Swift goes the Vdi

[palioman]

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I just got meself a new Swift VDi after an inexorably long wait...booked on Dec 13 07 and got it finally on 10th March 08....is that some sorta record in this day and age when people chase you to buy stuff..!
I gave away my Palio and converted to the Swift cause...however......
da car is less than 300 kms old and I can hear a squeak !..probably the seats somewhere.
I am carefully runnin in the car, and am extra careful not to ding or scratch it, but is it me or......the car does not feel as relaxing to drive as the Palio. Am constantly correcting the steering inputs...a wee bit here and there, tho I confess that there were times when I was tempted to floor it and to hell with the runnin in.
I am a heel and toe junkie, and the Palio was good at that sorta thing, including a dead pedal to rest my leg on long drives...the Swift lacks that being a more driver oriented car !!
The engine is a beauty, ( FIAT rules !),the front seat is not as supportive as the Palio's, and when I shut the door the window glass trembles/rattles......an ominous sign of things to come ?
The sales experience was pleasant, and am glad I had to wait a bit because 1. I got the 2008 model with a bit of cosmetic makeover
2.I got 20 k off on the list price due to the excise cut...I
I hope I can have a good 3 years with this Swift....will keep this post updated as the kilometres roll..
cheers..hic


can you feel the magic

[bIte tHe bulLet]

congrats palioman.

you've only swapped from the palio to ANOTHER palio!! the heart of the swift is still a fiat eh!?!

enjoy the ride and drive safe.

cheers.

[Eddy]

Welcome to the forum SwiftMan

It is a great car and I am sure you will enjoy it. The front seating is really comfortable so I think its just a matter of time getting used to it. You will, however, have to live with some rattles here and there.

Since you are new to the forum, I would suggest you go through the Rules. You will notice that we are not allowed to use more than 2 smilies per post. Enjoy your stay here

[rippergeo]

Originally Posted by palioman

the car does not feel as relaxing to drive as the Palio. Am constantly correcting the steering inputs...a wee bit here and there

I'm not so sure about that,i've driven both extensively(the 1.2 palio)I liked both for their handling, but the swift feels way more agile, maybe you're interpreting that as requiring constant steering corrections.
correct me if I'm wrong, but the swift takes less turns lock to lock than the palio, so minor movements on the steering translates to greater angles on the road than the palio(that was my view)

Originally Posted by palioman

tho I confess that there were times when I was tempted to floor it and to hell with the runnin in.

yeah! the 1st 1000kms will be torture, but hang in there, dont fall of the wagon.think of it this way, the better you run it in, the more fun you'll have when you pete it!

Originally Posted by palioman

I am a heel and toe junkie, and the Palio was good at that sorta thing, including a dead pedal to rest my leg on long drives...the Swift lacks that being a more driver oriented car !!

wish i knew how to heel and toe! but the dead pedal...why do people go on about that? isnt it more comfortable to rest your foot on the floor? i never use the dead pedal in my other cars. felt odd.

Originally Posted by palioman

The engine is a beauty, ( FIAT rules !),the front seat is not as supportive as the Palio's, and when I shut the door the window glass trembles/rattles......an ominous sign of things to come ?

yes FIAT rules! now when is that 1.9DDiS landing here?
hehe, join the rattler's club! but to me its like a little naughtiness your over achieving kid has. even the rattles are endearing!

Originally Posted by bIte tHe bulLet

congrats palioman.

you've only swapped from the palio to ANOTHER palio!! the heart of the swift is still a fiat eh!?! enjoy the ride and drive safe.cheers.

any reason why you didnt wait for the Palio MJD and just went for the IAT heart in a MSIL body? was it the after sales that you were worried about?

Originally Posted by Eddy

Welcome to the forum SwiftMan

It is a great car and I am sure you will enjoy it. The front seating is really comfortable so I think its just a matter of time getting used to it. You will, however, have to live with some rattles here and there.

I love the front seats, its no recaro, but everything's perfect for my height 5'5. this is the only car that I've driven that is as fun driving slow as it is doing kamikaze runs on the highway! enjoy!

[udaykars]

Hii Guys,
I have got something to ADD on here. Very recently I drove my friends Swift vdi which had Stock tyres. I took it over a open highway, It definitely has that 'X' factor . But, when i quickly over took a another car [that Zip..zaap..thing] The car almost ran out of control, there was too much of body roll kind of thing ! I some how managed the wheel, nothing else happened except few Heart attacks to my friends in Rear seat. i was around 80 -90 kms not very sure!! But i always do this on my Zen Di, never faced anything like this !
Guys, is this because of those Low profile Stock tyres or lack of ABS ?? Is there any human error in this ?

[karanraheja]

Palioman congrats! should rather call you Swiftman now.
Im expecting my Vxi after more than 60 days of booking .
Almost every Swift owner has complained about the rattles.
Hope they have done some changes in the 2008 model

[PatienceWins]

Congrats man. It has got a great engine. Enjoy!!

I cannot tolerate squeaking rattles. I can tolerate thud rattles.
I have got a squeaking rattle in my getz because of incorrect MDF plank installation. I am changing the entire set up at the rear to remove that squeaking sound. Its something I cannot tolerate at all. I am giving my car to Anwar tomorrow and hope to get rid of it. If everything goes well, Inshah Allah, my car will be silent.

[snaronikar]

Congrats on you new buy. Enjoy the ride. She really rocks.

