[arvind71181]

Prologue:

I had started to think of a replacement for my Swift 1.3 petrol sometime during the end of last year. There was some secondary research done over team-bhp and other sites such as Carwale etc. Then, for some time, the purchase was put on the back burner. Recently during the month of March, the A/C compressor of the vehicle went Kaput and I had to spend around 15K to get it replaced. Also, at the 80k service, the following parts were deemed to be almost at the end of their life cycle.

• The clutch had become very hard and the SA gave a maximum of around 5k kms before it had to be replaced
• The suspension was starting to creak when going over pot holes and was also given a time frame of 5 – 6 months
• The accelerator cable was also on its last legs
• I had changed the tyres at the 50k mark and these tyres would have had a tread for maximum of another 15k, which would result in a cost of around 20k.

Considering the above and also the fact that it was a 6.5 year old, 85k kms run car, I decided to go ahead with a new car rather than making all the changes which were mentioned by the service advisor. So the serious search was resumed during the first week of May. I had posted my queries on the forum as well and got back excellent feedback from a lot of members here. I had the following criteria, not in any order, with the main criteria being that the car should cost around 11L (which was broken anyway)

Diesel: My monthly driving pattern is around 1200-1500 kms which can be done with a petrol, but in my budget I found only diesels which are fun to drive. The ones which are petrol, a great example being the GT TSI lose out on space which brings me to my next need.

Rear space: I have a 4.5 year old daughter who is strapped in always so a car seat is a must. During some outstation trips, my mom and dad join me as well which would mean 5 people in the car. I was willing to sacrifice some of it if the drive and handling is excellent.

Fun to drive: All said and done, the Swift was and still is a fun to drive car. Immensely chuckable at corners and handles well too, especially after I had changed the tyres to Conti EcoContact ones. Cars like the i20 lose out on this factor as my dad owned the igen i20 and I do not like the way it drives, especially on the highways.

[arvind71181]

Cars which I considered/test drove:

Maruti S-Cross 1.3: My brother bought this vehicle when it was launched. So I have a lot of experience driving this car. It’s a very good vehicle for the city with its very negligible turbo lag. I went on trip to Coorg from Bangalore and for the total distance of 600 odd kms it did not let me down at all. It handled bad roads very well and the car goes attained speeds up to 120-130 easily beyond which it is a struggle. As someone who is going to be within the 100-120 range, I could easily live with the car. Thought about the 1.6 for some time but the budget constraints and also the fact that the turbo lag will be more for city driving made me realize that the 1.3 is the better car at that point of time. OTR for 1.3 Zeta was around 11.2L.

Maruti Ciaz: The space on offer in the rear is phenomenal. Lots of leg room and width is enough to seat 5 as well. The interiors also were well put together though some similarities with the swift are there especially with respect to the window switches. It is really an all round car with all the gadgets that one would probably need. The top variant gets 16 inch wheels as well. Took a short test drive and was ok with it. The car drives very similar to the S-Cross in terms of pick up. I really did not want such a huge boot space though. No real negatives that I could find, except maybe that the quality of material is better in the S-Cross

Ford Ecosport Diesel: I have always liked the car for its looks and with its recent engine revamp, looked to be a good bet with respect to the fun to drive factor as well. Went and had a look in the showroom. Drives extremely well and the acceleration is mostly linear. I was sure it can go to the lower triple digit speeds very quickly. Very stable and the ride quality was also good, though I did not go over many potholes. Took undulations in the road well. Road noise does not creep into the cabin and audio system for my noob ears is very good. Ford is quoting 11.6L for the Titanium + model including 2 years extended warranty. The sales person though was dissuading me from going for the top end saying 6 airbags and leather seats are the only difference (while it is not) and asking me if I am not confident of my driving. This spoilt the otherwise smooth TD experience. The other downer was the rear seat space which was a very tight fit for 2 people and a car seat. Also, did not quite like the HU, especially after experiencing the nice HU of the S-Cross and the Ciaz.

