2024 Maruti Suzuki Fronx Turbo Long Term Review: Is It Worth The Extra Money?

Despite its popularity and seeing many of them on the road, the Fronx looks great and it is a brilliant design with the sloping rear along with the Grand Vitara-ish front

Height adjustability meant that getting a low driving position was easy and here, the Fronx feels more like a car than, say, a Brezza. (Image Source: Somnath Chatterjee)

Source : Somnath Chatterjee

The Fronx indeed has come as a surprise success and has even outsold its Baleno sibling in some months. But how come? Revealed at the last Auto Expo along with the Jimny, it quickly became a success and it even won our award for its design. Having lived with the turbo manual for more than 6 months, it is indeed the one of the more enthusiast oriented Maruti Suzuki models if you like driving with the turbo. It is afterall the only car in the Maruti range with a turbo and we had the manual version.

However, let us start with the best bit which is the design. Despite its popularity and seeing many of them on the road, the Fronx looks great and it is a brilliant design with the sloping rear along with the Grand Vitara-ish front. Despite being based on the Baleno, there is no similarity and that has been a smart move while it stands taller too. The interior though is similar to the Baleno and that is no bad thing. 

The interior looks nice and managed to cope with our 6 month plus use without getting too dirty while quality felt sturdy. That said, some differentiation over the Baleno would have been nice including a digital cluster. The audio system is decent and Android Auto worked well but the 360 degree camera was godsend along with being very useful. I even liked the heads up display but cooled seats or a sunroof are missing. Height adjustability meant that getting a low driving position was easy and here, the Fronx feels more like a car than, say, a Brezza. The rear seat has ample space and more than many sub4m SUVs along with a middle headrest too while only headroom is a bit on the short side for tall people while boot space is also a bit less. The rear seatbelt warning also comes up without any occupants.

The driving experience has been the best bit for this car. It is not too big and not too small while the light steering plus light shift/clutch enabled it to be an easy to drive everyday commuter. Despite being a manual, it was easy to live with and you will have no complaints while it is also tractable with enough along with very good refinement. The engine we felt is responsive at low speeds and lag is less while the manual will please enthusiasts- Maruti does this gearbox very well.

However, when pushed the engine felt linear being tuned for efficiency while it is fast but does not have the turbo rush. We also think it is one of the better steering set-ups by Maruti Suzuki while not being too light. Handling and the ground clearance came handy during our time with the car as the 190mm meant it can be an SUV easily and do stuff that a hatchback cannot while it feels stiff yet confident. You can have fun with this powertrain and this car. However, brakes could have had more bite while during our time the car accumulated a lot of dirt easily while tiny scratches also show more with this paint.


With every Maruti Suzuki we expect the best efficiency and even the Turbo manual surprised us by being way more efficient than other SUVS.  We got 14 kmpl in the city while highway use got it upto 16-17 kmpl which is pretty efficient for a turbo. The top-end manual is around Rs 11.6 lakh and here you get a nice combination of looks, efficiency and useability. Hence, we suggest taking the Turbo for a drive before you settle for the 1.2 as it is worth the extra.

 

 

What we like- Looks, performance, efficiency, practicality, handling 

 

What we do not- lacks some features, Turbo is more expensive over 1.2, interior could have been more different