BTW, hope you have read the rules of this forum. As only 2 smileys are allowed/post. Enjoy your stay here.

[palioman]

Dear Fellow Cranks

thanks for the congrats and stuff
rippergeo, believe me , heel and toeing is good fun once you get the hang of it, it makes long commutes events to look forward to.
once you get used to the dead pedal ..you get used to it , period!
you leg can slide sideways to rest at a more natural angle than rest on the floorboard and you can quickly slide back into action without going throught the motions of lifting etc.
you are right, the swift is more agile and more responsive to steering inputs, but the palio felt more fluid, I would say the Swift is edgy.
I did not go for the Palio MJD as I was concerned about the aftersales, that's all...I had initially considered the Skoda Laura but realized that Skoda service isn't too great either after hearing numerous complaints.
udayshankars, the reason i went for ABS is for slamming the brakes after I get into the Schumacher mode...and ABS will not compensate for body roll, you will need wider rubber for that.
80 -90 kmph? Man that's my cruising speed and the car is docile at those numbers
Since I may keep the Swift only for two years ( probably , don't know later) I did not change the rubber.



can you feel the magic

[rippergeo]

Originally Posted by udaykars

Hii Guys,
I have got something to ADD on here. Very recently I drove my friends Swift vdi which had Stock tyres. I took it over a open highway, It definitely has that 'X' factor . But, when i quickly over took a another car [that Zip..zaap..thing] The car almost ran out of control, there was too much of body roll kind of thing ! I some how managed the wheel, nothing else happened except few Heart attacks to my friends in Rear seat. i was around 80 -90 kms not very sure!! But i always do this on my Zen Di, never faced anything like this !
Guys, is this because of those Low profile Stock tyres or lack of ABS ?? Is there any human error in this ?

i'm not sure what happened, but I've driven a zen D for over 30000km, and the bodyroll is worse in it, than the swift. of course it isnt as tall as the swift, so you feel safer, but the angles that the zen d leans are greater than the swifts D.

low profile tyres should give you less body roll.

ABS has nothing to do with body roll.

I also get the feeling that the swift is especially sensitive to camber angle changes when you shift from one side of the two lane road to another.
for eg, the left lane on a 2 lane road tilts to the left, and the right tilts to the right.

during overtaking in a 2 lane road with excessive, unscientific camber, you are forcing the car to tilt from left to right and back to left again. if done abruptly enough, the rear will unsettle.

Both roads were in coimbatore.they tend to go overboard with cambering there. dont know why.
had 2 close calls. one when overtaking a bus- but I managed not to panic and held the car.(speed of 80-90)
the other when i was being an idiot and tried drifting across a road with excessive camber.(speed of 40-50)

I've also noticed, that the relatively stiff chassis and the non independent suspension at the rear tends to lift one of the 2 rear wheels while cornering or while turning onto climb an incline.

things have settled now because,
1. slightly better tyres
2. i'm careful with roads having too much camber- even if the surface is good.

maybe my suspension set up is off and thats why this has happened.

could some one more technically oriented please clarify? all of the above is based only on my experience, no real evidence for anything.

however, something i can testify to- lose the stock tyres. they are killers .

[palioman]

hello guys,

after some hemming and hawing, I finally ugraded the rubber on my vdi.
did some R & D and fitted the michelin xm1 +, 185/70 R14 without alloys, on the standard steel rims, as I deemed the alloys superflous..maybe I will change my mind later.
I had initially decided to keep the stock tyre and wheel setup, what changed my mind was the fact that I felt the car to be nervous on hard braking ( to avoid a damn pile up on the highway). Probably the rear would have broken loose, ( inspite of ABS) I have never experienced this on my Palio.
Three things were immediately apparent
1. Steering effort has definitely increased
2. Ride has improved, car feels more planted
3. RPM has increased by 200, for the same speed, in the corresponding gears..my guess is that fuel consumption is going to increase .
I paid 2650 for a set of 4 tyres in exchange for the hardly used JK Tornadoes, I got 900 apiece for them..did I pay the standard rate ?


can you feel the magic

[rippergeo]

great move palioman. and the rates you paid are much better than what people get here in this part of the country. tyre dealers were offering Rs500 per tyre on the unused OEM tyres. you got double that.

I didnt know about the rpm going up! are you sure about this?

[Jaggu]

I think you have sorted the handling issue by tyre upgrade, rattles well i think you will have to live with it, unless you find a master mech to sort it.

FE might not really go down much, and careful of the speedo error since you already notice a diff of 200 rpm, but are you sure?

Enjoy the drive.

[palioman]

er, guys , make that 10600, I paid 2650 for each, times four for a total of 10,600.
also, I noticed that the tramlining effect has all but disappeared, was distinctly uncomfortable to encounter this in a car, bikes acceptable, cars a strict no no.
any views on the xds security for car windows ?
it's supposed to make it tough and shatterproof.

[palioman]

Jagu, am certain, since I am a maintenance guy myself..rpm is definitely up by 150 to 200, but that's a trade off for the ride and the grip !
The Michelins do provide very good ride comfort and the handling's perceptibly grippier too.
A grouse..a rattling had surfaced from the rear, on closer inspection observed it coming from the rear left window.
When the window is partially rolled down, it tilts in its place with the result that the front is higher than the rear..like in the Mahindra jeeps of yore..shoddy quality control! I have to pysically push with my hand to get the window straight and level, feels funny when I do it..like some caveman .

can you feel the magic