[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by pb10gagan

if you are not a regular driver (read more than 50K kms of experience) than do not even think about ritz.

I don't even have experience of driving 500 kms in India. I agree with you on the visibility part of it.

Originally Posted by joy_swift

You can have a look at the Swift.

Its much funkier looking than the i10(for me),engine a lot lot better,FE better,interiors better (if you dont have a fascination for biege) and it comes with a host of features like automatic climate control,steering mounted controls etc etc.It also has 185/70/R14 alloys which really looks great.

Agree with your post except the FE and interiors part. I am not talking about color of the interior but the quality of the plastic used and the way they have been put together.

Originally Posted by DCEite

Ritz K series engine is a gem. It's revv happy, delivers good FE numbers and is more refined compared to the i10 Kappa.
i10 scores over Ritz in terms of beige interiors. There is nothing else i can think of where i10 is better than the Ritz.
But i guess Ritz P comes without any discount, whereas i10 has some. So if you want to save some money, go for the i10.

I felt the engine is more refined in i10 than Ritz (I may be wrong as don't really have that much experience). I have seen you recommending Ritz over other cars in different threads, do you agree with my observations in the first post?

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

I felt the engine is more refined in i10 than Ritz (I may be wrong as don't really have that much experience). I have seen you recommending Ritz over other cars in different threads, do you agree with my observations in the first post?

I agree with your observation in first post that Ritz dull interiors are no match for i10's beige interiors. But the story does not end here. Ritz trumps i10 in FE, smoother engine (take both engines beyond 2.5k rpm and notice the engine noise in both), better ride quality at the rear as against i10's bouncy ride(take back to back ride in rear seats of i10 and Ritz to know the difference).
Regarding visibility most modern cars have front visibility problem as in judging the length of bonnet because of curvy design. The problem exists in both i10 and Ritz.
Talking about the dashboard height, i didn't find it to be too obtrusive, although it is set higher than i10. You will get use to this in max 2-3 days of driving.
I am surprised you found Ritz's gearshift to be hard compared to i10. During my test driving of i10, i found the gearshift hardest to operate - compared to Ritz, Swift and Indica Vista. Also gear throws specially second and third are quite long in the i10, unlike short and sweet throws of its predecessor - Santro.
From 2-3 guys i know who have Ritz, none of them have started rattling (all done close to 5-10 k kms).

And since you want to keep the car long - nothing better than a Suzuki. Rock solid reliability, availability of spares and decent after sales are a given.

Rest is up to you to decide. i10 is a great city car in its own right, but Ritz is just a wee bit better, IMO. If it was between a car like say A-Star or Spark or Estilo and i10 , i would have definitly gone for i10 eyes closed.

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by DCEite

I agree with your observation in first post that Ritz dull interiors are no match for i10's beige interiors.

I felt the material used for the interiors is also much better in i10 compared to Ritz. Also the exterior paint job is excellent in i10. There are at least 20 i10s in my apartment (most of them 1+ or more old) and all still shine like new i10s. I am not sure about the paint job done by Maruti.

But the story does not end here. Ritz trumps i10 in FE, smoother engine (take both engines beyond 2.5k rpm and notice the engine noise in both)

I'll take more test drives of both the vehicles to check this particular aspect. Thanks.

better ride quality at the rear as against i10's bouncy ride(take back to back ride in rear seats of i10 and Ritz to know the difference).

I am not really concerned about this as 95% of the time, only me and my wife will be in the car.

Regarding visibility most modern cars have front visibility problem as in judging the length of bonnet because of curvy design. The problem exists in both i10 and Ritz.

As I am a novice driver, I am worried with overall visibility from inside the car, not just front. I found i10 scoring better in this department.

I am surprised you found Ritz's gearshift to be hard compared to i10. During my test driving of i10, i found the gearshift hardest to operate - compared to Ritz, Swift and Indica Vista. Also gear throws specially second and third are quite long in the i10, unlike short and sweet throws of its predecessor - Santro.