Ford Aspire Diesel: The official reviews indicate it to be a stonker of a car which can give a lot of higher segment vehicles a run for their money. All this comes at a cost of 10L OTR for the titanium variant which is good VFM. Sat in this car as well when I went to see the Ecosport and both looked to be similar space wise, maybe the Aspire has got a bit more leg room. Since this is the same engine and tune as the Ecosport, wanted to try this as well, but unfortunately was not able to get hands on even a test drive vehicle. Sad that I could not even try this car, but that’s the way things go sometimes.

I did not consider the Brezza as I feel that the Brezza is not going to give me anything which the S-Cross does not have, save for some gadgets which I am absolutely ok with. Plus the wait times were a huge let down. The Baleno was not an upgrade from my Swift, even considering the fact that my swift was a the LXI variant of the first generation

So, after having test driven all the cars, I decided to go ahead with the S-Cross 1.3 as it was in my opinion the jack of most of the trades (ride quality, handling, power for the city). I spoke to Nandanam NEXA and booked the car on May 26th after paying an amount of 11,000 rupees. I was quoted a waiting period of anywhere between 30 – 45 days. I was also not in a hurry as my parents were out of town and were expected back only after almost a month.

[arvind71181]

The wait continues….and the change

Just a week or so after I booked the car, there was a fire in the SUBROS plant, which manufactures the ACs for most of Maruti’s cars. This, coupled with the preponed scheduled plant maintenance, increased the waiting times. Initially I was told that my vehicle would be loaded on to the trucks from the factory around the 27th of June, but that did not happen. A couple of days after this, my relationship manager came over to my office and explained that the manufacturing of the S-Cross 1.3 would start only around the 1st week of August and that I could expect to take delivery of the car around the 3rd week of August.

I was not happy with the change in timelines, but to give the RM his due, all the communication was done proactively by him and there was nothing I could fault him with. All this time, the 1.6 was always at the back of my mind and there was a slight regret of not being able to buy it. My wife and I made some calculations and came to the conclusion that the 1.6 will be a stretch (especially since it’s available only in the Alpha variant), but doable. So, with no definite timelines around the 1.3, I called up my RM and requested him to bring over the test drive vehicle. The RM, probably sensing a deal closure, brought over the vehicle the very same day in the afternoon. I had a short drive which had a mixture of crowded and less crowded areas (due to it being a weekday afternoon). I mainly wanted to check the turbo lag in lower RPMs and was pleasantly surprised to find that, though not as sprightly as the 1.3 in the lower RPM range, the lag was definitely manageable, especially if the driving is not “pedal to metal”. The other goodies (auto wiper, auto headlamp, leather seats, and projector lamps) were a sweet bonus over the 1.3 Zeta and I suddenly found the 1.6 Alpha VFM. Blasphemous for a lot of folks, I know but what the heck, you get to enjoy cars like this very rarely and value is subjective!!

Checked with the RM and there was a 1.6 in the granite Grey color which in transit and which could be delivered within 10 days. Hence, I transferred the booking to the 1.6 Alpha and got the increased loan amount sanctioned as well. The vehicle came over to the yard within the next 5 days. Went over to the yard and did a quick 20 min PDI (my dad was having a cataract surgery the same day, so could not spend too much time).


First look!!



The only thing that I had noticed at that point of time was that the plastic seat covers had been removed (the guy at the yard could not give me a satisfactory reason). Checked the VIN under the wiper (source, the official review thread) and after confirming that it was indeed a July 2016 vehicle, gave the go ahead for registration and waited for the delivery of the car. The car was scheduled to be delivered on my wife’s birthday. Her birthday, gift for myself

[arvind71181]

Delivery day

Took half day off from office and went to the showroom by early afternoon around 3 PM with the whole family (wife, kid, parents and father in law). The entire delivery process was almost smooth. The vehicle was cleaned and ready, there was a cake waiting, a customary photo was taken et.al.

However, there was ONE problem.

The RM pulled me aside around 10 minutes before the delivery and told me that there was a crack on the windshield which he informed had happened the previous day after the registration was done. He informed me that a replacement has been ordered and the vehicle will be taken back and the windshield replaced once the spare arrives. The crack/scratch was below the passenger side wiper and was visible only if you looked at it very carefully as it was otherwise completely camouflaged by the dark sun film like stuff which is present.

