25th August 2011, 23:52
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: goa
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| My *new* Maruti Swift VDi, the first on Team-BHP! Got my swift VDi today, always had a soft spot for swift since the day it was launched way back. Mine was the first booking in Goa, and the first to be delivered.Had shifted from the old VDi booking to new one after my car [the old swift] was in parking of the dealer.But the wait was worth it. Apart from the 'I like the swift' part the other reason was Maruti service station near my farm and the experience with my esteem. Parts are easily available for Maruti, as compared to TATA [Indica owner speaking], Hyundai or ford, these brands are owned by close friends and have seen the issue with parts and service.All of which were considered before final decision. The short drive today was fun, it's missing the punch from the earlier one, but the turbo kick in is good, and power delivery is linear. Don't get me wrong , the car is still fun to drive, but in the earlier model , once turbo spooled you were pushed in the seat,and this could be achieved in any gear, even in 5th gear. Now you need to shift down a notch to get the same kick. The car definitely Needs better tyres, I am thinking 16s.[soon], suspension is tuned to give better feel of the road and road manners of the car are much better than the old one. The interior plastic quality is much better than the old one, love the black interior. The information LCD display is good addition, switches for power windows, fog lamps and electric mirrors feel out of place on rest of the car. After 100 KM: The handling is amazing, well did not do much high speed runs but the turns at speed of 80 are handled with ease, minimum Body roll  , this car gives one a confidence of taking turns at high speeds, tyres are a bit of an issue [as I mentioned earlier] but that can be fixed. The nervousness that the old one had at speeds is not there, the swift was always a good handler, but this one is improved version of that. The steering is quit precise at least at speed of 80km/h. Did not take it above that.The gear shift has a positive feel.It inspires fast driving. Maruti Suzuki has done a good job in getting NVH levels down compared to the older version of swift DDis. The clutch is very soft [ I am not complaining ] in traffic it is a gift for the left leg.Love the way it feels. The brakes are powerful and can stop this car from speeds very efficiently. But have to be careful, a bit over-boosted and can lock up the wheels with ease. Ac cools the car quickly, but can not test this till the weather clears and temperature increases here. The light spread from the new design lights is sufficient enough to light up 400 meters ahead, the fogs are not that good and do not do much in lighting the visible part of the road [the part of road that can be seen from the driver seat]driver's seat needs height adjustment in this car. Update after another 90 kms Update on Drive today, did another 90 Kms , total is 225KM. And loved all of it, the suspension is tuned for corner carving and inspire confidence at speeds. The mileage have still not got the correct figures, This is the point Maruti has been working on for this new generation swift model so this is what has to be tested more than anything else. the Average shown by the computer is 13.4Km/L,but I won't trust it till I get the tankful to tankful figure myself, cause the computer is showing different figure for 'Distance to empty' since yesterday and it is increasing , instead of decreasing. More on car as I go long with my drive in the car.So this is all for now. Posting few pics, will upload more tomorrow.And will give a proper driving impression.   What You will Like The Interiors, great plastic and color [black] Gear shift, it has a nice feel Handling Added features on Vdi [I can give only features for this model] NVH levels in the cabin Big car feel as compared to old swift [not version specific] What you will not like Switches for power windows,fog lamps,etc No driver's seat high adjustment Missing Audio and climate control system as on the Zdi No ABS on this model. Seat Fabric is not at par with rest of the interior Some more Photo for now, Due to work I could not take the car out for a drive.      Visible Additions to the new VDi over the last generation VDi The turn Indicators in the Wing mirrors are a nice touch.  Factory fitted Antenna  Tyres need Upgrade.  In fact checked the ZDi ,the 15 inches also look too small for the profile of the car. And not just the looks the stock 14 inches are inadequate for the kind of suspension setup the car has. The New dash board Design. The Information display is a good feature added to the dash, Gives distance to empty, trip meter, odometer,real time average ,which is scary to look at when the throttle is pushed as it shows 7-8 KM/L     The Vdi center console, which people have been waiting for, as most of the photos and display vehicles are ZDi. The quality Ac switch is good and looks at par with the rest of the dash quality.      Bad quality switched of power windows,rear view mirror adjust ,fog and alarm. Maruti should have maintained the quality here.These are an eye sore compared to rest of the interior.    The quality of plastics of the rest of the dash is class apart from the previous model, but still the gaps between the dash parts is visible and this could have been sorted. The cup holder is a nice feature.         Another new feature on the VDi is key less entry, it's a single unit with the transmitter built into the key itself.  Some shots of the engine bay.The bay has bit more space than the previous models [this is not specific to Vdi]    Wiring is exposed on new vehicle. Not good.    The boot space is a disappointment, very small for a car of this size.  Last edited by GTO : 28th August 2011 at 22:27. Reason: Merging all three of your review posts into the opening post itself |
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25th August 2011, 23:55
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25th August 2011, 23:58
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25th August 2011, 23:58
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25th August 2011, 23:59
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26th August 2011, 00:06
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26th August 2011, 00:11
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26th August 2011, 00:12
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: goa
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| Re: NEW SWIFT VDi, think it's the first on teamBhp Thanks Guys. will click more pics tomorrow,I have to reduce the High resolution photos for upload here. Running in drive starts  ,so will be able to give a better impression.The information display has real time fuel consumption meter.The Dash design [Kizashi style meters] is much better looking. |
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26th August 2011, 00:14
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26th August 2011, 01:05
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26th August 2011, 02:20
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26th August 2011, 04:40
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26th August 2011, 05:55
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26th August 2011, 06:07
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26th August 2011, 07:01
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