Swift Dilemma - Pls Help!

[skiddyrow]

Hi,

My first post here (after the introduction!) and have spent the better part of the last few days searching all the swift threads in the forum and some great information in there which has helped a lot. Now I'm planning on picking up a Swift and had some questions which I'm hoping I can get sorted out. Hope you can help.. some of these have been answered on other threads as well, but I'm hoping I can get another perspective based on my situation (also a search on swift in indian car scene forum returned 327 results and I have managed to go through only about half of them!!!)

I'm picking up a new car for tax reasons amongst others and will be paid for by the company, so many of my questions relate to stock items available from Maruti so theres no initial payout from my pocket, but I would like to upgrade at a later date, maybe six months to a year after purchase. ok - onto the questions

1. VXI ABS or ZXI - I would definitely like to get alloys and better tyres, so was wondering if it made sense to pick up the VXI ABS and add on better rims / tyres later, or go with the ZXI. The thing is as mentioned, I would like to add on all costs to the initial cost as the payout would be from the company, so are the options on stock alloys any good? From other threads I find that there is a difference in suspension quality between the VXI and ZXI, so there would be a difference in handling between the two even if I upgrade the tyres / rims on the VXI - is this correct? I have test driven both the models, but I'm not too technical and can't really make out the difference :-)

2. Colour - My first preference was black, but from the car polishing thread, the author mentions that the blacks and reds are the unluckiest of the lot and that the silver is the best for maintenance. Is this correct or can any black swift owners tell me about easy scratching / fading / dust visibility / high maintenance?

3. ICE - Which of the stock head units / speakers would you recommend - Maruti has both Sony and Kenwood and my main requirements are that it should play MP3 discs. I listen to dance / house music, but not too loud - I will probably add a sub immediately after purchase.

4. FE - Is there any difference in the Fuel economy between the ZXI and the VXI with upgraded tyres/rims?

5. Climate Control - The ZXI comes with the climate control AC - is there any way of turning this off? I live in Chennai and I would be using the AC on max most of the time anyways

Thanks and would appreciate your inputs on this!

[theMAG]

Hey,

You certainly are straightforward- I'll give you that! I just wish you were considering a car for the right reasons of motoring as well

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

1. VXI ABS or ZXI - I would definitely like to get alloys and better tyres, so was wondering if it made sense to pick up the VXI ABS and add on better rims / tyres later, or go with the ZXI.

Take the Zxi and replace the wheels. There are lotsa threads here abt wheel sizes for Swift, pros/cons etc.

2. Colour - My first preference was black, but from the car polishing thread, the author mentions that the blacks and reds are the unluckiest of the lot and that the silver is the best for maintenance. Is this correct or can any black swift owners tell me about easy scratching / fading / dust visibility / high maintenance?

Black is certainly the most involving color to maintain. However, I've always maintained that there's no car color like black - it shouts the sleekness and purpose of your car like no other. I am myself the owner of a black Swift.
Red fades more visbily than any other color. Silver is the color of every 3rd milkman's van.

3. ICE - Which of the stock head units / speakers would you recommend - Maruti has both Sony and Kenwood and my main requirements are that it should play MP3 discs

Go in for the Sony Xplod 350S. Its a great system for everyday use - and plays WMA/MP3 etc. It has IPOD support also. I guess JBL speakers completes the loop

4. FE - Is there any difference in the Fuel economy between the ZXI and the VXI with upgraded tyres/rims?

FE is nothing to do with models but wheel/tyre sizes. The larger/smaller a wheel from the OEM size will result in reduced FE. The Zxi gives lower FE than stock Vxi due to this

5. Climate Control - The ZXI comes with the climate control AC - is there any way of turning this off?

Everything in this world has an ON/OFF control - including people

[aZa]

Its a company pay out, go for the ZXI! The stock alloys + tyres will always fetch u a good deal if u go in for an exchange at an aftermarket alloy dealer.Yes Darker shades are High maintainance, scratches, nicks, dirt , dust are more prominent on a car with a darker shade of color. for the stock headunits go for a Sony HU with sony speakers, i dont think Maruti stocks JBL speakers or do they ? Sony will be easy to exchange later when u wanna upgrade.


