[powertrain]

Hello BHP'ians. This happens to be my first new car thread. And I hope it makes for a good read!!!
Preview
Our first new car was the Hyundai Santro way back in 2000. And what a car she is!!! 11 years that she spent with us,she never missed a beat. A truly world class hatch. And at 1.25 lakh km's she still runs decently. It's the car I learnt to drive (and crash), a car for partying,taking my girlfriend out etc. So much so that, I when I got hiched, it was my wedding car too !!!(inspite of having a Indigo XL in the driveway) All in all, a car for all occasions.
But after 11 years, she was getting expensive to run. And for no fault of hers. With petrol prices where there are & where they are going, we were contemplating to give her off. Thank god, we didnt sell her(more on that later).
Our next car is an Indigo XL,purchased in 2007.It was a company owned car,for Directors.Although the car was a diesel,ride was good & had lots of features, 1 aspect that it fell short was - Reliablity. We have spent more on the XL than we ever had on the Santro, and that's a real shame.As a corporate house,I have immense respect for TATA's, but their cars do have some more way to go before it can be called reliable.
So this year mid, we decided to buy a new diesel hatch. Why a hatch? Cause I had booked my dream SUV a day before - Mahindra Scorpio. Our total buget for SUV & Hatch was about 16 L. An SUV for 10L & diesel hatch for about 6.0 L. But I guess God had other plans
A pic of my beloved Santro. Sorry for the low res pic, taken from my cell cam.

[powertrain]

As this car would be primarily used by my Dad, let me tell you something about him.
- For him, a car is not something that has a life, feelings or attitude.
- It's nothing more that a mode of personal transportation.
- He doesn't care if he's in a maruti 800 or a Bugatti. It just doesn't excite him.
- And he does not like to spend money on cars,apart from periodic maintainence!!!! In fact ,the only reason that we had a music system in our Santro was because it came free. The Indigo XL, as we all know, comes with a music system as OE.
If you are wondering why i've written like this- My dad likes to write like this
In short, completely opposite of a T-BHP'ian !!!!
So his requirements echo his sentiments.
- A/c.
- Easy Ingress/Egress.(He has a back problem.)
- Cheap to Maintain.
- Has to be a Diesel.
- Good resale value.
Considering all the above considerations, we came to the conclusion the there was only 1 car that fits the purpose - Suzuki Ritz DDiS.
And here is were all the fun & the agony starts !!!!!

[powertrain]

SELECTION- PHASE I
If there is one thing that I've learnt from this experience is that, Never to question a women's convincing skills. And just how Stubborn the species can get !!!!
Read on -
Since we had finalized on the Ritz, that's the car we checked out first. So, on a rainy morning, our army descended on the Maruti dealership.Although, I have driven the Ritz DDis before, we insisted on a test drive.We had already decided on the color - Bakers Chocolate(Brown). The drive went off smoothly. My Dad liked the high set rear seats, mom preferred the ride at the back. My sister loved the view from the font seats (she's just 5.3 ft), and the fact that it has power steering (Our Santro being the base model,lacks this feature).And here was, I driving the Ritz & dreaming about the Scorpio.
After the drive, just as we were going to pay our booking amount, a white SX4 just drove in. And not just any SX4- it was the SX4 Diesel, with Graphics on the sides & hood, declaring it's change of heart.

As I had read about the SX4 D, the BHP'ian in me, pounced at the car!!!And my family followed. And here it all started- I still dont know what got onto my sis. One look & she was completely bowled over by the SX4. It's a 4 year old design,what's so new about it,I asked. She loved the way it looked,with it's high stance as she told me later. My mum also appreciated it's looks. " Yeh badi gaadi hai" as she puts it. My Dad as usual, was indifferent.
For my sister's sake, we took a test drive of the SX4 D. To be frank, I was quite impressed. Th pick up was quite good, the engine noise subdued & my parents liked the ride at the back. I was a very short drive, say 2-3 kms, as we were not interested in this segment.
We came back to the dealership to make the booking for the Ritz D. And here comes another bummer. We had thought that it would be great if my Mom handed over the cheque to the S.E. She royally opens her purse to give the cheque & makes a killer statement "I think I forgot the cheque at home." Needless to say, we did'nt make the booking that day.
Back home, over the phone,I narrated the day's incidents to my better half. She had not come for the test drive as she was at her mother's place(and the fact that she was pregnant!!!!) Somehow, my sister was very happy by the turn of events. She always was of the opnion that we should get a sedan now. I tried my level best to convince her, but pray tell me , when has a brother won over her sister's tantrums???!!!!!. I told her that we are getting an SUV(she hates jeep), but it fell on deaf ears.