Since I was on the verge of leaving with the car, I thought about it for a couple of minutes and decided to go ahead with the delivery, trusting the RM to do what he told. Also, the fact that he had proactively come and informed me also tilted the decision. I would not have found out about the crack that day by myself, it was really so well camouflaged. Fast forward a week after delivery, he was true to his word and called me to replace the windshield. However, I had a Bangalore trip planned so completed the trip and then gave the vehicle for replacement. As I write now, the vehicle is back with a new windshield. The only negative here would be the lack of a loaner car. For their costliest vehicle, I suppose all the dealers should provide a loaner car. My dealer said they do not have a policy of providing loaner cars. I am assuming that this is a dealer level decision but at least for NEXA and the premium experience, there definitely needs to be a spare car made available, especially when the fault was theirs. Since I had my dad’s car, it was not a big trouble for me but for single car families, this will be a downer. I also had to shuttle by taxi to and from the showroom as I had read the thread about the EcoSport being crashed by a service advisor and was jittery about giving the vehicle to their drivers.

Back to the delivery day, took the vehicle after the cake cutting and the photo session and went to the Ganesh temple on Kotturpuram main road and got the vehicle pooja done. Post that had a celebratory (birthday and new vehicle) dinner and parked the new vehicle in the parking lot.


At home at last

The cost of the car came to 15.2L including cashless insurance and extended warranty for 4 years. My old swift was given a buy back quote of 2.2L and a corporate discount of Rs.10000 and an additional discount of 20,000 was given on the above amount.

A word about the car it replaced. My swift was my companion and was almost exclusively driven by me over almost 7 years and 86000 kilometers. It was the first generation swift petrol with the 1.3 engine. It was a completely fuss free car, which acted both as a commuter and a sporty car, as per my need. I liked the engine of the car much more than the current 1.2 series ones. The current ones give more mileage, but that car in its 3rd gear was simply awesome. You will always be fondly remembered, buddy!!

[arvind71181]

Observations and first service report

I have driven the vehicle for around ~2000 kms till date, here are some of my observations. My daily usage is around 25kms round trip to the office and some additional driving over the weekends, totaling to about 1200 km per month

The good:

• 1.6, 1.6, 1.6 . Easy to drive in the city and a beast on the highway. The lag is not very pronounced and is easily manageable unless you are in speeds like probably 40kmph in the 4th gear. Is it due to the remap done to the ECU per some replies I saw on the forum? Maybe. Also, my city driving involves fairly open roads with some bad signals. No left leg pain as of now!! On the highway, its really good and stable at high speeds. Awesome in gear acceleration, once in the turbo zone. A 60 to 120kmph acceleration is achieved very fast, as the vehicle is in its turbo zone.

• Manageable turbo lag across the lower and higher gears unless you are at speeds like say 40kmph in the 4th gear

• Looking at the exterior and interior quality, easily the best Suzuki has brought to India to date.

• Gearshift is quick and precise, the reverse gear is easy to engage as well. The Swift feels like it had a better gearbox though, probably because of the shorter throw it had

• Based on the MID, got an average of 18.2kmpl in a trip that included some driving in Chennai, some on the Chennai Bangalore highway and some in the Bangalore city. In the city, per MID I am getting around 14.5 kmpl. Will update this information as I increase the mileage

• Managed to do some nice accelerations when I wanted to close in some existing gaps which I found within the city roads. Not sure if the 1.3 will be able to do it. Was in the turbo zone at that point of time though

• 100 comes up at around 1750 and 120 at around the 2000RPM mark in the 6th gear, making this a very effective cruiser. I also feel that since the car is in the turbo zone at these speeds, the fuel efficiency will also be more than the 1.3 if driven for longer duration in these speeds

• The audio system is very easy to set up and use. Blue tooth is a bit iffy though, does not pair with the phone some times.

• Auto wiper works well. I always appreciated this feature in the i20 as I need not adjust the frequency of the wipers and can concentrate only on the driving. I am yet to get hang of the right sensitivity measure. It either is very slow or very fast. Well, with the rainy season about to start, this can be set right soon.

