[clevermax]

gemi, What happened to your Adventure? Already sold or planning to sell?

[shankar.balan]

my thoughts:

1.Swift - from all accounts the new 1.2 K Series engine is excellent.
2. Zxi variant has all the bells and whistles and more than anything is a FUN car to own and drive.
3.Looks great, feels very sporty, lovely responsive chassis and handles really well - especially in the Zxi avatar with the alloys and fat tyres etc.
4Its got enough boot space for a young couple travelling about here and there and can happily accommodate 2 kids too in peace and comfort.
5. Rear head room is good and it is a pretty comfy car too.

Ritz - is a nice car in its own way.
Same engine as the new Swift.

But personally I would vastly prefer the Swift to the Ritz because:
1. The ritz doesnt look anywhere as good as the Swift, for similar money.
2. Swift Fun factor is clearly more since the Ritz is more meant to be like an FE focussed Family wagon.
3. Engine - same in both - but I think you' ll find the Swift to be more peppy.
4. Rear boot space in the Ritz is pretty limited - Swift has more space.
5. Rear head room in the Ritz is curtailed in comparison to the Swift - (Im 6.2 tall and when we owned a Swift there was no problem for me to sit in the back in terms of head room. But I found it irritating in the Ritz.


The pricing is pretty much similar - give or take.
Maruti's service network and inexpensive, easy maintenance holds good for both. Both are highly reliable vehicles.

Re sale values of the Swift are likely to hold up at least with young first time hatch buyers because it is relatively inexpensive and more because it is an immensely desirable car, when compared to the slightly boring Ritz!

Considering everything , I would still recommend the Swift over the Ritz in equivalent trim level comparison simply because it is a heart over head kind of decision and the Ritz can never inspire the same heart reaction in me as the Swift can!

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by clevermax

gemi, What happened to your Adventure? Already sold or planning to sell?

Almost Sold

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Re sale values of the Swift are likely to hold up at least with young first time hatch buyers because it is relatively inexpensive and more because it is an immensely desirable car, when compared to the slightly boring Ritz!

Considering everything , I would still recommend the Swift over the Ritz in equivalent trim level comparison simply because it is a heart over head kind of decision and the Ritz can never inspire the same heart reaction in me as the Swift can!

That is one of the confusions for me. The Swift will get more resale makes me fall towards it. But when i see that i have to give close to 25K more and wait for 2 months if i need a Swift...that makes me take a step towards the Ritz

and Hey! I thought the headroom/legroom at rear was better in the Ritz!!!!

[Jaggu]

Yes Ritz with its taller body has better space at the rear. Dont worry too much about the resale, Ritz also will catch up on this regard soon, just like swift.

[shankar.balan]

rear headroom - on account of the sloping rear roof line tends to be less in the Ritz than in the Swift.
We owned a Swift till 2 weeks ago and Ive sat several times in it in the rear seat. No problems.

I have test driven the Ritz when it was launched and sat in every seat for a time, both while stationary and while on the move, just to assess it. And I most certainly say that the headroom in the Ritz rear seat is LESS than the Swift.

Add to this the fact that the boot / luggage space is tiny in the Ritz - it is slightly more in the Swift.
When the rear seats are folded down, yes, the space available for luggage etc in the ritz and the Swift are comparable, but the Swift still has a slight edge.

In the looks department and general performance thrills department, the Swift is a no brainer in comparison to the Ritz.

Now the Ritz and Swift have the same engine, but I do believe that the way it is tuned in the Swift coupled with the Swift's slightly hard, sporty suspension setup, makes the Swift driving experience a lot more fun than the Ritz can ever match up to.

The Swift is a car a young sporty guy would buy with his heart and the Ritz, possibly is what a steady family man , with a settled slightly boring conventional mindset would look to in terms of FE and softer suspension, ride comfort.

the best thing is that the new K12 engine takes its excellent FE to the Swift too, but without any compromise on the fun factor!

this is my considered opinion.

Originally Posted by gemithomas

Almost Sold



That is one of the confusions for me. The Swift will get more resale makes me fall towards it. But when i see that i have to give close to 25K more and wait for 2 months if i need a Swift...that makes me take a step towards the Ritz

and Hey! I thought the headroom/legroom at rear was better in the Ritz!!!!