We discussed (my sister's view) / She blackmailed me (My view), the whole day. That day I came to 1 thing about women's psychology - When a women senses that she cant win with logical reasoning, she takes out her last & most lethal weapon, or BHRAMAASTRA, you can call - Tears.
Yup, my 21 year old sis, did just that..and more!!!!!
When a women is firing her nuclear warheads, all you can do is, well nothing.Except getting hit by them!!! And that's what I did.
Dad? Well, dad like a typical politician ne "PARTY BADAL DI". The person who was till now, my strong supporter, dumped me. My sis, on this ocassion, asked me a question which every women must have asked atleast 100 million times " What else do i ask from you?"

Yeah Right!!!!!! Apart from expensive dresses, top of the line cell phones and what not !!!!!!!
So with a heavy heart, I had to surrender to my sister.
It was then that we looked at the finances one more time.We just could not afford two 10L cars, whichever way we looked at it. If it was gonna be a 10 L sedan, that left me with 6 L.And for me it had to be the Scorpio, or nothing else, cause no SUV in the 6-8 L bracket came with ABS.So we decided to sell the XL & stretched our budget to 18 L.

The next day, I cancelled my booking of a Scorpio SLE. The agony of it is something I cant put in words. I had lusted for the Scorpio right from the time it had launched. When you have dreamed for so long, it almost seems real. But it was not.
And so started our search for a diesel sedan-

[powertrain]

SELECTION- PHASE II
Since we had decided on a sedan, I started checking out all the available options that we had.I did'nt want to have a knee-jerk reaction and buy the first car we checked And since I was pooling in the moolah too, I had my set of requirements.

OUR REQUIREMENTS
- ABS & AIRBAGS. Priority to ABS, I'm ok if ther's no Airbags
- Comfy Seats.
- Good A.S.S.
- Reasonable spare prices.
- Decent Space.

OUR USAGE
- 12000 to 15000 km's per year.
- 3 people for 80 % of the time
- Light luggage.
- Owneship period - About 5 years.

CARS WE EVALUATED
The first thing I did was to go through the Official test drive thread for all the cars mentioned below.
- VW Vento.
- Fiat Linea.
- Hyundai Verna.
- Suzuki SX4.
- New Ford Fiesta.

Since, most of the cars above have been discussed till the last bolt, I will concentrate on the positive / negative aspects & my reasons to reject/accept it.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank GTO,Rehaan,Sidindica & Zappo for their excellent reviews of the above cars. That made my job so much more easier!!!

VW VENTO
What I liked

Engine - Loved the amazing pick up of the car. And the near zero turbo lag. And for a test drive car that had done 8000 km's,it was superb.

Gearbox - Very,very slick. I personally felt that the GB was perfectly mated to the engine.

Interiors - Loved the Beige/Black combo. I love Beige interiors a lot.And the use of chrome makes it even better. Very functional too. Loved the red MID too.

Looks - I quite like the way the Vento looks. Clean,tight European lines. And it looks awesome in black.

What I Disliked

Engine Refinement - I'm not a fan of how the Vento engine sounds. Maybe the particular car,with 8000 km on the odo, was abused by many test drives, I do not know.

Features - Or should I say,lack of it. Let me give you an idea - No Steering controls, No Usb/Aux port & No 5th alloy wheel. With a Kanjoos Baap, I needed to pack in as much as possible!!!!!!

Price - To be frank it didn't fit into my price. At 10.80 L OTR, It was a little out of budget. And the TL variant did not have any safety features. VW should be kicked for not introducing the CL variant.

