[Peter]

Hello BHPians,

After much thought I felt that its time to do justice by putting up an ownership review of my latest acquisition the SX4 DDIS.

The car is now 3 months old and has covered 8000kms and is a purchase one wont regret.

Wanting a Diesel plant to replace my Hyundai Accent Petrol due to the rise in Fuel prices , the search for a Diesel Sedan was on, a few shorlisted were the Hyundai I20, Hyundai Verna and the Optra Magnum.

The cars were ruled out for various reasons and finally settled in for the SX4 Diesel after taking 3 long test drives on a freshly delivered test drive vehicle.

This is one of the most masculine cars in the market today which was one of the plus points in the pruchase , not to mention the humoungous boot space which takes up the luggage of family of 4 during the long haul trips to GOA with ease with ample of space to tuck in some beer crates on our way back .

The view from the drivers seat is excellent and having driven the car to and fro from Mumbai to Goa can say that drive becomes quite fatigue free as compared to the Accent ,the rear seat is the one which is most liked by wifey as she claims that its very comfortable and high seated.
The interior is quite roomy , an armrest is something that should have been provided with this car which was soley missed hence had to get one fitted.

The high ground clearance is a boon in this car as it has helped me to go over the most oversized breakers without a scrape , also the suspension is very good and performs well over rough patches , minor potholes are easily taken care of ...guess due to the 15inch tyres, the tyres again are Apollo Accellere are are surprisingly very good in performance , the best thing about this car as per me was the fact that this car was quite stable even at speeds between 160/175 kms per hour ( This was the max that I pushed it ).

The Fuel efficiency calculated so far is 17.5kms per litre in the city and Highway is around 18 to 18.5kms per litre as have not yet been able to do sane driving with this machine...the Torque is just excellent and is very addictive ... I guess which contributes more to my enthusiastic driving behaviour , if driven within the quoted rpms the torque boost makes one feel as if the car has been pushed all of a sudden with tremendous power.

The inbuilt In dash player is not bad and seems to handle moderate bass quite sportingly , the car comes equipped with a USB port also which is very good.

The Gear shift is excellent and the NVH levels are quite good , can hardly notice the engine idling if the AC is not turned on , the occasional Diesel clatter is not that loud to be annoying , the braking is quite good as well inspite of the missing ABS in the VDI variant , the test drive ZDI version braking was much better though being the top end.

The rear view mirror does not help much with the rear view and sincerely feel handicapped without a rear view camera, there have been no rattles yet and pray that there may be none.

Overall a very satisfied customer of Maruti Suzuki and happy with the SX4 DDIS.

A few pics attached.

[benbsb29]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to Initial Ownership reports section.

[Cesc]

Congratulations on your purchase. SX4 does have good GC and a relatively tall cabin. Glad you are liking it and there are no issues. Wish you many happy miles with the car. IMO white looks the best on a SX4 but color choice is highly subjective.

Just curious - why did you rule out Hyundai Verna?

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by Peter

Hello BHPians,After much thought I felt that its time to do justice by putting up an ownership review of my latest acquisition the SX4 DDIS.

Congrats on the buy and the effort to put the report is greatly appreciated. A first hand ownership report is something I have been looking forward to.

Few questions
1) You seem to be happy with the noise levels. Did you experience any higher tire/ wind noise at high speeds viz a viz Accent?

2) Also, I somehow found the rear seat width to be a bit low, compared to my current car.It looks snug fit for two people to me. Your view?

3) How is the ride compared specifically to other cars you have owned/ driven? I am not much worried about low speed ride. I am looking at how the car insulated passengers from road undulations, such as the ones on over bridges etc, on highway which you typically take at high speeds?

Appreciate your input

[S5157]

Hello Peter,

Congratulations on your new SX4. Could you please explain more on the handrest part.

Thanks,

[ghodlur]

Overall a very satisfied customer of Maruti Suzuki and happy with the SX4 DDIS.

Congratulation on the SX4. The color looks great on the car. The car looks too macho. But is it only me or what but the car looks stretched in the pic like a limo.

