Swift Diesel, Saga continues. The DIESEL experience!Part II-31,000 kms Update Page 42

[Jaggu]

Hello gals and guys out there, Am i getting back to business ?

Having done 2500 kms over two weekends and some events to add masala... hell yeah am back.

Title should have been: 3 weddings, 1 puncture, 1 Service and 1 service light

This is just a teaser. Will get some time tomorrow, after a long time (finally!!), so will cook up some stories and one or two pics also.

After a thorough wash job in the morn though

Cheers,
Jaggu

[s0uljah]

Ah some long distance stories with the beloved DDis, very welcome !

[abhilash_iv]

Hey, waiting for the saaga.
So when is the suspense breaking of service light??

[balechaparka]

Hi Jaggu,

Its good that you started Swift diesel part II. After waiting long long time I am getting my SWift VDI this Saturday,searched a lot in Team BHP about Swift and finally decided it.After reading your review I selected Swift .
Any new Swift diesel buyers I strongly recommend to see the threads started by Jaggu,GeekSrik,Kuntappan.Apart from this there is a lot of
good threads which gives full information about swift Alloys and music systems.
I will keep you update on my new vehicle delivery experience,finance, alloy,Music ...........etc soon.

[sreenivass]

Man you can't get enough of your Diesel machine yet (or is it Swift). Looks like you are almost in love with this car.

[akshay1234]

Originally Posted by sreenivass

Man you can't get enough of your Diesel machine yet (or is it Swift). Looks like you are almost in love with this car.

almost? hes totally in love with it and why shouldnt he be?

[Jaggu]

Quick recap first.

Priorities change and the need of the hour was an economizer, so the short listing started to replace the great 1.6 L iKON. The obvious upgrades (sedans) were lined up for test drives and the one that passed the test was Fiesta diesel, but sadly over my budget allocation. Financing had become dearer thanks to the economy and Excel sheet reminded hand to mouth existence once the car and house emi’s took over.

So back to calculations, this is when I stumbled on the news that the much awaited muti-jet fiat engine hitting shores. Having already spent couple of 1000 kms with a petrol swift, was convinced on the capabilities of the chassis. After a quick test drive the decision was made to go for the Diesel Swift. Banker also would be happy since budgets somehow fell in place without the need for a loan for the car with some cost cutting measures for a month or two.

Got the car delivered in April and its going to be 6 months since then and story so far http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...swift-vdi.html (The DIESEL experience! Swift VDi)

To summarize on the car after around 12,000 kms.

Pro’s:

Great chassis / Handling: With shift to 195-65-14 tyres on alloys, its really a joy to drive, yup the steering is lil tight at slow speeds but nothing to complain. Is glued to the tarmac and responds well to driver inputs in emergency situations. BSM had summed up correct, carry the speeds into corner to avoid the torque steer antiques. Yes this car is so brilliantly set up at stock, that one keeps on pushing it to the limits in corners. Goodyear Eagle Ventura though outdated is brilliant in grip, especially in wet braking and over broken patches. 3 cheers to this understated tyre.

To quote a buddy,” when in doubt flat out”, holds so true to my set up. Somehow the chassis and tyres love it that way and that’s when one realize the beauty of it (set up).

Good brakes (Non ABS Vdi): Again the first drive from showroom to my office was enough to convince to close the deal for the tyres, and yes it has saved my life atleast 2 times. Last being 2 weeks back when in the pouring rain I was taking a 90 deg RT turn and 1 maniac private bus came straight at me while over taking another bus. Brakes and tyres behaved really well (one side was on wet tarmac and the other on mud), I braked, corrected and managed to brush past the bus and some shrubs thankfully not even a single scratch from the shrubs.

Superb engine: Yes this multi-jet is a design marvel, as the KMS gathered engine became silent and refined, the service light incident was caused by the silent engine, more on that later. The diesel pitter patter as well as the roughness has faded off, now the car is silky smooth and revs like any other petrol engine (sad the rev limits are lower).