A.S.S - With the Skoda horror stories doing the rounds, I didn't want to take a chance. My Uncle in Coimbatore has a Polo & as he tells me, spares are a little more than reasonable.

Fiat Linea
What I liked

Looks - One of the most beautiful car to grace our country. Need I say more.

Features - Loaded to the Gills. Loved the Blue & Me feature. Special mention must me made to the rear windscreen blinds. Although I have no idea, if it a standard feature.

Ride- Has one of the sweetest ride in the business. Makes you belive that the BMC have filled the potholes overnight!!!!!

What I Disliked

I actually rejected this car, for no fault of her's. and the reason was only one-
A.S.S - With the TATA- FIAT alliance itself rocky, I guess the car dosent stand a chance. Unless Fiat bucks up big time. All I can see now,is a great car taken down by a not so great Co.

Hyundai Verna
What I liked

Looks - I like the futuristic styling of this car. And it looks great in that metallic violet color.

Features - Every feature you could ask for, and more !!!! Mesmerized by the Engine Start/Stop button.

Refinement - One of the smoothest engine,I've ever come across. Barely Audible, at 10 or 100 km/hr !!!

Safety - The top variant come with 6 Airbags. Awesome!

A.S.S - Having owned a Hyundai before, I could trust it with my eyes closed.

What I Disliked

Seating - I took Dad to check out the Seating position, as he's chauffeur driven. He found the seats a little too low, for comfort. Although, he loved the interiors.

GC - At 165mm GC, I found it to be hitting some speed breakers. Mind you, not all speed breakers. One of the reasons why I rejected the Linea. I belive Indian cars should have a GC of atleast 170mm.

Safety - The base 1.6 variant fits our budget well. But it lacked passenger airbag. And I was not keen on stinting on safety features.

Ford Fiesta
To be frank, I test drove this car after booking the SX4. My main reason for testing this car was to see if it was substantially better than the SX4.
What I liked

Looks - I loved the front styling & the dagger type headlamps. Awesome alloy wheel design. I also liked the interior design.

Features - Very impressed with the voice activated features. And the fact that even the base versions get ABS & Airbags.

Handling - The best handling car of all the cars I tested. Like it runs on rails.

What I Disliked

Space - Very disappointed with the space on offer. Very less legroom. And coupe type rear windows give it a hemmed in feeling.

Price - Came as a shock to me. Especially after the Figo pricing. The base variant retails at about 11.2 L OTR Mumbai. Dropped it like a hot potato !!!!

[powertrain]

Suzuki SX4

I went for the test drive of SX4 with a lot of bitterness & prejudice in my heart. Bitterness because it was because of this car that I had to cancel my Scorpio booking. Prejudice because there was comparatively less info about the car online. I actually test drove this car 5 times before I booked it.
When I spoke to my friends about the SX4, this is the kind of reply I got -
- "1.3 ltr engine in such a big car? It's gonna be underpowered!!"
- " It's a dated design. It's gonna get replaced in 2013-14. Go for a fresher car."
- " SX4 is not a hit car"
- "Maruti does not have the image the others enjoy"

To be frank, some of the above points might be true. But every time I drove this car, I came back impressed with it's honesty. I believe a car should serve your purpose. It should meet & exceed your expectations. Only after this, is a car "Status Symbol". And the talks about not buying a car,if it's gonna get replaced in a year or so is, in my view purely unnecessary. If you want to buy a car that's not going to get out of production in the long future - buy the HM AMBASSADOR. Your Grandpa could have brought in 1975 & your Grandson can buy it in 2035 !!!!!!!

It's another matter if the car is gonna get replaced in 6-8 months.

I brought this car,cause it has -
-> High set seats. No problems for Dad.
-> The assurance of Maruti.
-> Great GC. No need to be too careful on bad roads. Try doing that in a Linea,you'll get my point. No offense to Linea owners.
-> It fits my budget like a hand to a glove!!!

