Japanese car maker Honda has just pulled the covers off of their latest vehicle, the BR-V, a compact SUV, at the 2015 Indonesian International Auto Show. This vehicle will hit Indian shores next year and when it does, it will have a showdown with quite a few cars here. We see how it stacks up against a few of them, namely, the Hyundai Creta, the Ford EcoSport and the just launched Mahindra TUV300.
The BR-V is unmistakably a Honda at first glance itself with its broad chrome front grille with the Honda logo, doors with sharply angled creases and so on. However, it also has faux skid plates, roof rails, flared wheel arches, black cladding around its lower perimeter, generous helpings of chrome, projector headlights and so on. It measures 4455mm in length, 1735mm in width, 1650mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2660mm. Hyundai has also gone for an off-roader sort of a look with its Creta, equipping it with the same black cladding, faux skid plates, projector headlamps, a bold chrome grille, roof rails and so on. The Creta is 4270mm in length, 1780mm in width, 1630mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2590mm.
The Ford EcoSport despite being around for some time now still looks good. It has the height, the butch styling of an SUV, beefy alloys and even a tailgate mounted spare wheel but even then, it manages to just duck under the 4 metre length mark and thereby keep its prices very competitive. Although it measures 1765mm in width and 1708mm in height, it has the smallest wheelbase of this lot, at 2520mm. The Mahindra TUV300 is the latest sub 4 metre SUV here and apart from being based on a new platform, Italian design house Pininfarina was involved in the looks department as well. It the shortest SUV here in length, at 3995mm, but it has the longest wheelbase in this comparison, at 2680mm, which means that the TUV300 is very roomy inside.
Honda will most likely put the 1.5 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel engines under the bonnet of the BR-V when it goes on sale in India. Buyers will definitely get to choose between manual and automatic gearboxes as well. Apart from its USP of interior room, the BR-V will be the only 7 seater in this segment. It will also be equipped with a multi information display, dual airbags, ABS with EBD, hill start assist, an audio system with all the modern touches, a reversing camera, rear AC vents and so on. The Creta comes with options of 1.6L petrol, a 1.6L diesel and a 1.4L diesel engine. Both manual and automatic transmissions are available as well and, being a Hyundai, it has packed to the hilt with gizmos.
The Mahindra TUV300 is driven by a 1.5 litre, 3 cylinder diesel engine developing 82 bhp and having a 5 speed manual gearbox along with an option of an AMT. The Ford EcoSport also has 3 engine options: a 1.0L EcoBoost petrol, a 1.5L diesel and a 1.5L petrol. A 5 speed manual and a 6 speed automatic gearbox are offered, depending on the variant. Its best feature is the Sync with AppLink that allows occupants to control functions with voice commands. The EcoSport also gets a cooled glove box, automatic AC and push button engine ignition, amongst others.
Each vehicle brings its own USPs to the table. While the BR-V focuses more on interior room, the Ford EcoSport aims at being the most fun to drive. The Hyundai Creta comes loaded with as much electronic gadgetry as possible and the Mahindra TUV300 was developed from the ground up to be tough. The BR-V will come next year and it sure does have lots of competition to worry about!
[“source-motortrend”]