I test drove Ritz from 3 different dealers and in all 3 cars I found the gear shift hard (by hard I mean it takes more effort/weight to push the gear stick into position). In i10, it was butter smooth but longer than Ritz. I'll keep a close eye on this in my next test drives.

From 2-3 guys i know who have Ritz, none of them have started rattling (all done close to 5-10 k kms).

That's gives some confidence. Would like to hear from the Ritz owners on the same.

And since you want to keep the car long - nothing better than a Suzuki. Rock solid reliability, availability of spares and decent after sales are a given.

Any particular issues with Hyundai in this regard? I have heard good things about Hyundai engines, spares and A.S.S too, though marginally expensive than Maruti.

[Ponmayilal]

Apart from the super engine, that it rides on 14" wheels and has 5mm more ground clearance are definitely plus points favouring Ritz.

Yes, rear view is limited but that alone need not strike it out of contention. In my Ritz, I have made-up this shortcoming by installing Red Soul Reverse Parking Sensor with an LED Display ( Model No:RSB4; MRP: Rs.3500 Strike price: Rs 2800; fitted by Red Soul at their office in Basavangudi )

Next, small or big, getting scratched does not depend upon the size and/or the width of the car but on other drivers. It can happen even while the car is parked on the road, when a wayward school-kid pulls a sharp object along the whole length of your car. Such extraneous considerations nothing to do with the car perse, should never be a factor in your selection.

The only thing I do not like in my Ritz is the inward-sloping dash. Literally you cannot keep anything on it. Here too there is a solution in the form of anti-skid mats which are available in car accessory shops. I have seen some small mats for this purpose in SPAR Hypermarket for less than Rs.100.

I have driven my two-month old Ritz Vxi (petrol) for over 2800+ Kms by now ( mostly on highways and very little in the city ) and so far there are no rattles. The best FE I had got is 16.7 Kmpl keeping the top speed within 80Kmph, AC on fulltime.

On gearshifts, right from the day I took a TD, till date I haven't experienced any difficulty, even putting it on reverse.

Many inputs have come in this thread but keep confusion at bay. Finally, it is your own preferences, likes and dislikes that should take precedence, after weighing all the positive and negative aspects.

Please do chip in when you have made your choice and let us know. Happy revving.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by Ponmayilal

The only thing I do not like in my Ritz is the inward-sloping dash.

Perhaps this is deliberately done, given that the same dashboard is used for Zxi as well: You don't want your cell-phone (or whatever you keep on the dash) to ram into your face when the airbags deploy.

16.7 appears low, given the sedate driving conditions and so much hype around the K-series. My i10 gave around the same figure with some slightly spirited driving on the highway. I was expecting the Ritz to fare much better. Anyway, I'm still running on my first tankful on Ritz, lets see what numbers it gives.

Originally Posted by Ponmayilal

Yes, rear view is limited but that alone need not strike it out of contention. In my Ritz, I have made-up this shortcoming by installing Red Soul Reverse Parking Sensor with an LED Display ( Model No:RSB4; MRP: Rs.3500 Strike price: Rs 2800; fitted by Red Soul at their office in Basavangudi )

I find the rear visibility pretty manageable, but, then I don't have to park in cramped places. My wife did mention about the same thing, and I was thinking of getting a Reverse Parking sensor. But, somehow I am scared that the accessory folks don't handle the car with due care. What is your experience with Redsoul? Specifically, what all did they unmount for the fitment? Did they scratch your car with screw driver marks and all?


Cheers,
Su-47

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

Any particular issues with Hyundai in this regard? I have heard good things about Hyundai engines, spares and A.S.S too, though marginally expensive than Maruti.

None whatsover, I had an Accent that served me for 9 years & 1,37,000 km. And Hyundai A.S.S. is hardly more expensive. You might have to forego a cutting chai somewhere to make up, that's it.

[Gandhi]

As many insisted here, I took another test drive of Ritz, and a really long one - 22 kms. This included pushing the car till 80 KMPH and also few kms of crawling traffic in 1st gear.

