Design

While the rear design of both these SUVs is the same, the front of the Urban Cruiser has less chrome and more maturity; the Vitara Brezza has this almost full chrome grille that looks garish. At the same time, both aren’t as flashy as some newer sub-4 metre SUVs are, and both don’t really stand out on the road.

Cabin

It’s not flashy, but functional-all controls are within easy reach of the driver, and functional elements include the 60:40 split and foldable rear seats, sliding front armrest, quite a spacious cabin and connectivity features-Toyota calls its infotainment system Smart Playcast while Maruti calls its Smartplay Studio.

Engine and driving

Both have the 1462cc petrol engine (103bhp; 138Nm). Gearbox options are either the 5-speed manual or 4-speed AT (fully automatic transmission). Driving experience of both is the same-quiet cabin, good acceleration, very good fuel efficiency (driving both in Delhi I got 16 km/litre), supportive seats and good steering feedback.

Pricing

The ex-showroom starting price of the Urban Cruiser is a little over a lakh rupees more than that of the Vitara Brezza, because the former isn’t being offered in a bare-bones variant. Trim-to-trim, the Urban Cruiser is `5,000 more expensive than the Vitara Brezza. And yet the Urban Cruiser may come across as a ‘better buy’ to some because it’s being offered with a standard 3-year/1-lakh-km warranty, while the Vitara Brezza comes with the standard 2-year/40,000-km warranty. Moreover, there is a wee bit of newness to the Urban Cruiser; the Vitara Brezza just looks dated.