• Auto headlamps work well as well, but I don’t find as much use as the wipers. Also, I end up looking like an idiot in other’s eyes when they see me use the MLCP with headlights every day

• I have no experience with leather seats before, but I find them very comfortable. Also the black color is good and is easier to maintain than the lighter ones

• Good rear space coming from a Swift. This includes boot space as well. The option to access the baggage without opening the boot is very helpful, considering you never know when the daughter would want what.

• Ergonomically also, very easy to get used to all the controls.

• Cruise control works well and is very easy to understand and use. The ability to lower and increase the speed of the car without accelerator input is a nice toy to have. The RES button results in a sudden increase in speed though especially if done from a very low speed.

• Voice clarity is good for phone calls. Messages are also read out if asked to. Voice recognition is also good enough, based on the minor usage that I have had

• Request sensor and the push button start work well. Nice touch to be able to lock the car by pressing the sensor on the boot as well.

• Specific door open warnings for each door. Also, if the car moves without any of the doors closed, the MID turns orange and flashes. Nice!!

• Nice armrest with a good range. The bottle holders in front of it hinders the operation if we keep tall bottles. A miss from Maruti

• Dead pedal is of sufficient width and helps to extend the life of the clutch

• Ride quality over bad roads is good. The road to my daughter’s school is pathetic to say the least and this was one important consideration why I chose the S-Cross. The potholes are absorbed very well by the suspension at medium speeds

• All wheel discs is nice. The braking power is good. I read somewhere that the front discs are ventilated ones as well. Not sure of the advantage that brings to the table though (faster cooling perhaps?)

• The side ORVMs are good and provide a nice view of traffic, with full electronic operation. The RVM adjust to day/night automatically, with an option to switch off the electronic control. With 3 people in the back though, visibility goes for a toss.

• The ACC works well, but as expected when standing for a long time outside in the sun, it takes some time to cool down, especially at the rear. Here the good thing could have been to add a button for "Max" like the one I saw in the Ecosport during the test drive

• Adequate ground clearance. In fact the ground clearance and the ride quality over broken roads was one of the main reasons to consider the S-Cross in the first place.

The So-So

• Exterior design - Not head turning like say the Creta, but good in its own way. Also, is definitely bigger in person than in the pictures

• The phone connect does not work for me. Google says that the Moto X Style cannot be connected to this HU. I am still looking for help on that. Any thoughts?

• I see that the parts bin has been shared with the swift for the power windows, steering etc. and I don’t mind it much as for me the interiors is a huge upgrade coming from the Swift LXI 2009

• Steering is light and firms up at higher speeds. My swift, I feel had a better steering though

• Big blind spot when you have to make a right turn. Need to be doubly sure that there is no one before proceeding. I have to crane my neck to ensure that there is no one coming.

• Touch screen HU is not very easy to use if you are a single driver. Thankfully most of the controls are present in the steering wheel so you need not look away from the road when trying to do something. I much prefer an analog controls HU though.

• NVH is good within the city limits, but on the highways with higher speeds, the noise is higher than expected out of a premium car. However, good music and good conversation helps!!

The Bad

• The alloys are bland, but already having gone over budget, no plans to change the alloys or the tires for now. For my usage, I find the tyres to be quite adequate.

• 2 airbags!! In my view, at this price point, at least 6 needed to be there.

First Service:

Since I had a trip planned to Bangalore, gave my vehicle for the first service when the odo was around the 750km mark. Nothing much was done except for general check up (I guess) and a water wash. The only concern was the fact that it might have been the first 1.6 to that service center as the SA did not know that the reverse gear was different from the 1.3. He put it in 6th and the car moved slightly forward. After telling him, he then did it right. The total bill came to Rs.30/-

[arvind71181]

Some pictures:


The 1.6 DDiS Motor!!


The only difference between 13 and 15L


The best pose of the car, looks both long and wide


The alloys have a slightly grey finish and this looks good on the Grey color as well. Many of my colleagues had this question though: Why did you pay so much and not get an alloy!! Why Maruti why??!!


ACC, works as desired. 22C is the temperature I usually set it to.


Arm rest storage space. Very deep, but this makes it problematic for me to easily plug in the USB source. I take minimum 2 attempts to fit a USB to my laptop, so this is torture.