I must admit that with AC ON, the difference in power is not much in Ritz. In i10, I could feel a drop in power once the AC was switched ON. It was raining cats and dogs when I was taking the test drive, and I found the rear wipers really useful (all Vxi owners, I would strongly suggest the rear wiper).

I am correcting myself after this drive that the gear shift is not that hard to be a concern, it's harder than i10 though. One thing I liked about the Ritz gear shift is that when in neutral, it slots back to middle position (between 3rd and 4th gear). I found this useful for a new driver like me who can take that position as reference (our Indica doesn't have this feature, when in neutral gear stick can be anywhere - i.e. between 1st or 2nd, between 5th or reverse etc). Don't remember if i10's gear shift behaved the same way.

Now comes what worries me most -

• I felt that the clutch to be very hard in Ritz in comparison to i10. My left leg was paining after the 22 kms - 1 hour - long test drive. The TD car's odo was showing 10K kms. So is this normal for all Ritz? I felt a bit tiring after the TD. Didn't feel anything in case of i10 (it was an 8km long TD in relatively much lower traffic).
• Seating position is low for me at the highest position also, I am not a tall guy - 5'7". I think I may get used to this in long run.

Originally Posted by Ponmayilal

Apart from the super engine, that it rides on 14" wheels and has 5mm more ground clearance are definitely plus points favouring Ritz.

Agree.

I have driven my two-month old Ritz Vxi (petrol) for over 2800+ Kms by now ( mostly on highways and very little in the city ) and so far there are no rattles. The best FE I had got is 16.7 Kmpl keeping the top speed within 80Kmph, AC on fulltime.

Please give more inputs on your long drives. I will be using the car mostly on highways, so it matters a lot how the car behaved.

• How was the handling of the car?
• How was the comfort level at front seats? Did you feel any pain after the drives? - This is the most important factor for me.
• FE is a bit low considering all the claims that have been made. May be your driving style?

Please do chip in when you have made your choice and let us know. Happy revving.

Sure. Thanks for your inputs. Appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Su-47

My i10 gave around the same figure with some slightly spirited driving on the highway. I was expecting the Ritz to fare much better. Anyway, I'm still running on my first tankful on Ritz, lets see what numbers it gives.

Please update me once you get FE figures for your Ritz. More interested in your figures as yours is also Zxi version.

[Gandhi]

Reviving my thread for attention. Any comments folks?

The hard clutch of Ritz is worrying me. Both my thighs were paining till late night yesterday after the test drive. I don't know if it was because of the clutch or because I am not used to drive in crawling traffic.

[blackasta]

if its the left thigh, then it might be due to the clutch (in which case get an A/T bro ). but both thighs painging suggests seat height / thigh support mismatch.

[Gandhi]

I went through all the Ritz ownership threads again and noticed that most of the Vxi/Vdi owners have complained about rattles in the car, whereas none of the Zxi owners have reported a single rattle. Does this mean that Maruti top-end cars are better built/put together or their QC is better for top-end models?

Originally Posted by blackasta

if its the left thigh, then it might be due to the clutch (in which case get an A/T bro ). but both thighs painging suggests seat height / thigh support mismatch.

My left ankle/knee were paining immediately after the test drive and didn't pain after an hour or so. But both my thighs were paining till late night. So it looks like combination of both.

Some of the owners have also reported that the clutch is bit hard.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

My left ankle/knee were paining immediately after the test drive and didn't pain after an hour or so. But both my thighs were paining till late night. So it looks like combination of both.

There is no surprise in getting pain somewhere in back / legs / hands when you drive a car or bike initially. It is just a problem of setting our body according to the driving position. Once you drive the car for 2-3 days, it should all end.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

There is no surprise in getting pain somewhere in back / legs / hands when you drive a car or bike initially. It is just a problem of setting our body according to the driving position. Once you drive the car for 2-3 days, it should all end.