I booked my car in the first week of July. Even after booking, I was in 2 minds ,whether to go ahead or to cancel it.That's when, in the third week of July, came the August edition of AUTOCAR INDIA(ACI).In the edition, they had compared the Linea,SX4,Vento,Verna & Fiesta. Now, ACI is a publication that I have immense respect for. Just for the record, we booked our Santro after I read the inaugural issue of ACI, in which the Santro had won the comparo. And if 11 yrs of sterling service is not a proof of it, I dont know what is !!!!

Now, many people believe that an 1.3 ltr engine in this car makes it underpowered. To them I present, some of the performance figures published in the same issue -
0-100 kmph
Verna - 10.54 - 1st
Vento - 11.30 - 2nd
SX4 - 13.80 - 3rd
Fiesta - 13.90 - 4th
Linea - 15.04 - 5th

20-80(3rd Gear)
Vento - 9.24 - 1st
SX4 - 10.32 - 2nd
Linea - 11.86 - 3rd
Verna - 13.00 - 4th
Fiesta - 13.48 - 5th

40-100(4th Gear)
Vento - 10.50 - 1st
SX4 - 13.01 - 2nd
Linea - 13.64 - 3rd
Verna - 15.10 - 4th
Fiesta - 15.80 - 5th

Pray, tell me, how can a car that consistently comes in the top 3 places be called as underpowered??

And, now one of the main reason as to why I went ahead with the booking -

Braking[80-0 meters]
SX4 - 21.47 - 1st
Verna - 24.29 - 2nd
Vento - 26.90 - 3rd
Linea - 27.56 - 4th
Fiesta - 28.36 - 5th
The difference between the braking distances of cars in 1st & 5th place is about 6.9 meters. That gentlemen,I believe is the difference between life & death!!!!!

While I'm not saying that the figures given above are accurate, it does give us more than a fair idea as to how a car performs under different circumstances.

[powertrain]

Dealership Experience
All in all, it has been quite a good experience. The delivery was promised in 30-40 days from booking. They did delay it for about 15-20 days. But that was ok for me. The reason citied was the labor unrest at Maruti. The following was given as freebies:-
-Floor Mats
-Teflon Coating
-Under Body Coating

About my BRUTE
I guess I've spoken a lot, I'll let the pics do the talking -

Taking the keys- To the right is my S.E


Finally mine !!!!


Pleasing the Gods !!!!!

[powertrain]

Some pics taken in the morning -

Badge of Reliablity? I hope so !!


I somehow prefer the old 5 spoke alloys



Scruff plates on front & rear doors - I like it !!!!



Dashboard - Plastic feel is 1 segment lower.

Big Rear view mirrors. Great for Indian roads. But creates wind resistence at high speeds

Simple Gauges. No low fuel warning.

No ashtray. maruti has stopped giving it, as per my S.E

Good pedal placement.Dead pedal sorely missed.

Chunky A/c knobs. But you cant know the temp you have set. The Dzire has this feature. Strange

Steering wheel nice to hold. But the silver patch on the right side of the wheel, should have been the horn button. It's a stretch, as of now.

Space below the handbrake wasted.

[powertrain]

The next day, I took a day off to fit seat covers on the car. As the SX4 has beige interiors, It does get dirty fast. Went to many accessory shops nearby, but none of them had any quality stocks. And what they had was expensive to the core. Cursed myself for not going to a place like Crawford market. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a small shop, that said " Seat coovers don here". I felt like turning back, then & there, but just for the sake of it, I went inside.
As they say " Never judge a book by its cover" This guy, showed me some very good designs of seat covers. He was, at that time fitting seat covers for a Honda City. The quality of art leather impressed me . Not top notch, but good nevertheless. The fitting was exemplary. No wrinkles nothing !!!!
All this while, I was wondering what I'd do about the Beige carpet matting. What was Maruti thinking when they gave beige carpets on the Sx4?
Voila !! This man had the answer to that too - "Plastic Sheet Lamination", as he calls it.Basically what he does is
- Remove all the seats.
- Remove the centre console
- Remove all the B pillar plastics.
- Install 5 mm thick plastic sheets on the floor.
- Screw back all the seats, console & plastics, so that the sheets dont come off.
Following is what he quoted me -
SX4 art leather seat covers = 4500.00
Steering wheel cover = 250.00
Plastic Sheets installation = 2200.00
Total = 6950.00
Final amount paid = 6200+100 chai paani for the workers
The above prices, I believe, is pure VFM. But he needed 2 days to prepare the covers. Fine by me!!! All I had to is to not drive the car for 2 days(easier said than done!!!!)

