The Philippine automotive market lately has an eye for many different SUV’s, MPV’s, and sub-compact MPV’s, or basically any car that has high ground clearance and can withstand the harsh Philippine roads along with huge space to fit either a ton of things or a ton of people. Now as the age of the sub-compact MPV continues to reign, Suzuki has already provided us with the Ertiga, which is their first entry into this very competitive MPV market in our country.
Yes, sure, the Ertiga overall is great since it was one of their best selling cars in 2019, but what if I told you that there’s a bigger, better, and meaner Suzuki MPV available that you could get for yourself? Today, we present to you, the Suzuki XL7: Ertiga’s meaner brother.
Exterior:
So what makes the XL7 “Ertiga’s meaner brother”? Let’s start with the exterior. Aside from sharing the same body baseline with the Ertiga, the XL7 is longer (55mm), wider (40mm), and taller (20mm). Despite the XL7 being the bigger car in general, what got my attention was its more aggressive and sportier front end. Suzuki gave the XL7 a large blacked out honeycomb grill, along with bigger LED headlights, halogen foglamps, and a big Suzuki badge at the center that fits that sporty grill perfectly. As far as aesthetics go, Suzuki intentionally dressed up the XL7 with wrapped around claddings, side skirts.
16-inch alloy wheels to make it look like an MPV that’s lower to the ground (but in fact, it’s the complete opposite) because they believe that this will help attract the younger side of the market, which I also believe is effective.
Interior:
Now moving forward to the interior, first and foremost, what really won my heart with the XL7’s interior is the touch of (fake) carbon trim on its dashboard. It was perfectly placed around the interior along with the color combination of black, silver, and grey which really compliments each other very nicely. The XL7 has a very simple, elegant, and sporty interior.
From that fake carbon trim down to its AC vent designs, push-button digital like climate control, and it’s 10-inch infotainment system that’s actually very friendly to use since it comes with AppleCarPlay, Andriod Auto, and a reverse camera.
The only thing that’s holding it back for me is that when you move into the middle and back seats, it looks like a regular MPV but don’t fret because the crowd at the back actually has their own AC vents and charging ports! And I still couldn’t stretch far enough how sporty and simple that dashboard looks like with that carbon fiber trim.
Space & Practicality:
What more is there to say? The XL7 is a 7-seater MPV that surprisingly gives more room than what I expected the car to have. From its front seats all the way to the back, the cushion is very comfortable. The middle and third row is spacious. I’m not gonna lie, I was really surprised with how much space I have when I sat on the third row! With the right amount of leg room and head clearance, you can fit up to three people in the middle row. But once that third person comes in, it can be a little crowded. Although, sadly, when you use the seats on the third row, it will eat up all your trunk space. But once you fold the third row, you also have plenty of trunk space.
Engine & Drive:
When it comes to the XL7’s performance, underneath the hood, we have a 1.5L inline 4 gasoline engine with a four-speed automatic transmission that packs about 103HP and 138Nm torque. If I have to be honest, driving the XL7 feels comfortable as well. The throttle response is okay and the transmission shifts smoothly, which is perfect for city driving. The only thing I find kind of irritating is that there are times that it takes too long to shift on certain gears. Gas consumption wise, the XL7 isn’t that bad either. It consumes about 8km/L on city driving and about 10-11km/L on highways.
Verdict:
If I have to compare the two brothers, the XL7 would be the more ripped and muscular one, while the Ertiga, is the more tamed and quiet one. If you’re looking for a simple looking car, you would go for the older brother. But if you’re more on the sporty and aggressive side, then the XL7 is the right one for you.
If you ask me, the XL7 would be perfect for the young men or couple out there who probably wants a mean looking daily driver that comes with huge amount of space to fill in their needs. Suzuki did a very good job on keeping the XL7 simple yet sporty from the inside and out. And with that, I give a huge thumbs up again to the guys at Suzuki for doing a great job in designing and making this sub-compact SUV.
Price: GLX AT ₱1.073 Million (SRP)
Photos by: JM Delos Reyes
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