Thats true actually - when I first drove the i10 after a long gap of no driving (4 months), i found my arms and shoulders paining on the next day. But then I found a comfortable seating position to stretch my legs and not overstretch my arms in 1-2 days, and all was well.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

The hard clutch of Ritz is worrying me. Both my thighs were paining till late night yesterday after the test drive. I don't know if it was because of the clutch or because I am not used to drive in crawling traffic.

1) In India TD cars are used as fun machines. They are the most abused cars one can ever find. Try to drive another car. Add to that the fact that TD cars has done 10K kms, which means more abuse. I have seen the test cars being driven rashly and driven by inexperienced drives also.

2) About pain, first can be your seating position. You have already mentioned that you had the position of height at highest. Try with a different seating position also. I had similar issue when I initially drove Baleno. This has to mostly do with seating position only.

3) Sorry for being a bit personal here.
You have mentioned about seating position height. As DCEite has mentioned, none of the modern cars have good visibility. I think what you are looking forward to is to watch the leading edge of the bonnet for judgment. Its next to impossible to get that as there are too many curves.
But this is not cause of worry. I am telling you this from my experience. We have baleno which has very low seating position. Initially I had problems for judgment too, but its only matter of practice. Within 7-10 days, you will be fine with it. The other car I drive is M800, so you get the idea that from good visibility I went to very low seating position. But it was OK with practice. Relax. 5'7" is not a height where you dont get good visibility. Dont worry too much about this parameter and remember that M800/Alto have good visibility and the other car is Wagon R. Its not possible to get similar level of visibility from modern day cars.

I know a couple of Ritz owners and they are yet to report rattles. None of them have ZXi. But the cars are generally driven by 40+ year old people.

[SamuraiJack]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

I haven't driven a swift yet. I have read your travelogue to Rohtang and loved every bit of it.

Things going against Swift are poor FE, poorer build quality, ridiculous waiting periods (3+ months) and it's just too common on the roads now. Still, I will take your advice and drive a swift too before I take the decision.

Please... I beg you- my freind who got a i10 regrets everytime he sits in my car. If you are compromising for 2KM/litre then I have nothing to say, an i10 will give you max of 14 in city and a Swift will surely give you 12 in city. If you really think you drive so much then go for a Diesel, exactly what I did, went for an LDI, cause for me drive pleasure and seating comfort along with FE were a must.. I was willing to compromise on power windows and the other stuff that comes with a VDI and spend the same on great rubber and alloys.

As for the waiting period- visit multiple showrooms and tell them the previous showroom promised you the car much earlier.

Can you belive it, my car was waiting for me in the showroom when I showed genuine interest.. that too a Diesel, even before I paid any amount for booking.

These guys will not let a customer go if he shows signs of going to another showroom, why will they- you are not buying a toothpaste for heaven's sake!

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) In India TD cars are used as fun machines. They are the most abused cars one can ever find. Try to drive another car. Add to that the fact that TD cars has done 10K kms, which means more abuse. I have seen the test cars being driven rashly and driven by inexperienced drives also.

Agree. None of my friends or colleagues have Ritz. Let me see if one of BHPians can help me here .

2) About pain, first can be your seating position. You have already mentioned that you had the position of height at highest. Try with a different seating position also. I had similar issue when I initially drove Baleno. This has to mostly do with seating position only.

Looks like the seating position. I think my body is not yet used to drive a manual car in Bangalore's crawling traffic for long time. But one thing for sure is the clutch on the Ritz TD vehicle was harder than that of i10 TD vehicle.

3) Sorry for being a bit personal here.
You have mentioned about seating position height. As DCEite has mentioned, none of the modern cars have good visibility. I think what you are looking forward to is to watch the leading edge of the bonnet for judgment.

Nope. I don't expect that from any modern hatches. I think the dash of Ritz is placed much higher than the dash of i10, hence this feeling.

I know a couple of Ritz owners and they are yet to report rattles. None of them have ZXi. But the cars are generally driven by 40+ year old people.

Thanks for this input. Appreciate it.