FE has improved marginally, by a KM to be precise. Point to note is I don’t believe in traditional run in but using the engine to its potential, within safe limits. Currently FE is at 15 to 16 kmpl inside city, depending on AC usage and traffic against 19 to 22 kmpl on highway. I will not complain here coz it works out much cheaper compared to a Volvo bus for my weekend runs to native.
Oil consumption so far was zilch, and I have changed Oil 3 times (1k, 5k and now at 10k) and filter at 5K and 10 K. Color of the oil unlike other diesel engines am experienced, doesn’t turn black, rather it turns grayish kinds.

Power delivery is brilliant, modulate the gas pedal judiciously and you wont feel the turbo lag. Yes even sooth is minimal unless you try to floor the pedal at low rpms or you try to gas down at high gears at slow speeds. Once the Turbo kicks in it’s a whole new experience all together, car moves as if its being chased by a group of rabid dogs. 2k to 4k rpm is where the sweet spot is. And unlike whats being bragged about, on 195 tyres wheel spins are rare unless one is really stupid.

Driving: Have seen lot of debates on seats and all, but in my experience only thing that’s lacking is that under thigh support and the dead pedal for left leg. Seats are firm and just perfect for my taste. The car already has great respect in my books, just like the ol zen and the iKON. These bunch really have some character and this is one of my primary selection criteria.

Cons.

Visibility: Rear and front visibility can be better but becomes non issue’s once you get introduced to that ORVM blind spot!! Yes the huge ORVM’s are must and boon for reversing and regular driving but a pain since it creates a blind spot while taking turns and while at ghat sections. Again dark sun film is absolute no no for this car, or risk scrapping the sides during heavy rains.

Ground clearance: Is bad, especially at the front bumper, in Bangalore roads it’s a real pain point. Again watch those speed breakers when the car is loaded. Good news is almost all the critical parts underneath are well protected and hidden away from such scrapes. Even the running board has plastic scrape plates to take care of small impacts.

Space: Ideally suited for two adults, especially if tall. Rear leg space can be an issue with tall occupants in front. For long journeys avoid 5 adults or can be lil cumbersome. Boot space is also just about adequate. Yes it will hold 2 standard strollies and duffle bags, but since I have the speaker boards / parcel tray, accommodating huge suitcase means task of removing the MDF board has to be planned.

Plastic clips: People often misrepresent swift to have poor build, this car is tough to a good extent. Can say this safely after trashing it in tough terrains, including when I kept up with the macho safari. Under pinning’s are strong and hold up well, nothing has fallen off yet. Rubber beading if treated well will stay putt, yes they are held up with small clips and if not careful during cleaning can come off, but nothing a firm push can solve.

Doors definitely close with a SOFT thud and haven’t changed the sound yet, but yes windows when wound half way seem to be doing a joy ride. So in short it’s a design flaw where the plastic clips play havoc, right from mud flap trims to door pads, once they age they start the squeaks and all. Simple task is spent some 100 bucks and replace them at service and always carry spare in hand for the external trims.

Panel Sheets: To me the most irritating fact, the design is so curvy and with so much of swoopy surface that even a small twig can leave dents at certain places, like bonnet and doors (just below the weather strips). Maybe Suzuki could have stiffened this area with proper sheet pressing in these areas. Rest of the areas are quite strong, yup roof can become lil tinny at rains.

That’s all for now, trip, service, puncture and the service light story by tomorrow.

[kartikkumar]

Jaggu thanks for that wonderful 10,000+kms review. You haven't missed any aspect of the car, be it internal or aesthetic. I'm just a little curious about the engine noise aspect though. Having covered 9600kms I still hear the diesel clatter in the 1700-1900 rev range. It isn't as quiet as I expect it to be at this stage but that could also be due to the impending service and oil change?

All in all thanks again and will look forward to the rest of your report.

Cheers!
K.

P.S: Wish you could make it on sunday. Would love to compare notes.

[thefreak]

Nice review mate! Waiting for the the next set of reviews!!

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by kartikkumar

Jaggu thanks for that wonderful 10,000+kms review. You haven't missed any aspect of the car, be it internal or aesthetic. I'm just a little curious about the engine noise aspect though. Having covered 9600kms I still hear the diesel clatter in the 1700-1900 rev range. It isn't as quiet as I expect it to be at this stage but that could also be due to the impending service and oil change?

All in all thanks again and will look forward to the rest of your report.

Cheers!
K.