The view from the drivers seat is excellent

Doesn't the quarter glass plate actually create a blind spot for the drivers. Thats what was reported in the earlier SX4 ownership.

The rear view mirror does not help much with the rear view and sincerely feel handicapped without a rear view camera

Get a good one installed ASAP.

[mohan41]

Peter, Congratulations on getting the SX4 DDIS. Already covered 8000km in 3 months means you are enjoying the ride very well. Wish you more happy and safe miles on the car.

How does the clutch feel now after 8K km? I heard SX4 DDIS has a soft clutch unlike the typical heavy diesel clutch, hence this question. And how is the driveability in bumper to bumper traffic? For me these two are the main criteria in decision making. I have briefly driven a few other diesel cars (Manza, Figo) which have hard clutch and I find it would be difficult to drive such cars for my regular office commute.

thanks!

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Congratulations on your purchase. SX4 does have good GC and a relatively tall cabin. Glad you are liking it and there are no issues. Wish you many happy miles with the car. IMO white looks the best on a SX4 but color choice is highly subjective.

Just curious - why did you rule out Hyundai Verna?

Thanks Cesc !!

3 months back I only had the option of the Hyundai Verna transform and its front appearence was not appealing to me ( Personal opinion )

Then reviews on Team-BHP mentioned tha rates of the full loaded Fluidic Verna crossing 10lacs which went beyond my Budget and not to mention the uncertainity of the launch date back then of the new Verna.

[bluevolt]

Congratulations Peter on your Maruti SX4 diesel. The car looks majestic in black color.

Wishing you many years of happy and safe driving.

[fuel_addict]

That's a neat looking SX4 in black. Looks very mean. Glad to know you have had a wonderful experience so far. The SX4 has always been an underrated car but the diesel option has changed people's mindset about it. The sales figures will vouch for that.

Its sad that the VDi doesn't come with optional ABS unlike the Swift/Ritz. I guess even airbags have been left out.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Congrats on the buy and the effort to put the report is greatly appreciated. A first hand ownership report is something I have been looking forward to.

Few questions
1) You seem to be happy with the noise levels. Did you experience any higher tire/ wind noise at high speeds viz a viz Accent?

2) Also, I somehow found the rear seat width to be a bit low, compared to my current car.It looks snug fit for two people to me. Your view?

3) How is the ride compared specifically to other cars you have owned/ driven? I am not much worried about low speed ride. I am looking at how the car insulated passengers from road undulations, such as the ones on over bridges etc, on highway which you typically take at high speeds?

Appreciate your input

Thanks mate

1) The Noise levels are definitely better then my Accent , didnt notice any wind noise though.
2) Yes the rear seat is comfortable as long as there are 2 occupants , also the hump in the middle hampers the third occupants seating.
3)Done quite a few trips to Mumbai/Goa in the last 2 months and can say that the car is well planted and very stable at high speeds , body roll is much much lesser as compared to my previous Accent.
The uneven levels over bridges/road surface changes are also tackled well, wifey did comment that the highway drive in the SX4 is much better compared to the previous vehicle

[jk007]

Congrats on your Black beauty! Very well maintained Black.

Indeed, the Verna Transform was an ugly duckling. How was the waiting period for the SX4 when you picked it up?

[Peter]

Originally Posted by S5157

Hello Peter,

Congratulations on your new SX4. Could you please explain more on the handrest part.

Thanks,

I meant the one in the pic , this is whats provided in the SX4 abroad and not avaliable in India , not even off the shelf as an accessory ... had to source this separately as was used to the armrest in the Accent previously

[selfdrive]

Congrats on the SX4, looks great in black. As a fellow dark coloured car owner, I can imagine it must be challenging to keep dust free. Its a very practical vehicle for Indian roads. I only wish they had offered the crossover hatchback here too.

Nevertheless, if you dont mind can you share pricing details and tyre options offered?

[Peter]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Doesn't the quarter glass plate actually create a blind spot for the drivers. Thats what was reported in the earlier SX4 ownership.

I dont think it creates a blindspot , each ones perception I guess , depends on how fast one gets used to the change in my opinion.