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Indians love travelling together and considering that an average Indian family is larger than anywhere else in the world (except maybe, China), large, seven-seat MPVs are ideal family cars. Over the years, customers have shied away from people movers as they found them to be too basic, boxy and uninspiring. But not anymore. Newer seven-seaters have their game on and they are not only practical, but are also aspirational, comfortable, have power ful engines and are even quite decent to look at. The budget MPV market in India is quite widespread with the range starting from smaller cars like the Ertiga, which costs around Rs 8.72 lakh and goes all the way up to the ever-popular Toyota Innova which retails at a whopping Rs 15.16 lakh. There are as many as nine people movers to choose from in this bracket, of which, we have shortlisted four here. The Ertiga is the smallest here and like most Marutis, is a great value-for-money package. It offers unbeatable after sales service, looks modern, has a quality cabin and the compact dimensions make it an ideal daily car too. The Honda Mobilio, on the other hand, is slightly bigger than the Ertiga and on the inside, it’s car-like as well. On the upper end of the MPV scale is the Innova and is the one to beat here. It has been on sale in India for more than a decade and is still the undisputed king in this segment. It offers everything that an MPV owner is looking for – reliability, space, quality, comfort and premium value and retails for a whopping Rs 15.16lakh. The newest entrant in this crowded segment is the Renault Lodgy. Based on the successful Duster SUV, the Lodgy’s price puts it bang in the middle of the MPV range and it promises to offer the best of both worlds. It is very spacious yet compact, it has the most powerful engine here, drives well and is easy to use on a daily basis. So, which of these XXL cars would make for the perfect family vehicle?
Performance
Engine downsizing is currently in trend and it doesn’t come as a surprise that except the Innova, the other three compact MPVs are powered by engines which displace less than 1500cc.
The Lodgy is powered by the popular 1461cc dCi engine and it comes in two states of tune. The more powerful version makes 108.6bhp and has 24.98kgm of lugging power which makes it the most powerful MPV in this test. The 1.5-litre diesel motor pulls really strongly once revs rise beyond 2000rpm and carries on till 4000rpm, after which power tails off. On open roads, the really punchy mid-range means it’s easy to overtake cars at typical highway speeds. Although the sixth gear doesn’t help you gather pace quickly, it’s a great tool for efficient fuel sipping as the engine speed at 100kph reads only 1900rpm. The Lodgy sprints to 100kph from standstill in a scant 11.5 seconds, making it, by far, the fastest MPV on sale here. That said, the motor has initial throttle delay and combined with the heavy clutch, makes driving this Renault in stop-go traffic a little cumbersome.
The Mobilio is powered by an all-aluminium 1.5-litre diesel motor. Maximum power is rated at a good 98.6bhp while pulling power is 20.39kgm which comes at a low 1750rpm. The Mobilio’s 1.5-litre diesel engine is at its best in traffic. That’s got a lot to do with this motor’s ready responses and instant delivery of power, but revving it more doesn’t give you as much power as you would expect. It’s also got the most progressive clutch and its gearbox is easy to shift and has a nice mechanical feel to it. The Honda is happy to amble around in third gear, even at speeds as low as 30-40kph; tap the accelerator and it gathers speed quite rapidly. Even on the highway, the Mobilio pulls well, and there is more than enough grunt to execute a high-speed overtaking move. The engine refinement, though better than before, is still a sore point and the motor feels a bit clattery most of the time.
The Ertiga, on the other hand, is powered by the smallest engine in this group and it doesn’t take long to realise that the 1.3-litre motor doesn’t make it the most comfortable car to drive in traffic. There is quite a lot of throttle lag below 2000rpm and you need to keep changing gears to drive smoothly. A full complement of seven passengers further accentuates this drawback. Once past 2000rpm though, there is a sudden burst of acceleration, and this also makes it quite tricky to drive. It gets better on the highway though, and displays enough grunt for reasonably rapid progress. This is also thanks to the 1.3-litre engine’s strong midrange.
The Innova has, by far, the biggest capacity engine in this test, but the unit is a bit of a chink in its armour. The 2.5-litre D-4D unit makes just 102bhp and 20.4kgm of torque and is easily outclassed by its smaller rivals. Still, the advantage is that there is no delay in power and the Innova pulls cleanly from 1000rpm which makes it extremely driveable. What it isn’t so good at is highway speeds. The Innova feels best at 80kph, post which, the engine gets quite noisy and unnecessarily strained. Compounding matters is the short fifth gear which makes it feel uncomfortable while cruising too. Flat-out acceleration isn’t impressive either. 0-100kph takes a leisurely 17.50sec, which makes it by far the slowest car in the group.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