Ps : Did i hear that EPS is only coming in ZXI now days ?

[kb100]

If you are going in fo r the dark shade hope your company is going to pay for a good caretaker too!!.. dark colours need some serious pampering - and by someone who lover auto's... My car got more scratches by the incompetance of ppl who come to wash my car than by any other means

[hari_rama]

check out this page.maybe it wud help you
http://www.overdrive.in/pitstop/viewtopic.php?t=243
make sure tht if present models come with hydraulic power steering then have a test drive on them.
Cheers
hari

[sharathjeppu]

Why would you want to switch off the Climate Control? With the climate control system you just have to set the temperature that you want inside the car . The AC and the Fan speed are then decided based on this. You can selective set the airflow to open or recirculating if you would like to override its auto settings. You could also switch it to a complete manual mode and operate it like a manual AC. Or you could completely switch it off.

Some of the small things that the ZXi gives and makes a big difference to me are

1. The driver Seat Height Adjustment
2. Lamp in the Boot
3. The factory integrated security system. (The autolock of the car is linked to the speed of the car instead of the action of starting the car. It's very difficult to accidentally lock your self out with your keys inside)
4. The Rear Window Wiper. (especially when it rains.)
5. The cabin lights stay on for 30 secs after the doors are closed unless the ignition key has been inserted. (I am not sure if this is also available in the VXi)
6. The seat belt sholder adjusters (wish they had provided some padding to prevent the belt from rubbing the skin)
7. The 5 door central locking.
8. And ofcourse, the climate control system.

I have a Red Car and I personally think that Red suits this car the best. I wax the car once a month. Black looks better on the bigger cars.

Sharath

[airfoil]

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

1. VXI ABS or ZXI - I would like to add on all costs to the initial cost as the payout would be from the company, so are the options on stock alloys any good?

You've answered your own question there haven't you?

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

From other threads I find that there is a difference in suspension quality between the VXI and ZXI, so there would be a difference in handling

The suspension is the same for both, it is the alloys with the marginally lower profile that give you a slightly bumpy ride - but this is more than compensated for by the better handling/looks that the alloys provide; to say nothing of higher safety that will come with the wider tyres in the ZXi.

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

2. Colour - My first preference was black, but from the car polishing thread, the author mentions that the blacks and reds are the unluckiest of the lot and that the silver is the best for maintenance. Is this correct or can any black swift owners tell me about easy scratching / fading / dust visibility / high maintenance?

Avoid black unless you dont mind washing the car every day. And yes, the scratches show up quite a bit. If I were buying again I'd choose the silver.

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

3. ICE

Best left to the experts!

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

4. FE - Is there any difference in the Fuel economy between the ZXI and the VXI with upgraded tyres/rims?

Marginal - dont let it become a factor.

Originally Posted by skiddyrow

5. Climate Control - The ZXI comes with the climate control AC - is there any way of turning this off?

What? Why would you want to turn it off? Set it to a lower temperature and let it work full blast if that's what you're after. Climate Control is one of the best features of this car.
Anyways, there's manual override as well.

[k36]

Hi skiddrow,
Aren't you forgetting the most important feature in ZXi ... the Airbags?
Almost every other feature you discussed can be added to the VXi, but Airbags cannot be added later on.
However, also keep in mind that Airbags are more harmful than good when you have children who won't sit in the back seat. Please take this into consideration.

[Ajay_J]

Originally Posted by aZa

Its a company pay out, go for the ZXI! The stock alloys + tyres will always fetch u a good deal if u go in for an exchange at an aftermarket alloy dealer.Yes Darker shades are High maintainance, scratches, nicks, dirt , dust are more prominent on a car with a darker shade of color. for the stock headunits go for a Sony HU with sony speakers, i dont think Maruti stocks JBL speakers or do they ? Sony will be easy to exchange later when u wanna upgrade.


Ps : Did i hear that EPS is only coming in ZXI now days ?