[gemithomas]

Ok. Now let me tell you about the back to back test drive of both the Ritz and the Swift in Diesel Mode. I'll have to thank each and everyone of you for your feedback. Everything that you guys said was just right. I did not really experience anything different. But just a few points that i would like to highlight.


Swift:
- Better Acceleration (More Turbo Boost)
- More Comfortable Front Seats and Best Driving Posture anywhere near the segment.
- More 'thuds' from the road filtering into the cabin
- More stable at high speeds
- More thrilling to drive. You feel like a rally driver
- The Rear Seat is a big let down. No 40:60 folding makes it even worse. Soit basically serves no purpose other than "emergency seats for short trips".

Ritz:
- Less prominent Turbo Boost though it still exists.
- Front Seats just ok. The on dash gear might be a problem. Both hands need to be at very different angles while driving and to worsen things i have a habit of keeping my hands on the gear lever. Hoping that i'll get used to it after some use.
- Less Road noise entering the cabin on bad roads.
- There is some good amount of body roll at even slightly high speeds.
- The "thrill" in the Swift is missing. But personally i think i liked it.
- Rear Seat 40:60 split is a deal maker. The higher seats are makes entry/exit easy and it throws you around a little less.

The major difference i felt was in the swift you are shaking UP/DOWN (Vertical to the road) and in the Ritz you shake LEFT/RIGHT (Horizontal to the road)

Except for the equipment list for a 5+ Lakh car we all liked the RITZ

I've got a few doubts that i need to conform on the Ldi.
- Does it have day night rear view mirrors. The brochure only mentions anti-glare. What is this?
- What is this ELR seatbelt with Pre tensioner that is there only on VDI. Does that mean the the Ldi seatbelts would just be hanging down and would not retract in automatically?
- Does the Ldi have a boot release lever under the drivers seat.
- Does it have tinted glass or is it just plain glass.

And Which colour should i go for. White. Green. Blue. or Silver? I know its personal choice but just wanted to know what you guys think best suits the car. At home we are unable to reach agree on one.

[tj123]

Why not wait for the Ford Figo/Polo both cars should be out on road in 3-4 weeks time. Going by the reviews Figo looks like a good car. Yet to determine how the Polo is, but I think both brands should do well if priced competitively.

Swift is now a dated product and there are too many of it on the roads.
Think about it ……don’t follow the herd blindly.

[shankar.balan]

Since you appear to have chosen the Ritz, I would suggest the Racing Green - easily the best colour by far!


And Which colour should i go for. White. Green. Blue. or Silver? I know its personal choice but just wanted to know what you guys think best suits the car. At home we are unable to reach agree on one.[/quote]

[naveenvenkatesh]

Hey Gemithomas,

We are having the same dilemma as far as the colour is concerned. We have now the final short list! Silver and Baker's chocolate. We have a silver swift Zxi already, so a bit hesitant to buy another car with the same colour.
We didn't like Green or Blue. Infact, both of these looked similar! Black also looks good though but not suited for our climate i feel!

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

And Which colour should i go for. White. Green. Blue. or Silver? I know its personal choice but just wanted to know what you guys think best suits the car. At home we are unable to reach agree on one.

Congrats for your choice. You'll not regret it. For the color, I'd suggest black. Check out the pics of my black Ritz here.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

Except for the equipment list for a 5+ Lakh car we all liked the RITZ

Great - finally you did the right thing - decided after a TD.

Originally Posted by gemithomas

The major difference i felt was in the swift you are shaking UP/DOWN (Vertical to the road) and in the Ritz you shake LEFT/RIGHT (Horizontal to the road)

LOL - all cars can be categorised into just those two types! My Swift does the UP/DOWN and my Scorpio does the LEFT/RIGHT.

Originally Posted by gemithomas

I've got a few doubts that i need to conform on the Ldi.
- Does it have day night rear view mirrors. The brochure only mentions anti-glare. What is this?

