[abhik]

I am 22yrs of age and being a hardcore performance enthusiast, I had bought a second hand Ford Ikon 1.6 ZXi 2002 in june 07 with my own hard earned money, the car had done 90000kms but ran like a gem. While testing it i did 130kmph indicated speed in 3rd gear. I liked the Ikon 1.6 mainly because of its handling and sheer performance and rest has already been said and done with by other Ikon owners on TEAM-BHP in their various posts and i dont think so i need to mention anything about why we still have fans for the 1.6.
I did a lot of research on CNG conversion and got it retro fitted (as i could not afford 6-7kmpl ) and made sure that it performed as good as it is on petrol and successfully managed to do so. I have posted a report on the same under Long Term Ownership Reports. The car could do 160kmph on CNG with completely worn out tyres and worn out clutches, the car was absolutely stable, no noise apart from the awesome exhaust note and the it still had more to offer, so i really dont doubt its performance and never have.
So there i had it all, perfomance and economy and ofcourse a car that i absolutely loved.
Now why on earth would i want to get rid of it...let me tell you:-

1. Till date i have spent close to 80k excluding cost of the CNG kit on just getting things right like the alternator, clutch, tyres, ignition coil, brake pads, upholstry,a/c pipes, IAC valve, TP Sensor and a host of other things that kept comming on and on time and again.
2. I realised that getting work done on the Ikon is utter stupidity as i could not find any mechanic who were qualified enough or had proper know how to fix the problems, hence the high maintenence costs as Ford, for some odd reason, does not believe in repairing, they simply change whatever is at fault but till date i have never got the car touched by any mechanic except Ford and the car has been strictly maintained at Ford.
3. Of late the suspensions and brake pads are giving way and this will set me back by 20 odd grands which would make my total expense after purchasing the car at Rs1,00,000 excluding cost of CNG.
4. Strangely the engine has never given way even after the amount of abuse i have put it through and after 97000kms now, it has always been other related parts.
5. When i bought the car i had in mind to spend that amount on performance modifying the car but due to these recurring expenses i couldnt even get a performance air-filter fitted.
So i have had enough of it and am now considering the Swift mainly because of service network, Jap reliability, cost of spares. I have read the Long Term Ownership Reviews but need a clear picture of the car meeting my requirements and your expert comments:-

My Requirements are:-
1. Outright corner carving ability.(High speed cornering)
2. High speed stability.
3. Agility
4. Good and safe build.
5. Low maintenence cost and reliability.

Would the Swift fullfill the first 3 requirements which is of utmost importance to me?
Does the Swift hold its line when cornering hard?
How does it perform in the lower rev range?
Can the interior vibes, that a lot of people complaint about, be sorted out?

Please help me out with your suggestions .

[BUSA]

Which Swift are you looking at? Petrol or Diesel?

1. Outright corner carving ability.(High speed cornering) - Get good tires and Swift will shine.
2. High speed stability. Same as point 1
3. Agility - Get Wider Rims.
4. Good and safe build - Swift wont fulfill this.
5. Low maintenence cost and reliability. - Swift will fulfill.
6. Does the Swift hold its line when cornering hard? - It tends to oversteer at times.
7. How does it perform in the lower rev range? Diesel fantastic, petrol - ok
8. Can the interior vibes, that a lot of people complaint about, be sorted out? Yes, damping is the way.

Also look at the Getz CRDi, its insanely fast and how!

[pingping]

Most of ur requirement will be satisfied by swift... but considering ur high speed driving style i would advice u to go in for fully loaded version with ABS and Airbags....

Swift is definitely a good car for high speeds... but its highly tuned engine mainly for smooth riding and not for quiker pick up high end speed and cruising....

About its handling and high speed cornering... u need to update ur car with wider tires... go through the following link... it gives a fair picture on cars handling, performance etc...

:: AUTOCAR INDIA - CAR AND BIKE MAGAZINE ::

Its maintenance is trouble free... much much better than Ford vehicles.

But overall since u r a high speed enthusiast i would not advice u to go in for swift.. instead u need more speed vehicled and SX4 would serve ur purpose or if budget is constraint wait for few more months for swift sedan to be launched which probably would meet ur requirements...

