Suzuki SX4 - The best sedan for the rains!

[randomgyan]

So, I've had about 15k kms on my SX4. I'm very happy with it and it has been spotless so far - except a bumper repaint because an autowallah decided to drive himself into it. Yeah, much like during 9/11 with the planes and the twin towers except, the accident saddened me more (and this is possibly the only forum where I am sure people can agree with me )

Recently, me and my girlfriend decided to drive down to goa. I had always heard it was supremely pretty (not to mention romantic) in the rains and hey, my car needed to do a proper mumbai-goa-mumbai unlike last time when it was really hurried.

The total time it took me was around 9:50 minutes plus a 40 minute break for brunch. This is not really that amazing, what is amazing is that this is pretty much how long it took me to do the same distance in october too!

Despite the full fury of the monsoon, I experienced no let up in speed.

I have to say, while driving this in the crazy monsoon rain, the only thing that changed when the rain came was the wiper speed. No seriously, I could see ALL other cars slowing down but this baby just went on like it was nothing!
It felt so well planted and so much in control that in the pelting rain I was just driving around and overtaking trucks and cars like they were standing still (well, ok, the trucks WERE standing still) and all this in the ghats!

The other thing that totally impressed me was how well the ABS and EBD worked. Everytime I slowed down, I could feel it working overtime but never did the car give way, or skid or provide me with any drama. It just calmly slowed down, turned, and we were off speeding up again.

I would say, for this, and this alone, you should buy this car. It's a rain god!

Oh and, yeah, one word of caution though, dont do this with your girlfriend, because you will be so consumed with the pleasure of driving this car, she will feel totally neglected and THAT can be MOST tragic

Please post your rain driving stories I am sure there are tons of interesting experiences out there.

[diabloo]

I have a rain story too, but its not in SX4.

Originally Posted by randomgyan

Please post your rain driving stories I am sure there are tons of interesting experiences out there.

[bhp1]

Moral of the story is : Buy a car with ABS & EBD !. Then youll be able to enjoy the rains!

[mnhegde]

@ random : Its a pleasant music to the ears when someone praises SX4.

[rippergeo]

@randomgyan- the trick is to drive fast, but not having to use the ABS at all. each time the ABS works, it shows you're overstepping traction and braking limits for those particular road conditions. IMO- ABS should come into play only during emergencies, not during regular driving. its a safety back up system, not a performance enhancer.

[mnhegde]

@ random : yes as Ripper mentioned, ABS is meant to work properly during emergency conditions such as sudden braking. Not regular braking man. Did you face any such situation like sudden braking???

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by diabloo

I have a rain story too, but its not in SX4.

Obviously Diabloo ! We Expect your rain story in a NHC!

[vid6639]

Originally Posted by diabloo

I have a rain story too, but its not in SX4.

let me guess. The NHC drove through heavy floods and rains because of it's light construction and shape like an inverted boat it floated up and water never entered the engine bay.

ps: no offence meant.

[gopinathann]

Yes, even I am happy with this beast in rain. I used to overtake in a zig zag manner putting the indicators left & right, felt confident with the handling and ABS. When I see the rear view mirror everything behind me looks standstill.

[randomgyan]

Originally Posted by mnhegde

@ random : yes as Ripper mentioned, ABS is meant to work properly during emergency conditions such as sudden braking. Not regular braking man. Did you face any such situation like sudden braking???

There wasnt really sudden braking, more like, heavy braking as I slowed down quickly to make the turns in the ghats and then sped up.

The bit that I find most awesome about ABS is not the fact that you dont skid (which definitely is a good plus to be sure ), the point is that I can continue driving while giving myself the maximum braking possible. This usually means I actually end up spending less time worrying about braking and more time actually driving. And the deceleration on the sx4 even when you just tap the breaks is really really quick.

Originally Posted by vid6639

let me guess. The NHC drove through heavy floods and rains because of it's light construction and shape like an inverted boat it floated up and water never entered the engine bay.

ps: no offence meant.

Dude - that was funny as hell

I have the NHC 2007 too and i'm so scared to drive it anywhere in the rain.
On a more serious note, what you described almost actually happened to my father while he was driving back from work in July last year (annual mumbai flooding day )

Around the Juhu area, he decided to brave the collected water on the road and drove on and for a few seconds he almost felt like his tyres had no grip then it quickly settled down and he drove away - so yeah, the boat analogy might not be as outlandish as you think

[samrat25]

oh yes ,it indeed is a gripper!

[vigneshram]

Hello folks,
SX4(FIAT Sedici) is a car jointly engineered by Suzuki and FIAT.Thats the reason why SX4 is superb not like other Suzuki cars.



Vignesh
1.2 Siena ELX

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by mnhegde

@ random : Its a pleasant music to the ears when someone praises SX4.

I think few niggles this car is great. I am enjoying the car to its best. It yes brakes and GC is super cool in rains. I can see other car owners like NHC, Accent, Chevy slowing down to 1st gear and almost zero speed on bad roads. But I can just go on.

[rjstyles69]

Yeah I was gonna say the same. The ABS actually should be tested in times of crisis . Heavy rains, wet roads and some panic braking perfect recipe to test the ABS.

However it was a wise choice on your end to opt for a car with ABS.Good on you mate.

Originally Posted by vid6639

let me guess. The NHC drove through heavy floods and rains because of it's light construction and shape like an inverted boat it floated up and water never entered the engine bay.

Vidyuth !!

[supremeBaleno]

@randomgyan, agree that driving in the rains is great fun, but it comes with its share of issues too. While ABS/EBD etc is all good and nice to have, it won't hurt to be a little extra careful in the rains. That said, enjoy the drive, rain or shine.

Originally Posted by vigneshram

SX4(FIAT Sedici) is a car jointly engineered by Suzuki and FIAT.Thats the reason why SX4 is superb not like other Suzuki cars.

Really!!! Wow, we did not know about this at all till you chose to enlighten us.

Instead of helping Suzuki make better cars, how about Fiat first putting its house in order here and work on increasing their car sales which are in like a few hundreds, compared to the hundred thousands that others sell ?