Boy, does this group expect the moon, when it comes to vehicles. I think the Marazzo is a fantastic piece of work by Mahindra. Now, it could just be me, who's driven about 70k km in my Scorpio, and am used to its pulling power and general road manners, but when I test-drove the Marazzo (for a pretty long stretch on Ggn-Faridabad Road, I might add), I didn't find it lacking in any department, be it in accelerating from rest or in keeping up with other vehicles. Is it intended to be a race car? Not at all. But does it suit the purpose? Absolutely! I wanted this to be a proper family test drive, with the car fully loaded, so it was myself, wife, son, Bro-in-law, his wife, mom-in-law, and Sales Exec, meaning the car was fully loaded. The car definitely did not feel under-powered, as some others have suggested.
We test drove the Innova Crysta Automatic, Tata Hexa, and Marazzo. Here is my very basic comparo, and what made the case compelling enough for me to book a Marazzo.
- Crysta: Drives really nicely, because the engine has adequate power. But some things were disappointing for me- I'm a tall guy at 6'3", as is my Bro-in-law, and when we sat in the driver and navigator seats respectively, we found the leg-room upfront has been compromised. I also found the footwell quite cramped. For a car this expensive, Toyota could have done a lot more to provide driving comfort for tall guys. Looks like they designed with Japanese people in mind. Also, the Crysta automatic has this weird way of revving a lot before shifting- I don't know if it was just the TD vehicle, or if this is the normal characteristic. But it tells me that the fuel consumption of the Inmova Automatic is likely to be on the higher side.
- Hexa: Brilliant Automatic, and great handling on bad roads. The Hexa is the most SUV-like car in its class, and has the best mid-row comfort, but the third row seats aren't as good.
Marazzo: Good all-round package in terms of space in all rows, performance, and quality of interiors. What struck me most was the great build quality, and car-like feel. In fact, the turning radius of this car is tiny! I couldn't believe how tight the u-turns I could take were- that's definitely a departure from the old Mahindras, Scorpio or Xylo. It was a hot day, and the TD vehicle cooled well despite the fact that it had been parked in the sun, and was hot when we got into it. What I missed was the start-stop button, which Mahindra should have provided on at least the top 2 variants, and the sound quality of the Hexa's ICE- Aman (Motor Concept), you certainly have some new business from me . But do consider that even the Innova GX, which starts Rs 3.5 lakhs abive this car, doesn't have start-stop button and no head-unit, and you do realize that this isn't a major miss from Mahindra. The other slight miss from Mahindra is the ease of ingress and exit from last seat. None of these were deal-killers for family and me though
All things considered, Mahindra has a brilliant package on their hands, and they certainly convinced me. There are a few sore points here and there, but no car is perfect. At its price point, the Marazzo is a compelling proposition- it's far ahead of lower segment MUVs like the Ertiga and BR-V, and positioned nicely below the Innova, with equivalent build quality and a far more silent engine and cabin.
I have driven the XUV as well, which has great space in all seats, but zero boot space when the last row of seats is up, so there is always a compromise somewhere in all vehicles. If you understand this aspect, the Marazzo does not disappoint
Last edited by Gannu_1 : 5th October 2018 at 19:46.
Reason: Spacing and corrected typos. Thanks.
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