Ashish Jha 
If you’re in the know, you might question our decision to bring two near-identical cars in a single feature. There’s a bit of a tangent here. The much talked about strong hybrid tech supplied by Toyota and Suzuki’s contribution to the collaboration is the equally talked about AllGrip 4WD system, along with, of course, the very platform on which these two cars are constructed. It would be obvious to talk about the strong hybrid tech using the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and the AllGrip system with the Grand Vitara.
But we’ve seen several times in the past that Maruti calibrates foreign technology into its cars in a much better way than even the creators of the said technology! Take for example the Fiat-sourced multijet 1.3L diesel engine. While it was in service with 5 different manufacturers across 24 car models, it was optimised by Maruti the best. The same holds true for the Automated Manual gearbox sourced from Magneti Marelli — Maruti did a much better job of it than Tata ever could!
That got us thinking — how has Maruti Suzuki worked on the Toyota-supplied strong hybrid technology? And is it as good or even better than in the Urban Cruiser Hyryder itself? And we flip things up to see if Suzuki’s AllGrip 4WD in the Urban Cruiser Hyryder is as good as we found it to be in the Grand Vitara.
So you see, this isn’t just a plain Jane review of two cars which are really one car separated by two very different technologies! Yeah, it’s a bit confusing, I know. But because these are from different manufacturers with their own unique ways of pulling the customers, let’s look at them separately on different hygiene parameters.
Exterior design
I don’t think either of the design efforts stands out instantly as being ‘pretty’. But the Toyota has, in my view, more flair and a rich feel in the way it looks. It’s got design similarities to global Toyota products with the bonnet sitting flush which lends a clean nose look and the very prominent lower grille or intake section completes the look. The rest of the profile of the two cars is pretty similar but somehow the Urban Cruiser Hyryder feels a bit more polished. The thing with the Grand Vitara is that it looks a bit weird from the front with that frankly gaping grille unit. And even with the Wheels — Toyota managed to procure a better design.
What separates the two cars further is the light signature and you’ll be able to clearly tell one from the other from the tail lamp illumination.
“The features list is pretty even as well, and both the cars are pretty loaded. The usual suspects are all there — the whole connectivity suite with CarPlay and Android Auto support; wireless charging, 6 airbags, ventilated seats, all those good things.”
Interior
Inside, things are exactly the same. The same seat construction, steering wheel design, dash layout, and even the roof felt, and mesh jacket material are the same. So, nothing separates them. Both of these are made in the Toyota factory, and you get the sense of quality that Maruti cars lack. There’s somehow a bit more finesse. Things feel robustly installed, there are no irregular panel gaps, and even the click sound of the glove compartment upon locking feels very satisfying.
But that’s not to suggest that Maruti is bad or compromised in any way — it’s mainly about the treatment at the workshop that separates them, I guess. But sitting in the Hyryder, there’s no escaping the fact that the cabin is decidedly Maruti… the design, stalks, and buttons — it’s all just very typical Maruti.
The features list is pretty even as well, and both the cars are pretty loaded. The usual suspects are all there — the whole connectivity suite with CarPlay and Android Auto support; wireless charging, 6 airbags, ventilated seats, all those good things.
Driving
And to drive, they’re, well, they serve the purpose but there’s no fun from behind the steering wheel. Neither of them is comparable to, say, the Seltos on driver engagement. The dynamics otherwise are fine — the suspension is nicely tuned, and it absorbs bumps quite well and the chassis is also fairly okay and exhibits good high-speed stability. There’s no word on the crashworthiness but because they’re based on Suzuki’s global C platform, there’s reason to believe it should perform well enough if not all-stars.
Now let’s come to the main reason why we have them here — the breakdown of the strong hybrid and 4WD systems.
Suzuki’s AllGrip Technology in the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder
Urban Cruiser Hyryder — There’s a good history of the Cruiser range of Toyotas. Of course, the most iconic is the Land Cruiser but we’ll discuss that some other time. This, the Hyryder, sports the Urban Cruiser tag but the very first Urban Cruiser was in fact introduced in 2009 and a very interesting bit is that — with the 1.4L D-4D engine, it was the lowest CO2-producing 4WD car in the world at the time.
Anyway, let’s focus on Suzuki’s 4WD system in the Hyryder. Suzuki developed its first 4WD model in 1970 — that was the original Jimny or the LJ10 and ever since then, over the last 5 decades, Suzuki has been making the most basic but sturdy and steadfast off-road machines. The Gypsy that we had in India was the SJ platform. SJ410 and SJ413 specifically — basically the engine changed from 1,000cc to 1,300cc. The Gypsy was lovingly and rightfully called the mountain goat!
