Mileage Review: Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Mild Hybrid Model Impresses With Fuel Efficiency

For those seeking a balance between performance and fuel economy, the mild hybrid Smart Hybrid variant emerges as a sensible and compelling option.

The Grand Vitara is available with a strong hybrid and a mild hybrid or 'Smart Hybrid' as Maruti puts it. 

Source : Somnath Chatterjee

Irrespective of size, Maruti Suzuki vehicles are known for their efficiency, and the Grand Vitara, the company's most premium offering, lives up to this reputation. Available in both strong hybrid and mild hybrid variants, Maruti's 'Smart Hybrid,' the compact SUV has been put to the test to gauge its actual fuel efficiency. Equipped with the tried and tested new 1.5L petrol engine boasting 103bhp, the mild hybrid Grand Vitara delivers promising results. The manual petrol model offers a claimed mileage of 21.1 kmpl, while the automatic variant reaches 20.58 kmpl.

During the review period spanning several months, the focus was on the automatic petrol mild hybrid with the 6-speed automatic and paddle shifters. Although the claimed mileage stands at 20 kmpl, the real-world testing recorded city mileage of around 14-15 kmpl and a slightly improved 17 kmpl on highways. 

Remarkably, even under challenging conditions with the car loaded with passengers and luggage, the fuel efficiency remained impressive, never dropping below 12.5 kmpl.

There is also an AWD petrol manual with this same engine but we are not talking about that here. We have the automatic petrol mild hybrid with the 6-speed automatic and paddle shifters. While the claimed mileage is 20kmpl, the city mileage that we got is around 14-15km while the highway mileage climbed a bit to 17kmpl. 

These figures might not match the strong hybrid but for a 1.5l petrol automatic, it is excellent and nothing can match it. Even when driven hard with the car full of passengers plus luggage it did not even once drop below 12.5kmpl. 

While the mileage figures may not match the strong hybrid variant, the mild hybrid Grand Vitara proves itself as an excellent choice in terms of fuel efficiency, especially given its competitive price point. For those seeking a balance between performance and fuel economy, the mild hybrid Smart Hybrid variant emerges as a sensible and compelling option.

With this impressive fuel efficiency performance, attention now turns to a comprehensive long-term review, delving into the Grand Vitara's overall performance capabilities.