Arm rest at its original position


Arm rest fully extended. Good range and definitely comfortable to the hand


Another angle from the rear


Audio system: For a non audiophile like me, very good. On the home screen, I have also noticed that the maps area has a compass which actually points out the direction. Really cool


Upto 18 channels can be stored, about 12 too many for me. DVD playback quality is good, so is the USB and Phone clarity. Voice command also is decent


The 2 cousins!!


Each door has storage capacity of a 1 liter bottle. In picture is a waste paper basket


The 2 siblings who protect the car!!


The DDiS marking


Wide pedal area with very good dead pedal space. Very useful as well


The additional gear. Pull up for reverse.


The MFD. Other information includes DTE, Instantaneous mileage and Average speed (can this be reset based on Trip A/B? Unable to find this out)


What the use of this particular information? Highly distracting and utterly useless IMHO


The headrest, as pointed out in the official review, might hinder some folks. No such problems in my family though


The projector headlamps


The mirror tucked away at the corner for some reason. Have not got very comfortable yet with this. Prefer the "turning the neck" mechanism


Good rear space


Parts sharing from the Swift. Not a problem for me though as my Swift was a generation before this


The steering wheel. Leather feels good. Slightly on the lighter side at low speeds


The rear washer, I guess. Has not seen action yet


Live to Drive!!

I will continue to update the thread as the car logs in the miles!!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Asta_la_vista]

Congrats on your 1.6 S-Cross arvind. The 1.6 goes like stink. The color looks pleasing.

Wish you many happy and safe miles in your steed.

Happy motoring

Prasanth.

[Waspune]

Congrats Arvind on your 1.6. Seems like a perfect upgrade for your Swift

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Prologue:

Diesel: My monthly driving pattern is around 1200-1500 kms which can be done with a petrol, but in my budget I found only diesels which are fun to drive. The ones which are petrol, a great example being the GT TSI lose out on space which brings me to my next need.

Turbo cars give some serious fun, no 2 ways about it, but you had options in FTD turbo petrols as well in your budget:

1) Fiat Linea T-JET 125

2) Ford Ecosport 1.0

Keeping your space criteria in mind.

[Ananthc]

Congrats Aravind on your purchase of 1.6. It's definitely a good upgrade to your swift. Wishing you a happy and safe driving!

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Asta_la_vista

Congrats on your 1.6 S-Cross arvind. The 1.6 goes like stink. The color looks pleasing.

Wish you many happy and safe miles in your steed.

Happy motoring

Prasanth.

Thanks Prasanth. The color looks decent, especially with the grey shade alloys. It was my daughter's choice

Originally Posted by Waspune

Congrats Arvind on your 1.6. Seems like a perfect upgrade for your Swift

Turbo cars give some serious fun, no 2 ways about it, but you had options in FTD turbo petrols as well in your budget:

1) Fiat Linea T-JET 125

2) Ford Ecosport 1.0

Keeping your space criteria in mind.

Thank you. I tried the Ecosport diesel, the car was good but the rear was cramped, especially with the car seat, and claustrophobic as well. Between the 1.3 S-Cross and the Ecosport, I liked the latter more looking at most of the features with particular importance given to rear space. With respect to the Linea, I do not like its exterior looks post the facelift (too much chrome everywhere, also by looking at it, felt that the rear space may not be too good. Did not test drive though, which might have swayed my opinion.

Once I decided on the 1.6 though, I did not really look at any other option. Just changed the booking and got the car.

Originally Posted by Ananthc

Congrats Aravind on your purchase of 1.6. It's definitely a good upgrade to your swift. Wishing you a happy and safe driving!

Thanks Ananth. Yes it is a HUGE upgrade to my Swift

[madmaxvistian]

Congratulations Arvind! Your 1.6 S-Cross looks so lovely with the granite grey shade, the best choice of colour. Happy revving

I'm also in the market looking for an upgrade from my Tata Vista 1.3 Quadrajet which is still driving so well with over a lakh km on odo. Since you test-drove quite a number of Vehicles that I've been considering (and test-driven) too, I've got a couple of questions.

