Toyota Hyryder vs Maruti Grand Vitara: Unidentical Twins

Ever since the Hyundai Creta launched back in 2015 and popularised the mid-size SUV segment, almost every car manufacturer in India has been fighting for a piece of the pie. This segment has been so popular that in the relatively short span of 7 years, we've had 2 generations of the Creta, offerings from established manufacturers such as Nissan, Mahindra, Tata, Jeep, Volkswagen, ?koda, as well as new entrants MG and Kia, and now, India's biggest carmaker and one of the world's most renowned carmakers have entered the fray as well, with the Maruti Grand Vitara and the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder.

However, what they bring to this crowded segment is distinctive. The Hyryder and the Grand Vitara represent the second venture to come out of Maruti's and Toyota's collaboration that started 2 years ago with the Toyota Urban Cruiser. Except this time, the differences run far deeper than just a rebadging. These two SUVs are engineered specifically for India from the ground-up, using Suzuki's Global C platform and Toyota's illustrious strong hybrid powertrain. That means they entirely forgo a diesel engine, unlike most of their competitors, which plays to their benefit as rising fuel prices and shorter lifespans are slowly making diesels obsolete anyway. Diesels do have the firm advantage of excellent fuel efficiency, but with a claimed figure of 27.97 km/L and dedicated EV driving modes, Maruti and Toyota seem hell-bent on convincing buyers they don't need one.

Coming to the SUVs themselves, I recently had the chance to drive both and one thing is certain - they're absolutely identical in everything but exterior styling. The engines, the ride quality, the interiors, the features, the infotainment software, the driving experience - everything. If you were to hide the badges on the steering wheels, most people would find it difficult to tell which of the two they're sitting in. Thankfully, the interior is smartly laid-out and minimalistic, so this isn't a knock on either car. The quality of materials is great for the most part too, with champagne-coloured soft touch highlights and double-stitched leather covering most of the dashboard. Scratchy plastics can be found in the lower areas, though. The seats are comfortable, supportive, and positioned optimally, although it's disappointing that electric adjustment is not offered in either car. The large panoramic sunroof lets in a lot of light into the cabin, and space in the rear is also plentiful. The boot space, though, is a point of contention. The strong hybrid variants house the 0.76?kWh battery pack above the rear axle, which eats up about 100L of boot space, resulting in a rather small 255L boot, that too oddly split into 2 layers, with the spare wheel located underneath the rear bumper. The mild hybrids don't improve matters much with only 355L of space, which is a far cry from the Creta's large 433L boot.

Buyers have 2 powertrain options to choose from - a Maruti-developed 1.5L 4-cyl petrol mild hybrid, mated to either a 6-speed torque converter or a 5-speed manual, or the Toyota-developed 1.5L 3-cyl petrol strong hybrid coupled with an eCVT (no paddle shifters though). The mild hybrid develops 103hp and 137Nm, whereas the strong hybrid churns out a combined output of 116hp and 141Nm. Customers who opt for the mild hybrid will also have the option of FWD or 4WD, but I doubt the latter will be very popular, as neither of these cars were designed to handle extreme off-road conditions. What of the driving experience then? Contrary to expectations, the 3-cyl Toyota engine outperforms the 4-cyl Dualjet by a wide margin. The Dualjet is a typical Maruti engine, i.e. tuned for maximum fuel efficiency and minimum fun. It's fine when you're ambling around at low speeds, but once the road opens up and you mash the throttle, the only thing you're met with is a 2-second delay while the torque converter shifts down, and then a lethargic groan from the engine as it crawls up the rev range. Certainly not a playful engine, but at least it delivers a respectable 21 km/L in average driving conditions. It's a viable option for the chauffeur-driven, but not for the enthusiastic.

The strong hybrid, on the other hand, is a totally different experience, right from when you press the start button. No starter motor whirring, no noise from the engine, no vibrations as the car idles, nothing. The only thing that lets you know it's ready to be driven is a small prompt in the instrument cluster that says "Ready EV".