P.S: Wish you could make it on sunday. Would love to compare notes.

Thanks K.

Clatter will go down after 3rd service, tell them to take out water and air from pump if needed.

Satday am in Mumbai so cant make it :(

[Jaggu]

Three weddings in a month, all separated by a week, and @ 400 kms distance from Bangalore. What would a poor guy like me opt for travel? No guesses right. nope, one trip had to be compromised for the wifee’s demand, so 2 tier AC it was. Damn cant sleep and was cursing all the while and looking forward to the first drive.

So the week went by and it was Calicut aka Kozhikode the first destination, which means one has Mysore Road hmm then the scenic Gundulpet stretch and finally the Wayanad hills, couldn’t ask for more after couple of months of city driving.

As usual tanked up but the air pressure thingie was not working, didn’t bother then and carried on with the trip. News the previous night said it was raining cats and dogs in kerala and Calicut is flooded, but what the heck, all the more adventurous trip that’s all. Started early in the morning (6 am) and first stop was Kamats in Mysore road for breakfast then proceeded to Gundulpet and this was the climate that greeted us.

Purfect !!

Nope the road started disintegrating soon and was littered with craters big n small, so the pace was slow till we reached the Kerala border and boy oh boy roads became great and the speed gathered, usual drifting through the wayanad hills till Kalpatta where we stopped to check these guys out.



Started the decent and managed to see a tourist bus that tried short cut in one of the hairpins the previous night.



Did a good off road slush adventure inside one of the villages that night, but apart from that uneventful day.

Car was giving around 21 kmpl and running well, handling was lil off so suspecting the air pressure went and checked, yup air pressure was less and front RT was showing further 2 pounds low. Didn’t think in terms of puncture and carried on. Attended the wedding and rushed to the hotel to pack up, idea was to clear Gundulpet stretch before night fall.

Left Calciut and it started raining heavy, heavy like



Yes that’s with wiper at full blast and in between the wipe, no its not camera shake but just common kerala rain. Soon the roads became rivers



The Eagle venturas really did their duty well, soon the roads cleared up and I was doing 60 to 70 kmph in this rain, and then the infamous turn where the private bus took me out off the road and into the shrubs, luckily I pre-empt the turn and was keeping to the far left.

Another shot of the rain drive on the Venturas



Rain cleared and we entered the hair pins again and I had a feeling that the fog will greet us and it indeed did



And it went from bad to worse that the visbility dropped to less than 10 mts, took a break on top to admire the view and snowhite a rest, here she is



Usually the fog clears up once you pass the ghats, but not this time it continued and slowed down to take a shot and this Merc just swooshed past me, how they managed to see the road is a mystery



Moved on to Gundulpet and inside the jungle the rain again started



Had to increase the pace since I wanted to avoid the craters and day light was fading away, somehow managed it in the nick of time. Took a coffee break and soon after Gundulpet this was the scene !!!



Rains again, this continued for another 15 odd kms and somehow managed to get to Mysore road by 8 pm, then on it was blind folded driving with the sprays from the trucks, buses and cars, till Bangalore when the sky and roads cleared up. Finally managed to reach Bangalore by around 10 pm.

Salute you swift d, the handling meant I could salsa, waltz and boogie around the hills, the torque helped throughout the hairpin climbs as well as tight overtaking situations in rains. It’s a boon on rain swept mysore road with very intelligent road users taking up all off two lanes moving at 40 to 50 kmph.
I don’t think things will change for better even if we have brilliant roads thanks to the road users.

Next trip is again towards south but in another route, and that will be after a small break, maybe tomorrow.

Oh yeah will fill in the 3rd service details also before that, as i did it before the trip

[mclaren1885]

A good read. Waiting for further reports. Can't wait to join the DDIS bandwagon. Our car is coming before Jan 1st I am promised.

[Jaggu]

@Mclaren: Congratz dude, still the waiting period is happening eh. you didnt check the Getz D?

[ported_head]

As much as we all love Jaggu's VDI reviews, lets try and not go too Off Topic. Otherwise the core review will be quite inaccessible to members looking for just that. Thank You.

[Jaggu]

@ mods: if the trip post is inappropriate please move it to travel or delete it.

cheers
Jaggu