All cars, irrespective of specs, come with the prismatic "dipping" IRVM and level-adjustable headlamps as standard features conforming to BS-III. That is the day-night/anti-glare mirror.

Originally Posted by gemithomas

- What is this ELR seatbelt with Pre tensioner that is there only on VDI. Does that mean the the Ldi seatbelts would just be hanging down and would not retract in automatically?

no, no - they'll retract - all belts are inertia reel belts which retract automatically. ELR and pretensioner are extra additions which help to keep you safer in a crash/rollover. See Seat belt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Edit: As to colour choice, it's purely a personal matter, but when it comes to resale, silvers and whites tend to sell the easiest, and greens and blues tend to be turned down by used car buyers. Dark greys and browns tend to be less visible on highways too - I am personally not too happy driving a grey car which tends to blend in with the background.

[shankar.balan]

yes I agree with this statement.

I have had the same experience in my Scorpio and my wife's Swift when it was still with us.

It is also true the Innova gives you the up down movement which is possibly one reason why it is more comfy than the Scorpio, especially over potholed roads and speed breakers especially speed breakers located near where a road turns or at a cross roads.

[quote=SS-Traveller;1723274]LOL - all cars can be categorised into just those two types! My Swift does the UP/DOWN and my Scorpio does the LEFT/RIGHT.

[WDP2]

@gemithomas: Well I have my opinion as well. First of all deciding on a diesel engine is what you need to see. It is worth buying a Diesel car only if you are going to use the car for atleast 2500 to 3000 kms per month. Because by buying a diesel car the only saving we make over the petrol vehicle is by running it more. Diesel engines are slightly higher in maintanance and initial cost. If you are not going to use it for the above mentioned kilometers per month i would suggest you to look into petrol variants of these cars. Why? because the difference of amount you pay to get a diesel car is close to 1.5 lakhs from its petrol variants. if you need to recover this extra cost you have to use atleast 3000 kms per month (of course only if your regular routine calls for maximum driving around). else you can keep the 1.5 lakhs with you and fuel the petrol car for close to 5 yrs at an average of 25000 rupees per year!!! In case you are taking a loan you will end up saving the interest on this amount as well.

Forget about potholes they are ever increasing in the indian roads. As far as the suspensions are concerned both Swift and Ritz seemed similar to me. I have driven both cars. I found the ritz to be a good performer. It has been tuned so nicely that it trekks the slopes with ease. While on slopes the swift slightly struggles. Given that in kerala you have lot of climbing to do Ritz would gain points in this. Head room, legroom are far better in Ritz than swift. Dont worry about the rear of Ritz, now we all are getting used to it, skoda Yeti is yet another Ritz back follower (flat).

One main thing i would wish to highlight is we all ignore safety. We know that our roads are more prone to accidents than many countries in the world, blind curves, no markers, potholes, speek breakers (some places it breaks the vehicle itself, so poorly made). Even if you sell you r palio and go for these cars at this variants, I would say you are still into adventures that too as a dad you have your Gem (baby) to be kept safe. Please go for a car with ABS (minimum) and if possible airbags. Consider Ritz VDi / VXi with ABS. Never ignore safety.It might happen so that you may not even encounter with any accidents at all (with gods grace and i wish for the same as well), but all the preparations we do in iour life is to save one particular moment, if we are not equipped to face it or push it off our whole life changes after that. With ever increasing traffic, ever increasing busses and trucks, in a road which is fit to take 100 vehicles at a time our country hosts 1000 vehicles at a time, which literally pushes every person into a rat race of who reaches his place first. So, please do not ignore safety. Comfort and convenience comes second, as we need to be safe to enjoy those comforts.

Hyundai cars are also very very reliable. They never break down.

If you are not buying a diesel i will suggest you to go for either

Ritz VXi with ABS / i10 1.2 Asta / Swift VXi with ABS / i20 1.2 Asta

If its diesel then my reccomendations would be

Ritz VDi with ABS / i20 1.4 CRDi Magna

Well as far as the colour is concerned, i would say Kerala is green state. Dont Camouflage your car with the greenery (again a safety point!!!), so pick up a brighter colour like white / silver / gold. Dark colors appear dirty soon, lighter colours even though they are dirty does not make it appear prominently. Even the smallest of scratches can be seen very easily on a dark colored car.

