[NFS2024]

Originally Posted by Small Bot

Above 120 kmph, just when the beeps become incessantly loud, the car starts to gasp for air, the road and engine noise increases exponentially. Fuel economy tanks way more than you expect, though more pronounced in the MT over the AT (extra AT gear = lower RPMs). It becomes a lot more jittery than I'm used to in my i20 Active. Long story short, you cannot drive the car above 120 kmph without considerable effort and stress.
But it's not like 120+ kmph is a safe or sustainable driving speed on any Indian highways anyway.

The Grand Vitara mild hybrid is not really a pure highway car, more like it does passably well in most conditions thrown at it.

For pure highway driving at 100+ kmph, you'll probably need to look at other more powerful cars in the same segment, like the Taigun/Kushaq or Creta/Seltos.

Sorry what exactly are you alluding to here when you say Grand Vitara mild hybrid is not a highway car?

1. When you say car becomes jittery post 120kmph, do you mean it becomes unstable, floaty and you cannot maneuver the car well? or is it difficult to hold the car in a straight line etc.?

2. What is the effort and stress you are talking about? Is it due to lack of acceleration, ease of overtaking effort, dropping and picking up speeds effortlessly etc.? Are there any problems in suspension, braking etc.?

Trying to understand the above points as it is important for me. Thanks.

[Small Bot]

Originally Posted by NFS2024

Sorry what exactly are you alluding to here when you say Grand Vitara mild hybrid is not a highway car?

Trying to understand the above points as it is important for me. Thanks.

Sure, I'll try to explain what I meant by that. This is mostly what I felt when I drove, I'm not an expert by any means.

If you're going to cruise peacefully at 80-100 kmph only, then the Grand Vitara mild hybrid is actually very apt for your use case. It gives excellent fuel economy at that speed, the AT keeps the RPMs at just less than 2K, you have enough power to complete overtakes if you plan a few seconds in advance.

At and above 120 kmph though, the steering feels too light for comfort, the road and engine noises becomes obtrusively loud and most importantly, you don't get to 120 so easily. You have to STOMP on the accelerator and wait a small eternity for the speedometer to creep up to 120 kmph. If you lift your foot off the accelerator, it immediately starts to recharge the mild hybrid battery and the car rapidly slows down to 100-90 kmph. The neutral-ish suspension does hold good at 120 kmph, but the thuds of the road joints make their presence known to your posterior quite tangibly. My i20's suspension is stiffer and it generally felt more stable at 110-120 kmph.

You'll not face several of these issues with probably a Taigun.

This is what I meant when I said that the Grand Vitara mild hybrid is not a pure highway car, though it can easily handle relaxed cruising for long distances with a respectable fuel range and economy.

So, you'd need to view it based on how you normally drive your car.

[supremeBaleno]

Any idea how many litres of fuel is there in the tank when the LFI (Low Fuel Indicator) pops up on the MID ?
Since tank capacity is 50L & fuel gauge has 10 blocks and LFI comes up when gauge drops to the last block, it could be approximately 5L. But the gauge calibration isn't usually linear.

[aks812]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

I know it's low for a hybrid but my daily running is around 50-60kms per day and almost all of it is either in bumper to bumper traffic or in pothole ridden roads, thereby, my average speed remains within 20-25kmph. I believe Kolkata has one of the worst road conditions in India. Anyway, I don't know if I should have got better FE or not. Also, 80% of the time it's chauffeur driven but I don't think even a bad driving style will pull the mileage down from 20 to 16kmpl. Either way hope it will improve after oil change.

How often are you resetting the mileage on the MID?

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Any idea how many litres of fuel is there in the tank when the LFI (Low Fuel Indicator) pops up on the MID ?
Since tank capacity is 50L & fuel gauge has 10 blocks and LFI comes up when gauge drops to the last block, it could be approximately 5L. But the gauge calibration isn't usually linear.

The tank size is 45ltr and low fuel warning comes up with approx. 5 ltr left but i feel the main problem is when the low fuel warning comes up, the range goes blank in MID in strong hybrid.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by aks812

The tank size is 45ltr and low fuel warning comes up with approx. 5 ltr left

Oh, I thought it's a 50l tank. Good to know that Reserve is 5litres.

Originally Posted by aks812

i feel the main problem is when the low fuel warning comes up, the range goes blank in MID in strong hybrid.

Yes. I also noticed the range going blank as soon as it hits reserve. Strange. Why not continue showing Range for the remaining fuel in the tank ?

[outdoorlover]

Now that it has been a year since GV has been released, do you think we will have slightly modified version next year to keep the car fresh in the face of its slew of competitors as well as to iron out the known quirks and suggested improvements that have been cropping up in the vehicle?

[supremeBaleno]

Usually cars have an Engine number, a Chassis number & a VIN number. But for my Grand Vitara Alpha+, I see only the first two stamped near driver seat, with no VIN mentioned anywhere on the car or the Registration documents. Doesn't the Grand Vitara have a VIN ?

Or is the Chassis number (looks like 17 digit Toyota VIN) the VIN also ? But Suzuki Connect doesn't accept the Chassis number as VIN.

[tj123]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

Now that it has been a year since GV has been released, do you think we will have slightly modified version next year to keep the car fresh in the face of its slew of competitors as well as to iron out the known quirks and suggested improvements that have been cropping up in the vehicle?

