Spec Comparo: Maruti Suzuki Ciaz vs Honda City vs Hyundai Verna vs Toyota Yaris
Maruti-Suzuki has given the Ciaz a mid-life refresh to keep it relevant in the face of competition, which has all but completely reinvented itself. The Ciaz was launched in 2014, against the likes of the Hyundai Verna, Honda City, VW Vento, Ford Fiesta and Fiat Linea. Its main competition, namely the Verna and City have already seen their mid-life refresh, and a generation change in the time that's passed. There's even all new competition in the form of the Toyota Yaris. Despite this, the Ciaz has held its own in the sales charts and this is reflected in the refresh, which only seeks to correct a few shortcomings of the Ciaz.
Taking a look at the exterior dimensions, the Ciaz still remains the king of the hill. With a wheelbase of 2,650mm, the closest competition comes from the Honda City, with a wheelbase of 2,600mm. Thus, legroom for rear bench passengers is far superior to rivals, even though taller passengers might find headroom a bit wanting. The Ciaz also offers twin A/C vents to cool the rear of the cabin, a feature that is now standard across the competition. In this respect though, the Yaris has the best functionality with its roof mounted A/C vents, while the Verna goes a step further with ventilated front seats.
Coming to features, the Ciaz packs in most of the bells and whistles you can expect from this segment of car – with most niceties and safety features taken care of. From Android/Apple integration to auto headlights to cruise control, the Ciaz has it all. The Honda City offers rain-sensing wipers, a feature usually not seen in the segment. Where others score is in offering a sunroof as an option, which some customers find invaluable, as is offered on the Hyundai Verna and Honda City. As far as safety is concerned, the Ciaz offers two airbags as standard across all its variants. Customers hoping for more peace of mind will have to look to the competition - up to six airbags are optional on the Verna and City. Toyota, meanwhile, offers seven airbags as standard on all variants of the Yaris.
As far as powertrains go, the Ciaz is unique in that it offers a mild hybrid system towards increasing fuel efficiency. The Smart Hybrid technology has been offered on the 1.3-litre diesel previously and is now available on the 1.5-litre petrol as well. None of the other cars in its segment offer any sort of hybrid technology, no matter how minor it may be. When it comes to ARAI certified fuel efficiency figures, the Ciaz lists 21.5kmpl for the petrol manual, 20.2kmpl for the petrol automatic and 28kmpl for the diesel. In terms of figures, leading with power and torque figures are the 1.6-litre petrol/diesel engines on the Hyundai Verna. If you're in the market for an automatic, the Ciaz is available with a four-speed torque converter automatic gearbox with the petrol engine, while the Verna gets a six-speed torque converter automatic in either petrol or diesel, the City a seven-speed CVT with paddle-shifters for the petrol variant, and the Yaris a seven-speed CVT on the petrol variant.
