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Maruti Suzuki has often gauged the pulse of Indian buyers, from creating new segments with the Swift Dzire to testing premium waters with the Kizashi. With the new Victoris, the company seems to have struck a balance between affordability, practicality, and modern tech.
That said, we spent time with the Victoris, and it sure does have potential to make its space in the midsize SUV segment. The Indo-Japanese carmaker decided to start with a clean slate, and it shows. The Victoris does not look or feel like a Maruti Suzuki for the most part. Now the Maruti Suzuki Victoris promises a lot of things, the carmaker even goes to the extent of tagging it with the slogan ‘Got it all’, but has it really? We find out in our very first hands-on, drive experience.
Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Design
Looking at the Victoris, the design seems subtle yet mature. The overall silhouette of the car showcases its forward-leaning stance along with a sloped roofline. The hood of the car is largely flat, which also contributes towards its road presence. The fascia of the SUV looks bold yet not overdone.
At the front, the carmaker has surprisingly made the look more European than any Maruti Suzuki ever made. The front grille gets to go on a vacation as the newly introduced SUV features a largely closed front. Cooling for the radiator and air flow into the engine goes through vents, which have been smartly concealed with blacked-out elements on the bumper. The headlamp housing features DRLs that immediately remind you of the Grand Vitara. Fog lamps have been unconventionally placed higher above.
Move to the rear of the car, and you will see a very prominent connected LED tail lamp with the same slat-type design as the front DRLs. The tail lamp seems to be the highlight as it protrudes out while everything else stays behind. The rear styling might be somewhat polarising due to the fact that the tail lamp is so prominent that it mutes the rest of the subtle design elements.
Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Cabin and features
Step inside the Victoris and you will find yourself seated in a cabin that feels more or less like a Maruti Suzuki too. In terms of the interior fit and finish, the Victoris aims to appeal to the masses by offering two different interior colour options, one for those who prefer light interiors and the other for those who prefer dark ones. The testing unit that we had access to was in the top spec ZXI+ (O) AT AllGrip trim. This meant it got the full kit, including 64-coloured ambient lighting, a very large opening panoramic sunroof, and the Smartplay Pro X display with 8 Infinity speakers.
All of this equipment elevates the cabin experience to another level. Firstly, the touchscreen display is easy to use and gets all of the functionality you would want from a car and then some more. While most displays of the category rely on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for a smooth in-car experience, the Victoris’ Smartplay Pro X screen can be connected to a hotspot and gets its own app integrations, such as Alexa voice assistance and Suzuki maps. Expecting nothing, we started testing the screen and it fared very well, showing little to no lag.
The UI was easy to figure out and navigate through to the desired functionality. The highlight of the interior package has to be the premium sound. Featuring Dolby Atmos audio, the Victoris feels like your home theatre delivering a cinematic sound experience. The surround sound positions the volume on each speaker according to the mix, making you feel exactly where the sounds are placed with accuracy.
Even the driver’s controls have been well thought out. The driver gets a fully digital instrument cluster, which is simple to operate with the steering wheel-mounted controls, even for first-time users. Maruti Suzuki has even gone to the extent of adding something which will really make sense for a lot of people, especially in India: physical buttons to turn off the lane departure prevention and the automatic emergency braking systems.
On the central console, the volume control knob and the climate control toggles feel really premium to use. One thing which doesn’t feel a part of the same interior is the basic plastics around the drive mode selector and the electronic parking brake switch. It’s not a deal breaker, rather more of a nitpick.
Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Driving feel
We took the Victoris on multiple adventures, testing its capabilities, in the city, on the highway and even off-road. Our car had the torque converter gearbox, and it performed fairly well on the highways, accelerating to 100 km/h from a standstill in just about 17.1 seconds while in sport mode. The acceleration throughout the rev range is linear, and the automatic gearbox response is decent as well. There isn’t much difference in the K15C engine in terms of performance; it does feel sluggish after the 120 km/h mark.
The steering feel is right in the middle of what most people would prefer. Maruti Suzuki has made the Victoris super easy to manoeuvre in and around the city at lower speeds. However, taking it on the highway reveals the less desirable side of the Victoris. Go past 110 km/h and the lack of feedback from the steering is much more evident. Taking sharp turns at higher speeds unsettles the Victoris a fair bit. However, it is important to note that the ESC does kick in to help out with that once a wobble is detected.
The Victoris could also have had slightly more responsive brakes, along with better braking stability. Under harsh emergency braking scenarios, the vehicle tends to weave a little, which is most likely since it does have the suspension tuned to be on the slightly softer side.
Which brings us to one of the best parts of the Victoris, the ride quality. The ride quality of the Maruti Suzuki Victoris is by far one of the best that we’ve seen in its category. It irons out big and small potholes alike at both slow and high speeds. Even going off-road with the Victoris is not a hassle, as the AllGrip Select makes sure you don’t get stuck in tricky sections.
Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Safety
Now, the Victoris is big on safety, and Maruti Suzuki has worked hard to shrug the mud off its shoulders, slung by different manufacturers for not making safer vehicles. The car has achieved a 5-star BNCAP rating as well as a 5-star GNCAP rating under the new testing standards. This sends a message of reassurance to buyers who are interested. The inclusion of a radar+camera-based Level 2 ADAS system does add to the safety quotient of the SUV by a large measure. Features like corner speed reduction and lane keeping assistance work well.
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The lane keep assist is very supple, but it does tend to kick in marginally more than preferred, which is something that can be easily overlooked given that it does allow for a safer drive. Another highlight is the stop-and-go feature of the ADAS system. This means if you’re following a vehicle which slows down to a halt with your cruise control switched on, the Victoris will also come to a complete halt and then continue moving when the car in front starts moving forward or out of the way.
Maruti Suzuki Victoris: Verdict
With its feature-loaded cabin, impressive safety credentials, and family-friendly comfort, the Victoris doesn’t just tick boxes; it feels like Maruti Suzuki wants to compete head-on with premium midsize SUVs. This attempt at balancing price, practicality and embracing modernity with all of its first-in-segment features. The Victoris makes a good package and a lot of sense, not just for the younger generation but even for those with a nuclear family.
Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2025, Best SUVs in India.
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