with that instantly-recognizable Suzuki "S" logo in front. Alloy wheels are standard on the GLX derivatives, but GL variants have to make do with steel wheels.
A two-toned exterior can be specified on the GLX model for a more-pronounced floating roof-effect. (All models have a darkened A-pillar and black insert on the C-pillar to create this appearance.) The rear spoiler gives the Brezza a cheeky and sporty appearance, but don't expect any athletic ability, except a talent for scaling sidewalks. The Vitara Brezza has slightly higher ground clearance than the larger Vitara.
Black cloth seats with velvety honeycomb-design inserts and a no-nonsense dashboard configuration are testament to Suzuki's eye on practical, comfortable, and fuss-free transport. The Brezza's predominantly black cabin certainly has its fair share of hard plastics, but it's solidly built and the monotony is broken with piano-black trim and silver plastic accents.
The user-friendly infotainment system has Apple CarPlay/Android Auto (all variants), and there's a USB port to connect with the system. The ambient lighting surrounding the odo- and speedometer is a nice touch, and you can change the colour as the mood takes you. Other GLX-specific touches include a leather-covered steering wheel with additional buttons for the cruise control, voice control, a starter button, keyless entry, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, auto-folding side mirrors, a 12-Volt socket in the boot and two extra tweeters to enhance the Brezza's sound system. All variants have climate control, rear parking sensors and a rearview camera.
The Brezza offers more space on the inside than you'd imagine, especially for the rear seat. Legroom is quite generous, and the width of the rear seats allows for three average-sized adults to be seated side by side, but there's only a lap belt for the person in the middle. Exposed ISOFIX anchorage points on the outer rear seats makes fitting car seats child's play. There's also a coat hook at the rear of the driver's seat, and a central squab / armrest with two cupholders. In front, GLX models have a central armrest with a small storage binnacle for a phone or face masks. Plush Brezza-themed carpets (with white piping and lettering) can be easily removed for cleaning purposes.
The cargo area is deceptively large. We managed to fit two adult-sized boogie boards and two senior primary-schoolers' massive suitcases into it, plus beach bags, towels, and a cooler bag, despite a full-sized spare wheel taking up its share of volume underneath the boot floor. Two handy storage binnacles on the outer edges are perfect for smaller items such as house keys or a kid's flip-flops. And did I mention that the Vitara Brezza has a coolable glovebox? There is another 'regular' glovebox directly below it as well.
The naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre Brezza with its 4-speed auto-box is well suited to town and country driving, gripping well in the corners but running out of steam at times when it's faced with an unprepared-for steep incline. The solution? Disable the fourth gear if you're traversing twisty mountain passes. There's a small button on the side of the automatic gear lever which prevents the Brezza's gearbox from gearing up to fourth. (The K15B-engine delivers 77 kW at 6 000 rpm and 138 Nm of torque at 4 400 rpm.) I would still opt for the five-speed manual gearbox, though — although it's a different story if you waste hours of your life in traffic every week. Fuel economy isn't as good as I had hoped, returning 8 litres per 100 km after the week's mixed driving, but should get lower as time goes by.
The Brezza has 2 airbags, ABS with EBD, brake assist, and rear ISOFIX child seat anchors. Not terribly impressive on paper, I know, but the Brezza has already undergone stringent crash testing in Germany and scored a fabulous four stars out of five. This is thanks to the Brezza's strong TECT (or Total Effective Control Technology) structure, which is able to withstand massive loads as well as disperse crash energy away from the cabin. The Brezza's side-impact beams in the doors also assist in keeping occupants out of harm's way.
Other nice features in the GLX variant include front fog lamps, rain-sensing windshield wipers, light-sensing LED headlights and LED daytime running lamps. The usual safety features such as rear child locks, a rear wiper and washer, rear LED stop lamps, and an alarm system with an immobiliser are all standard.
The Brezza has long reigned supreme in India, offering a decently-sized, well-specified and safe compact SUV for the people. Will South Africans be equally impressed? I sure hope so, but in reality, the the new Urban Cruiser from Toyota (essentially a rebranded Brezza with a starting price of R247 900) might outsell the Brezza, just like the Toyota Starlet is outselling the Suzuki Baleno.
An important point to remember, however, is that the Suzukis have a longer service plan than their Toyota counterparts. If you're pinching pennies, the Brezza's 4-year/60 000 km service plan is the more sensible option, money wise. Suzuki is also running a promotional mechanical warranty of 5 years / 200 000 km.
Should you rather opt for the Urban Cruiser, however, there are other things that count in its favour, such as the fact that Toyota has the largest dealer footprint in South Africa. Should the time come to sell on, Toyota's reputation for reliability will surely influence the Cruiser's resale value positively, too.
Another value-packed buy in this price range is the Mahindra XUV300, which was recently awarded with a 5-star Global NCAP safety rating.
Suzuki Vitara Brezza 1.5 GL, R244 900
Suzuki Vitara Brezza 1.5 GL auto, R264 900
Suzuki Vitara Brezza 1.5 GLX, R289 900
Suzuki Vitara Brezza 1.5 GLX auto, R309 900
The Vitara Brezza offers excellent value and everyday practicality. It is a versatile and comfortable daily driver which is suitable for everyone. Another plus point is that it fits into my tiny garage, yet my teenager doesn't complain about not having enough space for her legs, and there's plenty of space in the boot. It's a win in almost all respects — but the manual gearbox would make more sense if the somewhat noisy and old-fashioned automatic transmission is not for you. Those of us who value comfort over performance surely wouldn't be put off by something as trivial as the lack of a fifth gear.
Ané AlbertseAné was bitten by the motoring bug at a very young age. Her mom recalls her sitting in her stroller as a 3-year old, naming every car that came past. She was creating content for various publications within Media24 when AutoTrader nabbed her for good, and is one of the longest-standing members of the AutoTrader team. She prefers dirt roads to tar and SUVs/bakkies to sports cars, but her greatest passion is helping people find the perfect car for their budget, lifestyle, and personality.View News & Reviews
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