[ramzsys]

Maybe Omni cargo alone should have got this engine.

I hope market teaches the Suzuki honchos a fitting lesson.

[S.MJet]

Nice detailed review, thanks.

Maruti should carefully target this at selective markets, it has the potential to downgrade reputation. IMO Tata's reputation took a big hit after Nano launch, although less probable but can happen here as well.

[SchumiFan]

Brilliant review GTO! Nicely written about all the advantage and disadvantages of the car.

I am yet to see a lot of promotions for the Celerio diesel and think Maruti is not blowing the trumpets yet. Maybe they will wait and gauge the customer's response in the showroom before going all out for marketing the car.

I like the car. The 5th pic showing the side profile of the car is awesome. Such a cute looking car in a good shade of color. Decent alloys as well.

Considering that this is their first iteration of a diesel engine I expect further improvements down the years. A good alternative for people who don't have the budget to reach out to the Ritz and Beats of the world.

6.9 on road at Mumbai sounds large but don't forget it also comes with ABS/Airbags as well as rear wiper/defogger. Will be interesting to see how much mileage owners get in the real world. Toughie, since the car isn't good on the highways and taking it there is the complete method to gauge the F.E.

Too bad AMT can't be fit into this lineup. Will complete the plethora of choices available in one single car (Petrol, yes; with AMT, yes; Diesel, yes; with AMT, yes [if it happens])

Edit: If this engine struggles with just a person on highways, how will it pull the load of a LCV? Or is LCVs of even lesser weight than passenger cars helping the engine with the load.

[arunkumarsarat]

Was waiting eagerly for the review, great one as usual GTO.

On first thoughts, the Maruti name, the mileage and the fuel would have been enough to make buyers looking out for a car to putter around in our crowded cities take a look at this.

After listening to the racket made by the 2 cylinder engine in the video, one can be sure that few would decide to stay with (inside) the car. Imagine driving the newly prized possession out of the apartment on a silent night.

[jeepster_chd]

Originally Posted by GTO

Listen to the Celerio's 2-cylinder diesel engine in this video

Let's see what Nano haters have to say about Celerio's engine note Nano's engine note is on a softer side whereas combined with diesel clatter Celerio sounds more utilitarian. With a 2 cylinder motor, whether petrol or diesel, I believe this typical note is simply unavoidable. It is trademark of a 2 cylinder engine.

[--9--]

Excellent review! Rating this well deserved 5 stars.

Man this car sounds like Tum-Tum!
Can see a lot of people going for it for their daily runs inside city. But yes - a second car for highway run is a must have if you are going for this one!

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

The Top end is Priced at 5.86L Ex-SR Delhi as per Maruti's website.

Here's a screen grab for your reference. Not sure where the Rs. 5.86L price figure is...

[shk 8896]

Great review GTO!
I had test driven Celerio diesel earlier and to be frank, I was not impressed. The car shudders when releasing clutch while starting the car from stationary, and found it a bit difficult to drive in stop - start crawling traffic. When I asked the sales guy, he said it's like that only. Did you feel the same?
Apart from the 30 kmpl efficiency, a Grand i10 or Ritz does everything better with better refinement.
The Ritz does everything better for the slight premium - Like better refinement, more power, bigger car etc.

Sreehari

[funkykar]

I always felt the auto-rickshaw kind of sound for Nano was acceptable, given the price it was launched with.

The Celerio diesel is a bummer! For a premium priced car, falling diesel market, the crude sound, performance on the highway are a let down. It beats the purpose of being a diesel. The roads are only getting better and average speeds on highways getting higher.

[nilaykmrsr]

Stellar review!

Engine sounds terribly crude. A strict No for any kind of enthusiast driving!!

A 125cc motorcycle would fare better in terms of on highway performance..

[vivekz]

Looking at this car, I feel it is worth commending Maruti for at least taking the plunge and offering a home-made diesel engine. I am sure even Maruti will have a learning curve with this engine. I don't think this car will be a roaring success like most Maruti hatches.

Given the output and refinement, I cannot see the engine succeeding much beyond Alto or CV segment. But it also begs the question - can Maruti plonk this in Omni or Versa and make the ultimate urban/ semi-urban taxi? (I understand the structural and safety concerns especially on Omni...but from a business perspective it still sells big-time)

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

The DDiS 125

• Compression ratio: 15.1.