[sammyboy]

okk let me summarise what I understood from your post :
You got an ikon 1.6 which has done 90,000 km for Rs 1l. You have been ripping the car with a worn clutch and worn out tires and have put a CNG kit (what make ? desi or a govt approved one ..no idea).
Now that you have reached 97,000 km the car requires some money to be spent on it and rather than do that u want to buy a swift and dump the ikon .I think you should have checked the car before buying it and now crying about the high cost of ownership ...but anyways , I pretty much agree with all of Busa's recommendations and would also like to ask the kind of budget you have and how old a swift are u looking at?
Please keep in mind that any car you might buy, you need to check it thoroughly (the pre owned checklist).

[burnt.]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

okk let me summarise what I understood from your post :
You got an ikon 1.6 which has done 90,000 km for Rs 1l. You have been ripping the car with a worn clutch and worn out tires and have put a CNG kit (what make ? desi or a govt approved one ..no idea).
Now that you have reached 97,000 km the car requires some money to be spent on it and rather than do that u want to buy a swift and dump the ikon .I think you should have checked the car before buying it and now crying about the high cost of ownership ...

Actually, it is not an unknown issue with the Ikon. I know a couple of cars here that started giving constant problems once it got a bit old. Of course, it was just fantastic in the beginning.

[Akshay1234]

how about the getz crdi with wider rubber?

[spadival]

One piece of advise.. if you wanna sell the Ikon, you shouldnt go about advertising its drawbacks .. hell.. how will you find a buyer for the car now

[danlalan]

And a small little swift will never be able to match the performance and handling of the IKON. not even close. Even after your Headers, air intake, Plugs blah blah blah...

THERES NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT.

go in for a palio 1.6

[shazikon]

I agree with Danlalan...After driving an ikon 1.6 you would not be satisfied with a swift petrol unless you turbocharge it getz CRDI is a better option if you are looking for a Diesel.I have not been able to let go of my ikon 1.6 as no other car in this segment feels as good. The next best thing would be a OHC Vtec, Cedia or RS ..

[shuvd]

A petrol Swift even with the power to weight advantage would not cut it after the 1.6 Ikon. However, Common Rail Swifts and Getzs will give you a great thrust if driven properly. If you really want a scorcher, spend some money on the Ikon. For starters, get rid of the LPG kit.

[narayan]

abhik - whats ur budget ? i could not find that anywhere in ur post or am i missing something ?

if u have some hard earned 8-10 lakhs, why dont u go for a CEDIA ?
if the budget is much lesser, i dont see any option other than swift ...

i dont think OHC is an outright harcore corner carving machine neither is it very stable at high speeds...agility - yes...

[star_is_here]

Ford always scores high on handling, very less cars come close to handling and driveability experience of Ford Motors. Swift is good as long you have a budget constraint and it would be a trade-off on performance. OHC doesnt count on performance as its USP, yes agility could be it's USP.

I would counter BUSA's claim that wider rims would enhance agility. Infact wider rims would enable stability while making the steering heavier hence agility is reduced.

Palio is a good option, but get it checked bottom-up while deciding to own a used one. Have you considered a Mitsubishi Lancer?

[Jaggu]

i owned a iKON 1.6 and if you treat the car well, it will age well and thats true for all cars!!

Swift P after iKON might not really excite you, and Swift D will not give you the feel of 6500 RPM revs, BUT if you are ok with a compromise of the similar torque characteristics from Swift D, go for it. But again you will have shelve out lots of moolahs.

From your requirements i would suggest a good ol Baleno, OHC or a Lancer (in that order) which you can pick and mod to glory, since they are dime n dozen and the most mod friendly here in India.

all of the above under the assumption that you are not interested in brand new purchase.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by abhik

How does it perform in the lower rev range?

Lower rev range performance in the Swift Petrol is BAD !
The first time i drove my friends petrol swift (almost brand new) i asked if it was the diesel when i set foot on the accelerator because i thought it was suffering from some severe turbo lag!

Although the swift is a good car, very smooth,etc it is no replacement for the 'Josh' that the Ikon pumps out. If you do go in for the swift petrol you are going to need some serious modifications done to get the performance upto your expectations.

If you budget permits there is just one car that comes to my mind for you - Cedia LPG. And if you must go for the swift, the diesel with Pete's tuning box is the way to go for you.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Lower rev range performance in the Swift Petrol is BAD !

Swift comes alive only after 2-3k rpm, after which it is pretty much entertaining!

Petrol price is going to be increased by Rs.4. Which should defenitly make you think about maintaining rpms above 3k. Diesel would be a much better option- its both fun to drive and economical as well!