BHPian Tony2298 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: First of all, let me tell everyone clearly, I’m not really a guy who likes MSIL cars, maybe due to them being a bit too generic type, with somewhat iffy quality, lifeless engines and just sheer volume of them, especially the commerical ones plying on our roads even though I personally happen to own a 2012 Maruti Suzuki WagonR and even after so many years it continues to run strong, you can read more about it at its dedicated thread. Despite that, in recent times, I really happened to love the new generation Dzire and one that made me visit MSIL showroom once again after so many years and I really liked the car, you can read more about it here, so much so that at one point I genuinely got interested in buying one!Maruti Suzuki Victoris First ImpressionsNow the Victoris once again has got me excited and right from day1 I have taken quite a liking towards this new CSUV by MSIL. Today while I was out, decided to drop by an Arena showroom and register my interest for the Victoris and get a quotation for the same. To my surprise, a shiny new Victoris was standing right inside the showroom and looked towards me as if it were waiting for me only! Sadly however, no TDs yet and I only got to experience the car inside the showroom and I’ll share my personal impressions about the same. Spoiler alert- It’s still very much a Maruti, but a more desirable(pun intended) one at that! First of all, the looks, even though it’s something subjective, I surely like the way, this car looks. I was never a fan of the Grand Vitara and its odd headlight positioning and big grille design, the Victoris on the other hand, with its slim grille and nice projector LED headlamp setup looks far more pleasing and it being a Suzuki, the headlight output will be phenomenal as even budget cars like Baleno&Dzire have wonderful headlights! The side profile, looks a bit MPVish and reminded me of the Indigo Marina(I guess new generation people might not even know about this car!) mainly due to the large overhang at the rear, also the alloys look a bit too boring and seems like MSIL just used the Brezza’s alloys at a larger size, even the GV gets way better diamond cut alloys. The ORVMs are big and come with blind spot detection tech. MSIL ought to have done a better job with the alloys The rear looks cool with those connected rear lights although I didn’t like the large VICTORIS badging on the tailgate and would’ve preferred a more subtler branding, however I guess that’s the trend nowadays. Now since we are at the rear, the tailgate which is electrically operated and first for a Maruti(if you exclude the Invicto) reveals quite a cavernous boot space which shall be good enough for a CSUV. However please note that this model was smart hybrid model and hence didn’t have a big battery and Hybrid models would’ve considerably less boot space as is the case with Grand Vitara. Opening the doors take a bit of effort which is surprising as we are not accustomed to associate heavy build with Maruti Suzuki but the Victoris has scored a full 5star at GNCAP and has one of the highest safety score among Indian cars and that is always a great thing for everyone! The doors have that heft and close with a nice premium almost Euro ‘thump’. The ubiquitous, Arena keyfob. No extravagant affair here. The doors felt quite thick and heavy, very unusual of a Maruti The familiar Maruti switchgear is back. It’s now time Suzuki updates these as we’ve been seeing the same one since 2005! Once you’re in, the first impressions are GREAT! The steering feels nice to hold, the fully digital cluster looks very upmarket and even the centre console feels quite sophisticated however the moment you look at the power window console you’re immediately reminded that you’re indeed inside a Maruti as they’re the exact same switchgear found in every other Maruti and has its roots back with 2005 first generation Swift!, also only the driver switch is illuminated with the AUTO badging(has auto up/down) but common Suzuki, I understand that don’t fix what ain’t broken but it’s a bit too much now, please update the switchgear now, also while at it, again it’s something of a personal preference but I feel it’s time for Suzuki to change the colour theme of the interior backlighting from the amber/red which looks outdated to something like white(as in Toyota) or in any other subtle shade. In comparison I absolutely LOVE the cool blue backlighting of my Hyundais! The interiors create a good ambience The seats felt great and had a nice range of adjustments too with good back and lateral support and I felt totally comfortable on it but please do note I’m a fit guy(1year of strict control on diet and exercise is finally showing results and abs have finally started to pop out) and someone with a healthier frame might have different observations. However, I also happened to test out the Ventilated seats and like the Vitara, even at its lowest setting the fan noise was quite bothersome and I expected Suzuki to improve the same. Ergonomics though, typically Japanese, were PERFECT. Everything felt right in place and even the large floating touchscreen didn’t create any issues in visibility. So top marks there. The seats were comfy for my frame. The upholstery colour matched with my jeans, signs that I should get one?, only time will tell… Now coming to the screen, the 10″ screen had superb resolution and touch response was great as well although the UX felt a bit basic in comparison Hyundai/Kia has a far more fluid UX with better designed icons. Although functionality wise, it’s right up there and has all sort of connectivity options viz wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay and once your phone is paired you’re good to go. The 360 camera offered a crisp view of surroundings Now coming to the most coveted part of the ICE system for a person like me, the sound. On paper, the Victoris seemed to have nailed it with 8speaker Infinity sound system, co-incidentally the setup happens to be similar to the one on my Tucson and thus I had very high hopes with the same. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s one of the best systems out there but in short it feels more Arkamys like than Infinity. The speakers on higer volumes have that crackle and the mids are kinda muddy, also when I tried to find EQ settings, there were 3 modes instead named as something like BassX, DynamicX etc and I recommend keeping that setting on DynamicX as it improved the mids& vocals but if you keep it in BassX, you’ll get unrealistic(almost irritating for me) bass with muddy higer frequencies. In comparison, though its unfair, my Tucson’s infinity setup feels far more pleasing and justifies the infinity branding a lot better, the output is so damn good and sounds have that smooth, velvety texture which is so enjoyable! The Infinity system could’ve been better or I’m being a bit too picky as an audiophile The rear seat space again, was quite generous and I was totally comfortable behind my own driving position and had no issues with leg room or even headroom with my 6′ frame and this specific model was a ZXI+(O) with a huge panoramic sunroof and I expect the models without the sunroof to have even better headroom. The rear amenities include an armrest with cupholders, a pair of rear air con vents with charging ports. The rear space was quite generous. The rear air con vents along with charging ports. Thankfully the console doesn’t protrude in a lot and a third passenger would be relatively comfortable. So yeah, that was my short first impressions of the Victoris and as I mentioned at the beginning it’s a very nice and upmarket car but at the end of the day it’s still a Maruti and will make you feel that way. Somehow, even after so many features and functions it still has that typical Maruti budget type feel and something like a Hyundai Creta or a Kia Seltos has that ber premium appeal. If it’s a deal breaker for you or not, it’s something you only can decide. For me, though the most important thing is safety and build and this is where the Victoris truly shines against the Koreans which have fared quite poorly in earlier crash tests. So, if I ever buy a Victoris(which I certainly wish to), it’ll be the top of the line ZXI+(O) variant with AWD and first thing I would do is get some nice alloys(like one on my WagonR) wrapped with some rich Yokohama rubber! Thanks TonyCheck out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