All the best and have a wonderful and safe drive!!!

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by WDP2

@gemithomas: Well I have my opinion as well. First of all deciding on a diesel engine is what you need to see. It is worth buying a Diesel car only if you are going to use the car for atleast 2500 to 3000 kms per month. Because by buying a diesel car the only saving we make over the petrol vehicle is by running it more. Diesel engines are slightly higher in maintanance and initial cost. If you are not going to use it for the above mentioned kilometers per month i would suggest you to look into petrol variants of these cars. Why? because the difference of amount you pay to get a diesel car is close to 1.5 lakhs from its petrol variants.

I don't buy this argument. Many won't. And you are talking about the present day scenario? The difference between petrol and diesel is way less that 1.5 Lakhs nowadays for a small car! - check out the prices.

IMO, just buy a diesel, and you'll see an automatic increase in the number of Kms that you drive in a month! You can't really fix the no. of Kms that you run in a month before deciding on a petrol or diesel - it really depends on your car and the type of fuel. (at least for me it is like that) It works differently here.. I want to go home on a weekend, I will just take the diesel car and drive if I have that. If I have a petrol car, I'll probably leave it in my office parking and take a long distance bus - you see.



I guess you already know that mallu land is known for diesel cars - just come to Kerala and count the number of Swift diesels Vs. Swift petrols that are running here and you'll know.

Finally, the extra amount that you pay initially and the how much distance you need to run your can to even out the figures to a petrol car's cost all will only remain in your excel sheets or papers- once you start driving the diesel car, you'll forget about all these. I know what I am talking about as I have a petrol car and a diesel one.

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by tj123

Why not wait for the Ford Figo/Polo both cars should be out on road in 3-4 weeks time.

Frankly speaking i am not a maruti fan but right now i am looking at a transition car that would give me minimum niggles and maximum mileage. The current plan to sell this off after 2 year and get something like the Polo 1.6. Hope things work out fine and the plan works out.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Since you appear to have chosen the Ritz, I would suggest the Racing Green - easily the best colour by far!

Thats my favourite colour. But no one at home likes it.

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Black also looks good though but not suited for our climate i feel!

Originally Posted by Gandhi

For the color, I'd suggest black.

I think back best suits the car but my mother is dead against blacks. So not even thinking of it. The next one i like it the green which looks almost like black By no one else at home seems to like that colour.

You see the reason for the confusion right!!

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Great - finally you did the right thing - decided after a TD.


LOL - all cars can be categorised into just those two types! My Swift does the UP/DOWN and my Scorpio does the LEFT/RIGHT.

All cars, irrespective of specs, come with the prismatic "dipping" IRVM and level-adjustable headlamps as standard features conforming to BS-III. That is the day-night/anti-glare mirror.

no, no - they'll retract - all belts are inertia reel belts which retract automatically.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

yes I agree with this statement.
I have had the same experience in my Scorpio and my wife's Swift when it was still with us.

Ha! Ha!. Very True. But My adventure never gave me either. It just ate up the road. Especially on the Pirelli's.

About the mirror. I did not see that small toggle switch to turn it into night mode. Thats why i asked.

Originally Posted by WDP2

@gemithomas: Well I have my opinion as well. First of all deciding on a diesel engine is what you need to see. It is worth buying a Diesel car only if you are going to use the car for atleast 2500 to 3000 kms per month.

Originally Posted by clevermax

Finally, the extra amount that you pay initially and the how much distance you need to run your can to even out the figures to a petrol car's cost all will only remain in your excel sheets or papers- once you start driving the diesel car, you'll forget about all these. I know what I am talking about as I have a petrol car and a diesel one.

Thanks a lot. Actually i did a lot of calculations when i bought my adventure. I thought i would do only around 500km/month But i ended up doing 40K km in 3 years. So this time i thought lets not take a risk. Lets go diesel!!!

I still feel terribly bad paying above 5L for a car with nothings at all!!! But then i think ...Its Diesel!!!