• ... it appears to be a low cost fuel-injection system that strikes a suitable compromise between the hi-tech but pricey common-rail and the old school distributor-pump DI system. The DDiS does away with the common rail and seems to feed pressurized diesel from the pump to the cylinders via some kind of block.

Very curious to learn more about this, including injector type & pressure used. If not a common rail, how does the system run?

Originally Posted by GTO

• Because the engine is always working at a higher rpm than usual (details in the driving post), I have concerns about its wear and tear rate.

Perhaps not, considering that the compression ratio is lower. Any info on what is the recommended engine oil for this engine? And is the engine upgradeable to BS-V/VI? (I would presume it is.)

Where else in the world is Suzuki launching this engine, now or in the near future?

[RSR]

Thank you for an excellent review and cool pictures, GTO, S2!!! & Tushar, and for the neat video recording! It would have been easy to ignore this two-pot diesel, more so as Maruti Suzuki did not hold a big media bash at launch. I really appreciate you guys going out of your way to bring us a review!

I'm unable to rate the review a well-deserved 5* as the rating button is not working - it looks like this technical issue is being faced by others as well.

The video recording says it all about the two-pot's NVH levels. I thought it was only the clatter at idle with the hood open that was annoying, but the exhaust note is very jarring too. These two acoustic characteristics alone would be enough to turn away many folks from this car.

To be fair to Maruti Suzuki, their NVH engineers seem to have worked twice or thrice as hard to bring down the in-cabin NVH levels. The engine seems to shake violently when it's being started, but that's only because of the heavy duty hydraulic mounts they've used. All that additional sound deadening materials they've generously added everywhere in the engine bay also seem to do their job.

The in-cabin noise levels do sound quite acceptable for a diesel car. Petrol heads used to the smoothness & refinement provided by sparkers may find it unpleasant, but the in-cabin noise doesn't sound that bad at all for an oil-burner.

C V Raman, Maruti Suzuki India's engineering head, confirms the DDiS 125 is not a common-rail unit in this interview:

Question: What do you mean by a compact fuel distribution system for the DDiS 125?

Answer: It doesn’t have the common rail because it is only for two cylinders. So it is specially developed for this kind of an application. There is a small block from where the fuel is kept at 1400 bar and it is metered to the injector thereafter.

See more at: http://www.autocarpro.in/interview/-....77vRuYY0.dpuf

So they've plonked in a two-pot diesel with a low cost fuel injection system (that's technically not a common-rail unit) and they don't have to pay royalties to anyone for using this engine. This makes the 75,000 rupee premium over the petrol Celerio quite hard to justify.

What I do appreciate is the fact that the car is available in LDi, VDi, ZDi & ZDi(O) trim levels, just like the petrol. This means a driver airbag is available on the ZDi and 2 airbags & ABS on the ZDi(O).

The ZDi is cheaper than any other diesel car with a driver airbag by ~ ₹ 40,000 (ex-showroom), and the ZDi(O) is cheaper than any other diesel car with 2 airbags & ABS by ~ ₹ 60,000 (ex-showroom). For a manufacturer who has received much flak in the past for not providing enough safety features, it's quite praiseworthy of them to expand the availability of a diesel car with airbags & ABS to more folks on a tight budget.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't see too many people in the big cities purchasing the Celerio DDiS. Maruti Suzuki will have to use the entire reach of their massive sales network to push this car.

They can make this car sell in the urban markets only by promoting it among the fleet buyers. Unleashing the Celerio diesel in the city cab segment is bound to give headaches to rival manufacturers who control this segment.

[apoorv agha]

Well another 5/5 review from GTO.
I still wonder what category of buyers is Maruti trying to entice with this puny diesel motor plonked onto a hatch. Within this budget I feel a buyer would preferably choose a refined petrol car that can also do highway runs. And for those serious diesel engine lovers who want to churn out more miles from the car, already tested Swift DDIS is a far better deal. Anyways, lets wait and watch as Maruti's strategy behind this experiment slowly unfolds.

[charanreddy]

Sorry to sound so negative.. The Idea was bad to start with but the pricing takes the ridiculousness to a whole new level !

In this age of EMIs and easy finance options and decent used cars, why would anyone go for something like this..

Didn't Maruti learn from the ZEN Estillo fiasco that killed the established and hugely popular 'Zen' brand. Will Celerio survive ?

A more sensible pricing would have attracted the low budget taxi operators. I don't see this being a huge success in the rural market as well as folks there look for space.