You see, Suzuki wasn’t ever synonymous with off-roading — that’s been the world of Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan, and Toyota. But what now has evolved as the AllGrip technology piece has a great legacy in the off-road universe. The AllGrip name was introduced in the early 2010s with the SX4 / S Cross depending on which market you’re in, and it has since evolved very strongly.
This Suzuki-supplied off-road tech works just fine in the display of skills by Toyota in this equation. There’s something to know here — the AllGrip technology is divided into three different categories — Auto, Select, and Pro. The one that is offered in the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and the Grand Vitara is the one that sits in the middle, Select.
AllGrip auto works through a viscous coupling while AllGrip Select works through an electronic coupling. There are three modes to alter its behaviour and application. It’s quite an interesting system and has the ESP of the car doing crazy things!
The AllGrip variant comes only with a 5-speed manual gearbox and the 1.5L engine makes about 103bhp and 137Nm. When driving in Auto mode, it’s a pretty straightforward mechanism through the ESP. If the system senses slippage, it automatically sends a compensating amount of torque to the rear wheels through the e-coupling and it gets back to being a 2WD car once traction is gained.
Things get a bit more complex in other modes. The AllGrip system works through sensors that feed in information like the steering angle, amount of throttle input, etc., and based on that, the car’s brain ‘anticipates’ how the vehicle is going to be driven. In Sport mode, the throttle map is sharpened up and there’s a higher torque supply from low throttle opening levels.
After reading the data from the sensors and predicting the car’s behaviour, the right amount of power is sent to the rear wheels to allow for a slightly sportier driving experience to justify the existence of this mode!
In the Snow mode, the ESP works its magic in reducing the wheel slip and getting traction under the tyres. Again, it’s the function of the sensors and it predicts the vehicle motion based on the inputs and applies corrective power even before a skid occurs!
In Lock, power is sent in almost a 50-50 ratio between the front and rear axles and the ESP applies brakes to the slipping wheels while modulating and controlling the torque supply to the wheels with traction.
That was the explainer. Now, I’ve been throwing this car on some rough trail sections, and it seems to be enjoying the game! The steering does feel a bit dead but at least it’s not vague, so you can feel pretty engaged. That’s brilliant! It’s a playful thing, this!
Toyota’s Strong Hybrid Technology in the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara
The engine that drives this hybrid setup is a 1.5L Atkinson cycle engine. The other engine in the lineup is also 1.5L, but it’s a 4-cylinder that runs on the traditional and mainstream Otto cycle. This Atkinson cycle engine is a 3-cylinder construction. Typically, the thermal efficiency of Otto cycle engines is about about 25-30%.
The rest of the combusted fuel-air mixture is lost as heat. Atkinson cycle engines push the thermal efficiency to about 40% or a bit more.
In the traditional Otto-cycle engine, compression and expansion ratios are the same, but in the Atkinson-cycle engine, the expansion stroke is larger than the compression stroke. Basically, the intake stroke is shortened, and the mixture undergoes a full-length expansion stroke as a result, squeezing out more useful work or energy from the same amount of fuel. In this application, the angle between the intake and exhaust valve has also been widened and the valve nip angle is 41 degrees; plus, the intake port angle has also been changed.
These mods, along with the long-stroke construction ensure a great tumble flow in the combustion chamber and a cleaner and more complete burn — that enhances the efficiency figure as a result.
This 3-pot motor is a 1,490cc unit that makes 92hp at 5,500rpm and 122Nm at 4,400-4,800rpm and drives through a CVT gearbox. The strong hybrid system is courtesy of a 0.76kwh lithium-ion battery and a motor that’s good for 80hp and 141Nm. I wish the battery was bigger because the operating range on electricity alone would’ve been extended. The net Combined power is 115hp.
The performance is just adequate, and you shouldn’t expect engaging acceleration. It’ll suffice for the most part but will not bring you a smile. The gain is on fuel consumption — this thing is phenomenally frugal! It’s almost like it’s on a diet and gets sad if you force it into drinking more by going heavy on the accelerator pedal.
Conclusion
So, what we’ve discovered by having the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and Grand Vitara side-by-side is that the collaboration between Toyota and Suzuki has been pretty harmonious and has allowed for seamless technology sharing to an extent where a Maruti Suzuki feels just as good as a Toyota! As products, they sure have their small share of issues, but both Toyota and Maruti needed an entry in this segment desperately, and based on the market figures, their collective sales are a concern for the Koreans! Things can only get better from here!