Just slot the gear lever into D and marvel at how the car starts moving with nary a sound. Driving around with no noise and vibrations (other than the ones from the road) is a transcendent experience. The engine will occasionally kick in when the torque demand exceeds what the battery can serve up, and boy, does it make itself noticeable. The sense of urgency with which this 3-cyl motor responds is a class apart from any other in the market. Squeezing the throttle will result in a strong pull that will make overtaking a breeze and open road cruising very enjoyable. It's also surprisingly refined for a 3-cyl, with no thrumming and a sporty purr while climbing the rev range, which is a welcome change from the noisy Dualjet drone. This is definitely recommended for enthusiasts, although be warned that the power band isn't as enjoyable at highway speeds, where the delivery is more linear and the missing cylinder makes its absence known. Although, I found that the Hyryder's engine was a hint peppier than the Vitara's, but the steering was slightly firmer on the Maruti. Still, for 99% of driving scenarios, the strong hybrid is the clear winning variant for both cars, and we haven't even talked about the stellar fuel efficiency yet. In the Grand Vitara, I was seeing upwards of 25 km/L even when pushing the engine hard and astonishingly, a maximum of 37.6 km/L during city driving when the load was mostly on the electric motor. This cements the strong hybrid as the winner in both performance and fuel economy, although it does come in at a hefty 2 lakh jump over the mild hybrid's cost (fully loaded variants).

Now for the biggest difference between the two SUVs - exterior styling. This is what will tip the scales for buyers, but the design languages of both cars clearly convey the clientele Toyota and Maruti are targeting. Simply put, the Hyryder (slightly juvenile name aside) has a sharp and edgy design that'll appeal more to the younger demographic, whereas the Grand Vitara has a tamer, more conservative look. Personally, I find the Grand Vitara's front fascia to be slightly gaudy, owing to the overuse of chrome around the grille. The light use of chrome on the Hyryder's grille is far more tasteful, and I personally like how it cuts through the LED DRLs. Not to mention the polished carbonfibre finish around the chrome which looks great in person. It's a cleaner, more integrated design than the Grand Vitara for sure. The main headlamps underneath the DRLs on both cars do not feature fog lamps and only contain one bulb each, the efficacy of which I was unable to test, but it's notable regardless. The side profile of both SUVs is mostly similar, with the wheels conveying the respective design languages (Hyryder takes the win for me again). However, the script is flipped when we come to the rear. The Grand Vitara's tail lights run all the way across the width of the rear, with only the Suzuki logo breaking it up in the centre. The lightbar also has a blackened finish inside, which, combined with the 'Grand Vitara' badging, lends the rear a very smart and upmarket appearance. The Hyryder's rear looks a bit ordinary in comparison, with C-shaped LED lights and a large chrome bar connecting them, but it doesn't look bad in the slightest and both SUVs use minimalism to their advantage.

The Toyota Hyryder and the Maruti Grand Vitara represent a paradigm change, not just for the segment they're in, but for the market at large, by popularising strong hybrid technology and championing it as a viable replacement for diesels. Not only do they make good on their astounding claimed efficiency figures, they somehow manage to even surpass them by a sizeable margin and deliver class-leading fuel economy, all with the fun of a petrol engine that defies the expectations one may set by looking at the cylinder count. Sure, they have traditional hybrid shortcomings like an undersized boot and a high sticker price, the 3-cyl engine doesn't have the effortlessness of a 4-cyl at highway speeds, the tyres are a size too small for the wheel wells, and the mild hybrid variants are severely cut down on features in order to make the costlier strong hybrids look like a better deal, but all of that is a drop in the bucket compared to everything that these SUVs get right, and it's safe to say that Maruti and Toyota have a revolution on their hands. As for which one is better, it's really something that comes down to personal preference and very minor differences, but an important one is that Toyota offers a separate 8-year warranty for the battery pack for the strong hybrid whereas Maruti bundles it with the warranty of the car which can be extended up to only 5 years. Batteries degrade over time, so a longer coverage is a distinction that can't be ignored and that's why, accounting for my preferences as well, it's the Toyota Hyryder that I would recommend.