Following is the W I P pics of seat cover installation -

Taking off al the seats, centre console & B pillar plastics






Two cross bars to prevent any luggage from entering , in case of an accident. Well Done Maruti !!!!!!


Found some rust on the seat back brace. Not an issue,per say. Posting it for reference sake


Seat cover & plastic sheet installation W I P -

[powertrain]

Forgot to add, got basic sunfilms installed for 900 bucks



Final set of Pics after installation-











Security from the "OTHER" kind ?- The Limbu Mirchi!!!

[powertrain]

We've had this car for a fortnight now and driven about 700 kms, mostly in the city.Did'nt get to stretch her legs out of the city. These 700 kms have given me a detailed insight about the car. The mileage I'm getting is around 13 kmpl in city with 100% A/c. Is this figure good enough? I was expecting around 14 kmpl.

What makes me

- I am in love with the GC of SX4. No more crawling & praying over bad roads.
- Very effective A/c.
- Engine noise very curtailed.
- Smooth clutch.
- Dashboard has alight intensity adjuster- Very nice feature.
- Stereo has Aux & USB support. Nice
- Steering adjust has a long range
- Initial pick up is very good.

What makes me

- Horn button is not easily accessible.
- Fuel filler & boot opener is placed near the driver seat base. Very inconvenient.
- Glove box too narrow. not of much use.
- Space above Glove box wasted.
- Beige plastics reflects badlly on sunny days.
- No cup holders on rear seats.
- Rear A/c vents would have made my Dad a happier man.

Then again, I must admit, he is a happy man !!!!!!

I will be going for the 1st service sometime this week. Will post an update soon.

I hope, I have justified to the high standards of T-BHP.

Thanks & Regards

Varun

[aaggoswami]

1) One of the best SX4 Diesel review on TBHP IMO. Nice.

2) Do update us on how is the car behaving on highways when it comes to long high speed stretches. This is one aspect that has kept aside many prospective buyers. After 120, I have seen that Linea, Manza are relatively slow to pick up speed as compared to Vento or Verna. I am quite curious to know this aspect if SX4 can do high speeds atleast upto 150 effortlessly. Dzire is lively as compared to Manza or Linea IMO.

3) You are not the only person who feels that older Alloy design was better, there are many others and many on TBHP too. Really, the older design gave life to SX4. This design of 10 spoke alloy wheels does not gel well with the car's character of being very practical and honest.

4) How do you find suspension noise ? SX4 is one of the few Japanese cars that is below Rs. 10 lakh and has a more silent suspension and not as if its breaking on bad roads. Do update on this also.

5) Lastly, how is NVH as compared to others ?

Enjoy one of the most practical sedans in India.

[bluevolt]

That is a nice and comprehensive review.

Congratulations for the Maruti SX4 Diesel.

Wishing you happy and safe mile crunching!

[dockap]

nice review dude and you look really happy in the delivery photo
you said initially that your budget was 16 lakhs for 2 new cars which was upped to 18 lakhs by selling the indigo so which car did you buy which the remaining 8 lakhs?

[sachinj12]

One of the brilliantly penned reviews of the SX4. Surely will serve as reference point for many prospective owners. Thanks for sharing. Cheers on your new acquisition. Drive Safe

[lsp]

Nice review Powertrain!!! Loads of pics too... just how I like it.

About the lamination of the carpets, I think I saw on Tbhp itself about similar thing being done in Kerala where the trend was prevalent. Didnt know it was catching up in Mumbai. you sure it is 5 mm. Seems less than that.

did you happen to ask the vendor what happens if water enters through some small nick or crevice and wets the carpet. How would that be fixed?