• Do you find the linear acceleration of Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCI so boring when compared to the turbo rush of 1.6 S-Cross during long drives? (I love this adrenalin rush on my 1.3 national diesel engine but hate the significant turbo-lag before 1700 rpm though)

• Is the turbo lag in the second gear less pronounced than that of Swift that you were driving earlier?

I know that DDiS 320 is a beast but would like to hear your findings. I should do a long test-drive of S-Cross as I couldn't find it much pleasurable with more turbo lag in the bumper to bumper traffic during my short drive.

[Dr.Naren]

Congrats buddy!!!

Happy to see one more owner of 1.6 in this forum. I too switched from 1.3 Zeta to 1.6 Alpha. I do not regret paying extra 4K EMI for 1.6.

Also many guys who got 1.6 recently including me have not felt turbo lag a serious concern. I think Maruti has really tweaked the tune. I do not know why they are not updating the tune for owners with old batch.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by madmaxvistian

Congratulations Arvind! Your 1.6 S-Cross looks so lovely with the granite grey shade, the best choice of colour. Happy revving

I'm also in the market looking for an upgrade from my Tata Vista 1.3 Quadrajet which is still driving so well with over a lakh km on odo. Since you test-drove quite a number of Vehicles that I've been considering (and test-driven) too, I've got a couple of questions.

• Do you find the linear acceleration of Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCI so boring when compared to the turbo rush of 1.6 S-Cross during long drives? (I love this adrenalin rush on my 1.3 national diesel engine but hate the significant turbo-lag before 1700 rpm though)

• Is the turbo lag in the second gear less pronounced than that of Swift that you were driving earlier?

I know that DDiS 320 is a beast but would like to hear your findings. I should do a long test-drive of S-Cross as I couldn't find it much pleasurable with more turbo lag in the bumper to bumper traffic during my short drive.

1. Nope it was not boring at all. The EcoSport is a fantastic vehicle but the rear is cramped when compared to the S-Cross. That was the sole reason for me going for the S-Cross 1.3 initially as I felt that the S-Cross gave me everything that the EcoSport did. My sales experience with Ford was also sub par when compared to Nexa. Once I shifted to 1.6, it was the only vehicle in contention . No long drives done on the EcoSport but the S-Cross is a very good highway cruiser.

2. My Swift was a NA petrol so there was no lag. It was a very free revving petrol. The 1.6 does have turbo lag (although in my opinion, very very manageable in my experience so far) so feathering the accelerator would help when in very slow speeds. Mashing the accelerator will result in increased lag.

I am not sure if you test drove the 1.3 or the 1.6 but at least in my test drives, I found the lag very manageable. In fact 1.3 was very good in concealing any lag

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Congrats buddy!!!

Happy to see one more owner of 1.6 in this forum. I too switched from 1.3 Zeta to 1.6 Alpha. I do not regret paying extra 4K EMI for 1.6.

Also many guys who got 1.6 recently including me have not felt turbo lag a serious concern. I think Maruti has really tweaked the tune. I do not know why they are not updating the tune for owners with old batch.

Thank you. Yes, agreed on the EMI count (thought it is a bit higher for me since I am from Chennai ). Yes I suppose they might have tweaked it as the lag is very manageable in the city drives that I have had.

[One:1]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

....

Checked with the RM and there was a 1.6 in the granite Grey color which in transit and which could be delivered within 10 days. Hence, I transferred the booking to the 1.6 Alpha and got the increased loan amount sanctioned as well. The vehicle came over to the yard within the next 5 days. Went over to the yard and did a quick 20 min PDI (my dad was having a cataract surgery the same day, so could not spend too much time).

Congratulation on the 1.6.An absolute gem of an engine to say the least.The S-Cross is a fabulous car and the best one till date to come out of Maruti in quite a while. And those Bi-Xenon Projector headlamps are fabulous to say the least! Great to see Maruti offering the same at this price point.

Any idea as to which xenon bulb is used in the projector? And what Temperature?

Happy mile munching with her! She's sure to put a smile on you're face for many miles to come.

P.S: The road noise is purely attributed to those Pathetic JK tyres that comes with the car. A switch to Michelin's will sort that issue out.