Hi,
Black by far is the best but it look better on sedans. Specially on swift light colors looks better, I initially wanted to go balck and I reallized that It take some time to recognize if black car next to you is actually a swift. Reason is that swift has black thick window border and front grills so on light color that contrast look beautifull and makes swift a swift.

EPS with ZXI only , that's going to be blunder from maruti...Swift without EPS no fun to drive. Though I have a VXI with EPS .

AJAY
swift - silver - vxi.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Ajay_J

Hi,
Black by far is the best but it look better on sedans. Specially on swift light colors looks better, I initially wanted to go black and I reallized that It take some time to recognize if black car next to you is actually a swift. Reason is that swift has black thick window border and front grills so on light color that contrast look beautifull and makes swift a swift.
AJAY
swift - silver - vxi.

I agree with you, Ajay_J.

Black is a fine color for very long, wide and low limousines, chauffeur-driven Cadillacs, Lincolns the biggest 'S' class Mercedes cars and stretch-limos. They look dignified and luxurious.

Other than that, black is also a color for hearses and funeral coaches. Would we wear a black suit and black tie to anywhere except a very sombre condolence meeting? Would we ever dress a cute little baby in black?

Tiny bubble-cars like Maruti 800s, Revas, Swifts and WagonRs, IMHO look best in sunny cheerful colors like red, tangerine, lemon yellow and lime green and their metallic counterparts.

[skiddyrow]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated!

@TheMag, thanks for the detailed reply - I did settle on this car for the right reasons :-) even though I do have a budget for a larger car up to the 7 lakh range, mainly I wanted a smaller car that was fun to drive and easy for the wife to drive as well (plus she loves the way it looks-so that pretty much seals the deal...). FE not a big factor as my weekday driving is to office and back only. Now that I've settled on the swift, i just want to get more bang for the buck.

@ Ram, Ajay_j, Still confused on colour options though. I do have someone at home who washes / cleans the car every morning and on Sundays I wash the car myself and wax once a month, so I am sure I can maintain the black, but I'm quite finicky and if the car's dirty in the evening I will have to clean it before heading out. Will think about this a bit more...

@ Airfoil, sharathjeppu - point noted on the climate control. What I meant of the stock alloy options is that all the ZXIs I've seen out of the showroom seem to have the same alloys (blocky thick-spoked looking things). Are there any good options on alloys from the Maruti showroom itself?

@ k36, yes the airbags are an important feature and I do have a kid on the way, but it will be a couple of years before the kid is old enough to make a fuss about sitting in the front :-) BTW, the I asked the dealer how much it would cost if the airbags deployed and they had to refit it and he said Rs.20000!!! Hope it doesnt deploy easily on small bumps...

Based on the feedback I will definitely go for the ZXI, and change the tyres / rims and speakers later. Will also go for the Sony unit with sony speakers and trade the speakers in for JBLs. Will agonize on the colours a bit more!

[ajmat]

Think of the extra outlay of the ZXi as extra insurance. Airbags only deploy on a severe impact.

Mine gave 10km/l in town now after 4000km, it give 11 km/l

Get the wheels done ASAP so that you get max price (Rs13-16k for 4 wheels) - stereo can come later.

Climate control - worth its money - very effective and also controls direction as per heat zone

[ksethuram]

Nice to hear that you have settled for the ZXI.

Airbag's and seat belt pretensioners in ZXI are saftey features worth spending extra.
The climatic control is a nice to have feature which eliminates manual adjustment of the blower and other control's. Quite usefull

My ZXI has crossed 10,000 Km's. Gives a mileage of around 10.2 to 10.5 when driven within city limits with AC switched on always.

[mahadev_kc]

Originally Posted by ksethuram

Nice to hear that you have settled for the ZXI.

My ZXI has crossed 10,000 Km's. Gives a mileage of around 10.2 to 10.5 when driven within city limits with AC switched on always.

But maruti claiming > 13 kmpl mileage in its advertisements as against several member in this forum reporting in 10-11 kmpl.

I thought swift will give 13 kmpl in city with AC..

[Rtech]

FE is a very individual thing which varies depending on drviing conditions and the actual driver itself.

But, thats for another thread, lets not go off topic please.