New 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Review

Making its debut in India in 2012, the original Ertiga is one of the most popular cars from the Maruti Suzuki stables. With almost 65000 sold every year since, the seven seater Maruti Suzuki was popular with private car buyers but even more popular with the fleet market. And now there is a new one, a second generation, and it is quite the looker! So what does the all-new next generation Maruti Suzuki Ertiga bring to the table and what are all the changes that Maruti Suzuki has brought in? Well, read on to fine out all you need to know about the new 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga launched in India, Prices here! 

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets a more upright design language)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Exterior Design

Lets start with the obvious first. The new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is now based on the Heartect platform that also underpins the likes of the Swift and the Baleno. The new car is larger as compared to its predecessor in terms of length, width and height, and it shows. But more importantly, the typical van like design language has been dropped for something more upright and more aggressive. Yes, there are several design elements that remind us of the larger Toyota Innova Crysta, and they do seem to work.

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga does not get LED daytime running lights)

The flat face has a new chrome embedded grill that fuses into the headlamps rather well. The headlamps themselves are dual barrel and have a projector setup for the low beam and a standard reflector for the high beam. There is no LED daytime running light or LED bulb for the headlamps itself.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga - Features Explained

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets LED tail lamps)

The first thing that comes to mind when the new Ertiga is viewed in profile is that window line and the distinct design feature on the C-Pillar. Move to the back and the large boomerang inspired tail lamps like quite cool but remember, it is only a selective section that actually lights up and not the whole tail lamp. In fact, if given an option, the only thing I would really change are those tiny 15-inch alloy wheels. A set of nicer 16 or even 17-inch wheels would have done wonders.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Vs Mahindra Marazzo - Spec Comparison

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga dashboard)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Interior Design and Space

The first thing that strikes you is just how upmarket the new Ertiga looks on the inside. A faux wood theme extends across the stepped design dashboard and to be honest even though it is plastic at the end of the day, it does look quite nice. The new Ertiga gets a beige and darker brown two-tone combination across the dashboard and the seats and with a slightly printed pattern on the seats, the overall effect is quite satisfactory. The new Ertiga also gets a flat bottom steering wheel that is wrapped in leather and behind that, an all-new instrument cluster too.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets Apple Carplay and Android Auto)

The central console houses the large touchscreen, which has its own inbuilt navigation but also supports smartphone integration options like Apple Carplay and Android Auto. All of us are now pretty used to this particular infotainment setup and honestly, it is one of the better ones offered on a model today. The top spec models get climate control and a start stop button too. Another cool feature - literally - are the cooled or rather ventilated bottle/zup holders (as seen below). That said, all this is well and good but what is most important in the new Ertiga is interior space and this being a new platform brings in a whole lot more space in it than before. 

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets ventilated cup holders)

The new Ertiga is longer and wider on the outside and that gives it more space on the inside too. Even though the wheelbase stays the same, the new Ertiga gets more space in the back as the engine compartment has moved slightly forward. The centre row seats are also much more comfortable as compared to the previous generation and as with the last gen car, there is a roof mounted air conditioner unit.

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is now more spacious in the rear seats)

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Vs Mahindra Marazzo - Spec Comparison

But the big improvement is the space on the last row. While the last gen car had an Achilles heel in terms of people fitting in, this new Ertiga has a lot more space in the third row and is large even for your scribe to fit in - and by no means am I a small human being! The final row of seats also gets a reclining option which makes longer journeys a lot lot more comfortable in general. And while head room might be a slight issue, leg room and the flat floor makes up for it.

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets 803 litres of boot space with the seats folded flat)

The new Ertiga now also gets a larger boot. In fact, it is twice as large as compared to the previous model and that is an important feat. You get 209 litres of boot space with the seats in place and fold the seats down and that space jumps up to a whopping 803 litres. But even with the rows of seats in play, the new Ertiga can easily swallow up large full sized airline bags - something that the older car could only dream of. The Ertiga's boot also has two panels that can be manually removed and stowed away in the car to give even more depth to the boot. All in all, this is a big big improvement.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is quite a handsome looking car)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Engine and Gearbox