I believe Maruti is planning to incorporate (ADAS) in the upcoming refresh of their vehicle, along with some updates like sunroof shade which was called out by many users.

For me the 2022 GV model has performed as expected, apart from a seat belt recall for few initial batches. It has been a fuss free ownership for the past one year, I own a (Zeta Mild Hybrid- AT), there have been no issues with the car so far done close to 9k kms.

I'm scheduled to take it in for its first-year service in a couple of days.

On highways I have been consistently getting over 20kmpl (80 to 95kmph) and city it varies from 10-15kmpl depending on traffic density and I generally drive with a light foot.

[outdoorlover]

Originally Posted by tj123

I believe Maruti is planning to incorporate (ADAS) in the upcoming refresh of their vehicle, along with some updates like sunroof shade which was called out by many users.

I see some reported issues of back seat being too upright, boot arrangement in strong hybrids, headroom in models with sunroof and also doors being lighter built than expected. Not sure that Maruti and Toyota would look at plugging such complaints given that they are banking on this model to be their milking cow for a foreseeable future.

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by aks812

How often are you resetting the mileage on the MID?

Not very often. Once in every two weeks may be. Recently I took the car out and drove around 50-60kms in moderate traffic after resetting the MID and the mileage did show around 20kmpl, so I'm guessing it's my driver's driving habit that is causing low figures.

One thing I'd like to ask the existing owners. When is the first oil change to be done as per company policy as the service center I'm going now says that mobile change will be done in the third free service for the strong hybrid. Is that correct as normally we change engine oil after first 500-1000 kms in petrol or diesel cars.

[aks812]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

One thing I'd like to ask the existing owners. When is the first oil change to be done as per company policy as the service center I'm going now says that mobile change will be done in the third free service for the strong hybrid. Is that correct as normally we change engine oil after first 500-1000 kms in petrol or diesel cars.

I have not known any petrol car in last 20 years atleast whose first oil change is done in 500km-1000km. Its usually 10k km or 15k km. For this car its 10k km.

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by aks812

I have not known any petrol car in last 20 years atleast whose first oil change is done in 500km-1000km. Its usually 10k km or 15k km. For this car its 10k km.

Ah my mistake. Last time I bought a new car was eight and a half years ago, while in the meantime, I bought 3 new bikes. Although if I remember correctly, I changed my other car's engine oil before that 10k km mark.

[PaddleShifter]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

Last time I bought a new car was eight and a half years ago, while in the meantime, I bought 3 new bikes. Although if I remember correctly, I changed my other car's engine oil before that 10k km mark.

Even 8-10 years ago, first oil change has never been at 1000km. Its always at the oil change interval, be it 7500km, 10000km, 15000km or whatever.

BUT, it is always best practice to change oil and oil filter at around 2500-3000km mark or 1/3/5 months (during scheduled service).

Since we are discussing about Grand Vitara, Maruti recommends first oil change at 1 year/ 10,000km/ 3rd service.

It is best to change oil at around 2500-3000km mark when engine is properly run-in. Be it at first (1 month/1000km) or second service (5 months/5000km).

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

It is best to change oil at around 2500-3000km mark when engine is properly run-in. Be it at first (1 month/1000km) or second service (5 months/5000km).

Yes that's what I used to do. I used to change engine oil of all my previous cars in first or second service itself at around 2-3k KMs after the run in period. But when I asked for GV they said it's not necessary. May be because it's a hybrid and the ICE engine doesn't run 100% of the time so I think it's okay to change after 10k like what the OEM recommendation is actually. Anyway, was just asking if anyone changed it in the first service itself like some of us used to do in the past.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

One thing I'd like to ask the existing owners. When is the first oil change to be done as per company policy as the service center I'm going now says that mobile change will be done in the third free service for the strong hybrid. Is that correct as normally we change engine oil after first 500-1000 kms in petrol or diesel cars.

For the StrongHybrid variant, oil&filter change is only at the 3rd service (1 year or 10K kms). Did the 1st service of my Grand Vitara Alpha+ yesterday & it was just a checkup of the fluids etc that took an hour max. No oil change.

No idea if mild-Hybrid variants have an oil change at 1000km 1st service ?

Originally Posted by aks812

I have not known any petrol car in last 20 years atleast whose first oil change is done in 500km-1000km. Its usually 10k km or 15k km. For this car its 10k km.

Can't speak for other brands, but Suzuki cars in that timeframe had an oil&filter change in the 1st service (1 month or 1K kms) - was done for our 2005 Baleno, 2007 Swift & the 2010 A-Star. After that, oil change is every 10K kms.

Honda cars used to have an oil change every 5K kms, but strangely filter was changed only at 10K km intervals. In the last few years, I think they have also moved to a 10K km oil change interval.

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

BUT, it is always best practice to change oil and oil filter at around 2500-3000km mark or 1/3/5 months (during scheduled service).

It's best to stick to the manufacturer recommendations, because after all who knows the car best than the guys who built it. If they prescribe a 10K km oil change interval, that figure came about after proper research & testing.

Also, not only there isn't any proven benefit due to changing oil early, it's also a waste of scarce non-renewable resources & bad for the environment too.

Over time, with better quality engine oils & more well designed engine moving parts, the oil change duration increases. Our 1985 M800 & even the '99 M800 had 5000km oil change intervals. Today, across Suzuki cars, 10K interval is the norm.