Car comparisons aren’t always as easy as they seem. It isn’t simply about pitching one car against its segment rival and comparing them with each other on just about every parameter there is to them, through walk-around, touch-and-feel, driving experience, comfort, safety, handling, practicality, pricing, performance and efficiency. It is about understanding each car for what it is, what segment it represents, how well-placed it is within that segment, its segment rivals, the pricing – segment wise and singularly, its shape, appearance and overall design. Most comparisons are between two or more cars of the same segment, for buyer knowledge and information, some are simply for information and fun and the rest are purely for fun.
Comparison between the Renault Triber and the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga
While they’re both MPVs with the same seating capacity, their dimensions and price differences put them in separate segments altogether.
Interior space and comfort
Dimensions play a vital role in determining the space allocation for passenger comfort and the Ertiga leaps ahead of the Triber on quite a few parameters. As mentioned above this isn’t a competitive comparison. It is merely looking two different cars of a similar body-type and passenger-features and how differently, have things been done in either.
Leaving the dimensional play for the end, we look at the overall trim and finish quality. The Ertiga gets a leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering which gives off a premium, sporty feel to the cockpit. The instrument cluster, door-trims and all the knobs and buttons have a flawless fit-and-finish quality. The Triber’s interior cannot be called plush, but is quite decent in terms of styling and material quality. Both cars have received abundant cubby holes and storage space, ample-sized door-pockets and cooled storage units. The Ertiga has a few more, in addition to bigger trim spaces and pockets. The Triber on the other hand gets a supplementary storage compartment just above the glovebox and a small tray to place a smartphone, wallet, or keys. The roofline bulge on the Triber cleverly functions to provide extra head-room to the passengers in the third seat.
Third row access
All features apart, the most important differentiation of and MPV is the entry and exit for the third-row passengers. The Triber has achieved commendable ergonomic optimisation of space in its sub-four-metre monocoque. The second row seat has a tumble-forward mechanism that allows the smaller split-segment’s back rest to fold completely toward the lower half. The entire section then smoothly lifts off further to lean against the back of the front passenger seat, allowing a full sized ingress and egress to the third-row which is also detachable from the interior. This ergonomic feature allows the Triber to become a five seater with an ample amount of bootspace, a six seater with a half-boot, and a seven seater with very little boot space. Each of the third row’s two seats are split-foldable and detachable in halves. The backrest is mounted and detached as a separate module, and the seat can be folded forward towards the back of the second row, as well as completely removed via very simple yet firm latches.
The five-seater setting of the Triber is the most comfortable one as it allows brilliant leg-room and cabin-space optimisation. It allows the front and rear seating to be linearly-adjusted along with full utilisation of the six hundred and twenty five litre boot space.
The Ertiga unfortunately provides only five hundred litres of storage in the rear even with the third row folded completely flat.
The Ertiga does not sport the convenience of a tumble-mechanism for the second-row seat. However, its forward and rear sliding mechanism couples with the backrest to allow ample space for the third-row passengers to squeeze through.
Third-row seating on the Triber does not pose discomfort to the passengers for short distance travel in the city or quick commutes on open roads. Anywhere south of an hour will not be unacceptable because of the sliding second row, that allows for adjustable leg space for both the rows. However, long distance journeys will mean that only short people or children could be comfortable in the last row. The small-sized windows aren’t very thrilling either and the fact that the rear-hatch is right behind your back is not a very assuring factor.
Contrarily, the Ertiga’s third row is more comfortable and accommodating to passengers, with enough legroom and horizontal space. Long distance travels are almost equally as comfortable in an Ertiga, as short commutes. The third row seats also get a short-recline mechanism to provide a subtle aid of comfort for tours.
Cooling
Air-conditioning is quite pleasant on both cars. The Ertiga has a single roof-mounted blower for the entire rear section. It has enough power to cool the third row just as well as the second and proves quite effective. The Triber comes with pillar mounted vents on either side for the second row and a separate roof unit for the third row exclusively.
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