The new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets a brand new petrol engine. It is the same 1.5-litre motor that debuted a few months ago on the Ciaz facelift and makes the same 103 bhp of peak power and 138 Nm of peak torque. The petrol engine is mated to a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic, which is a torque convertor or traditional automatic and not an AMT like on some other Maruti cars. The diesel on the other hand is a 1.3-litre DDIS 200 spec motor making 89 bhp of peak power and 200 Nm of peak torque.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets petrol and diesel engines)

We drove the petrol Ertiga in both the manual and automatic avatar and considering the fact that a good 60-70 percent of all bookings on the new Ertiga are for the petrol engine, it was only apt. The new Ertiga petrol drives well. The 1.5-litre engine works well and although it might be a little rougher than the 1.4-litre K14 that it replaces, overall, it does offer a very good package in terms of both overall drivability and performance and of course, fuel economy. You don't struggle to get the Ertiga going even if you are in a slightly higher gear at a slightly lower speed as there is enough torque and at higher revs, the Ertiga's petrol engine does not feel stressed either.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has a 4-speed petrol automatic option)

We also got a chance to drive the 4-speed automatic and it is rather impressive too. Now while this is an older gearbox in general and yes, it does have an actual overdrive selector button, the gearbox actually seems to go really well with the Ertiga. It does what it is meant to do - shift gears smoothly and without any jerks while still managing to put down the power from the engine without the need for a kickdown all the time. And that means fuel economy figures are quite good too. While the diesel offers a totally bonkers fuel economy of 25.47 kmpl, the petrol manual gets 19.34 kmpl and the petrol automatic gets 18.69 kmpl.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets only 15-inch wheels)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Ride and Handling

Now the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is not the kind of car you take corner carving. It is meant to take people from point A to point B and back in relative comfort. And coming straight to the point, it does that rather well. Ride quality is noticably better than before and while there is some body roll due to the higher centre of gravity, it never really feels unsafe. While a set of larger wheels and tyres would have looked better, it would have also made the Ertiga a better handler overall. But again, for an MPV or Van, the sole purpose of which is to move people, the new lighter Heartect platform, which in any case is inherently stiffer, is quite impressive in terms of that crucial ride quality vs handling prowess balance.

(New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga gets ABS and dual airbags as standard)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Safety Features

We generally get a lot of queries and comments - and also the repeated spam - on how Maruti Suzuki cars are unsafe. And while there are some cars that have scored higher or lower in NCAP tests, India's largest automaker has put in a ton of effort into making its cars safer. The new Ertiga's platform uses a high percentage of tensile steel and that, combined with the standard airbags on all models means that the car will meet the upcoming crash regulations, according to the automaker. Apart from the two airbags as standard, the new Ertiga also gets ABS as standard on all models and the automatic even gets ESC or Electronic Stability Control as standard.

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Prices

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is available with both, a petrol and a diesel engine. The petrol, as mentioned earlier, also gets both the manual and automatic while the diesel gets only the manual option. The manual Ertiga is available in four variants, L, V, Z and Z+ with the VI or DI for petrol or diesel respectively, while the auto gets the VXI and ZXI variants only. Prices for the petrol manual range from Rs 7.44 lakh for the base model LXI to Rs 9.50 lakh for the top of the line ZXI+ model. The petrol automatic on the other hand is priced at Rs 9.18 lakh for the VXI and Rs 9.95 lakh for the ZXI variant. Prices for the diesel range from Rs 8.84-10.90 lalk. And if you were wondering, the Ertiga undercuts the larger Mahindra Marazzo by about Rs 1.5 lakh on average.

(Maruti Suzuki Ertiga)

New Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Verdict

So there you have it. A capable family car now gets even more capable with the launch of the new Ertiga. It is priced well, comes packed to the gills with features and is more spacious too. It also handles and performs better and honestly, apart from the fact that it could have had a better set of wheels, LED daytime running lights with LED headlamps and that the automatic desperately needs a fully loaded Z+ model, Maruti Suzuki yet again have made a great package. With bookings open at Maruti Suzuki Arena dealerships across the country and waiting periods already starting to creep up, if you have been waiting for our review to decide whether or not you should buy one, our answer is a definitive and thumping yes! And if you are worried about your next Uber or Ola being the exact same car as your brand new ertiga, Maruti Suzuki has clearly mentioned that this new gen model will be only for the private market... for now at least.