Hyundai Venue vs Maruti Brezza vs Mahindra XUV300: Which SUV offers what

Hyundai has launched its much-awaited sub-4 meter SUV, the Venue in India today. The car challenges the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Mahindra XUV300, Tata Nexon and the Ford Ecosport in its segment. Now, these are rather well-equipped cars but Hyundai is in no mood of a playtime either. Therefore, the Korean manufacturer has made sure that the Venue comes with all the party items apart from covering the basics. The current top sellers of the sub-4 meter SUV segment are the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza followed by the Mahindra XUV300. Let’s now see how the Venue stacks up against both these heavyweights now that it has been officially launched.

Exterior Design and Dimensions

Looks can be subjective but most of the vehicles in this segment get a similar profile. Talking about the Venue, it resembles the Creta when viewed from the side, though the front and rear end have been styled differently. The front has an imposing waterfall grille and the headlamps are high-set projector unit. The bumper so has projector fog lamps and DRL LED surrounds. At the rear, tail lamps of the Venue are distinctly styled. The SUV measures 3,995 mm in length while the width and height of the Venue stand at 1,770 mm and 1,590 mm. The wheelbase, on the other hand, is 2,500 mm,

The Maruti Vitara Brezza is the oldest of the lot here and the same shows in its design too. It has a rather conventional design with flat rectangular panels all over. The front and rear lamps are rectangular units while the grille gets a huge chrome slab up front. Talking about the dimensions of the car, the Vitara Brezza has a length of

The Mahindra XUV300 is also one handsome looking car and the top end variants come with LED DRLs running down from the headlights to the fog lamps. The front end gets a sleek grille with chrome inserts but the rear looks a bit disproportionate, which is probably because of its shortened length (based on the longer Tivoli). As for the dimensions, it measures 3995 in length, 1821 in width and 1627 in height. It also has a segment-leading wheelbase of 2600 mm.

Engines, Gearbox and mileage

The Hyundai Venue comes with 3 engine options, two of which are petrol while one is diesel. The petrol engines on the Venue are the 1.2 litre unit while the other one is a 1.0 litre, 3 cylinder turbocharged unit. The former has an output of 82 Bhp-115 Nm while the latter puts out 118 Bhp-172 Nm. The diesel engine, on the other hand, is a 1.4 litre 4 cylinder, turbocharged unit that puts out a decent 89 Bhp of power and 220 Nm of torque. Speaking of gearbox options, the 1.4-litre petrol motor will get a 5-speed manual gearbox while the diesel will get a 6-speed manual unit. The 1.0-litre unit, however, gets a choice between either a 7-speed DCT unit or the 6-speed manual unit.

Coming to the Vitara Brezza, it comes only with a 1.3-litre diesel engine that churns out 89 Bhp of power along with 200 Nm of torque. The engine comes mated to either a 5-speed manual box or a 5-speed AMT unit.

The Mahindra XUV300 gets both petrol and diesel engine options. The petrol engine is a 1.2-litre unit that churns out 110 Bhp of power and 200 Nm of torque. The diesel engine, on the other hand, is a 1.5-litre unit that pumps out 115 Bhp of power along with 300 Nm of torque. Both the engines come only with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Mileage

Mileage is one of the most sought after aspects when buying a vehicle in India. Talking of which, the Venue’s 1.0-litre petrol engine delivers 18.27 km/l with the manual gearbox and 18.15 km/l with the 7-speed DCT unit. The 1.2 petrol engine has a fuel efficiency figure of 17.52 km/l while the 1.4 diesel unit is rated for 23.7 km/l.

Next comes the Vitara Brezza, which has a mileage of 24.29 irrespective of the gearbox. Lastly, the Mahindra XUV300 has a fuel efficiency of 20 km/l for the diesel engine while the petrol engine delivers 17 km/l.

Interiors and Features

Hyundai has brought all its big guns out for the Venue and the car has been filled to brim with features, talking about the interiors first, it gets all black or black and beige interiors (variant dependent) with satin inserts across the dashboard and other areas. The dashboard gets topped by the floating touchscreen infotainment unit. The steering gets audio and phone controls while there is a fast charging outlet in the center console. Down below the infotainment are the AC control knobs.

Talking about features, the top-spec Venue will offer 6 airbags, ABS+EBD, traction control, vehicle stability management (Hyundai-speak for ESP), hill hold assist, cruise control, reverse parking sensors and a reverse parking camera. As for creature comforts, the Venue will get a twin zone, automatic climate control unit, wireless charging, e-SIM for Telematics (remote starting, car locator, remote sunroof and window operation, remote AC operation), automatic headlamps, smart key, push button start, rain sensing wipers, air purifier, cooled glovebox, electric sunroof and a touchscreen infotainment unit with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza comes with all black interiors as on many other Maruti cars. The dashboard gets an integrated touchscreen infotainment system while the rest of the cabin is decently laid out. Safety features like ABS, front dual airbags and reverse parking sensors are standard on all variants. The sunroof is amiss here but it comes with a touchscreen infotainment system with SmartPlay and Apple CarPlay, Inbuilt navigation with Mapcare, keyless entry with push-button start, cruise control, cooled upper glove box, sliding front armrest and reverse parking camera.

Coming to the Mahindra XUV300, it gets many segment-leading features which include multi-mode steering, heated ORVMs, 7 airbags, disc brakes on all four wheels and dual-zone auto AC. It also gets a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The XUV300 has the largest wheelbase in the segment so space is not an issue and in fact, is among the best in class.

Price

The Hyundai Venue is priced at Rs. 6.5 lakh for the base E variant while the most expensive variant of the car, the SX+ variant with 1.0-litre petrol engine and 7-speed DCT is priced at Rs. 11.10 lakh. This makes it the most affordable car here when talking about the base variant.

Prices for the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza start at Rs. 7.67 lakh for the base LDi variant and goes all the way up to Rs. 10.64 lakhs for the top end variant. On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV300 starts at Rs. 7.90 lakh while the top end variant of the Mahindra SUV costs Rs. 11.99 lakh.