[supremeBaleno]

It is surely a pity that they did not provide an AT option for Swift. Imagine the interest an DDiS-AT would have evoked. Even petrol-AT would have had takers. But then with a 1-lakh waiting list, customer-interest is obviously not a priority for MSIL.

That way, it is good that we are now having more options in the hatch-space, which I sincerely hope would lead to reduction (if not complete vanishing) in the humongous waiting lists. But now that is becoming more a norm among other manufacturers too - the Jazz which had no takers till a month or so ago, is now commanding a waiting-list of months after the price-cut. Same for the Verna. And I am sure the Brio would too.

[rajeev k]

Leaving aside the ABS, the L & V have very ordinary brakes. They are just weak in terms of stopping power from speed. The Z, on the other hand, has brakes that you'd expect in a 85 BHP car.

Equipping only the high end variant with a good braking system and the rest with an average one defies all logic and doesn't appear fair. Does the bigger tyres playing its part in here. Brakes are not to be bundled with other gadgetry, standard on the high end variant.

Brakes are the first and foremost safety aspect, all manufacturers to focus on.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by amalji

Doesn't find it attractive now, with several other options available now.
Spot on.
Maruti is surviving on 2 factors - Excellent MASS and the engine. Add Swift's unique design to that, and you have a winner. But, that doesn't make the new Swift a practical car though.

For a person seeking practicality - Maruti has Ritz below Swift, DZire and SX4 above Swift.

Swift is/was never meant to be practical! We are booking the car - as our only car. For city use mainly by me + monthly highway use for chennai <-> trivandrum drives. Boot is a worry. But which car in the segment doesn't have flaws? Swift offers the best package among diesel cars IMO. (Figo is the most VFM though its too much of a compromise. Punto is the only equal IMO - but for us - the turning radius is a big pain to park in the house + not that much better than Swift to take a risk with TASS/ FIAT niggles).

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Evenly matched? Are you sure?
Does Pete's also take care of kind of handling & brakes required to use all that power effectively and still be in control?

Handling issues? Didnt GTO rate swift as the best handling hatch? Even ahead of Punto?

Braking issues are not with the ZDi.

I would leave the final comparison to GTO (He did the Tbhp review for both hatches).

Originally Posted by GTO

Make no mistake, the Swift will leave a Punto for dead on the corners. Reason:
- Quicker steering. Much quicker.
- Lesser body roll. Much lesser.
- Noticeably quicker acceleration. And lesser turbo-lag that bogs you down too
- Quicker, smoother gearshift
- Grip levels are on par with the 185 mm rubber that our test car had. Remember, the stock Punto has even thicker tyres. A Swift with 195 tyres will outhandle any Punto out there.

If the Figo had more power, it would be the most fun on the twisties. However, as things stand today, the Swift diesel is the most fun-to-drive diesel hatchback there is on sale in India.

The two areas where the Punto maintains an edge is the rock-solid stability at high speed, and feel from the hydraulic steering.

[bigvishnu]

Pepsi - Coke like ad campaigns... I have never seen a car maker give an "open challenge" to Swift until this morning, when i woke up to my "The Hindu" last page that has a full page Advert where Vista Vx throws an open challenge to Swift VDI.

http://www.cars.tatamotors.com/tatav...challenge.html

Would Maruti Retaliate?

[mobike008]

Excellent review there GTO !!!

Iam a tad disappointed the new Swift D has taken that fun factor out of the equation and that thrust-back-in-seat feeling the moment it crosses the turbo lag is glaringly missing due to revised tuning of the engine.

On the contrary, I was expecting MUL to add more zest to previous version. Power delivery in a linear fashion is nice but, for enthusiasts who gotten used to and enjoyed the immediate rush, will sore miss it.

Otherwise, I dont see much of difference except for a nicer dashboard console and tiny improvement in interior space from its previous claustrophobic measurements.

Overall, if waiting period is any indication, these subtle changes wont make much difference to Swift fans and they'll continue to throng dealerships irrespective of how long they'd need to wait to lay their hands on one of these beauties.

[Chetan_Rao]

When did good brakes become an optional premium accessory?

I guess MUL knows the majority of their target customers care 2 hoots about security features anyway. 'Let me skimp on the ABS version and get a nice ICE instead'. That's probably why they removed the ABS option on the 'V' variants.

Can't blame MUL; they're just selling what people buy. It's not their responsibility to care for customer's well-being, is it?

[manesh_nambiar]

GTO, that was a really great review.

Would like to add a few other features that I was really impressed to see in the new Swift, and was more impressed by the fact that Maruti chose to introduce these (internal/un-hilightable) changes which although cannot be advertised/marketed to an average buyer, they certainly make a major contribution to the driveability and feel of the car.

1. The use of hydraulic engine mounts which gives this car(especially the diesel) its new found smoothness(NVH).
Pic : Although I was able to locate it in the actual engine bay, not able to clearly locate it here in the new swift's engine bay image, but I think the hydraulic dampening system is contained within the black cylinder just above the 'windshield cleaning fluid container' on the left hand side of the image.




2. EDC (engine drag control) : Maruti calls it their new generation ABS with 'Motor Speed Regulation' system.
Engine-drag (torque) control prevents the driven wheels from locking due to the braking effect of the engine on slippery surfaces when the driver suddenly takes his foot off the accelerator or rapidly shifts down a gear.
It works with the help of a control unit which detects that the driven wheels are slipping, the engine-drag torque control system sends a signal to the ECU indicating that engine torque should be increased, until the driven wheels are once again turning at a rate appropriate to the speed of the vehicle, thereby keeping the vehicle steerable and ensures that directional stability is maintained.
Source : http://www.marutiswift.com (Under the safety-features Tab)

3. DPT (dent pin technology) that aims to reduce friction in gears, which I believe was first seen in the SX4.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruti_Suzuki_Swift

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Handling issues? Didnt GTO rate swift as the best handling hatch? Even ahead of Punto?

Braking issues are not with the ZDi.

SB already replied to my post, so I'm ignoring this one

Pete's would also void warranty and other than that just imagine Punto 90HP with Pete's!!

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bigvishnu

I have never seen a car maker give an "open challenge" to Swift until this morning, when i woke up to my "The Hindu" last page that has a full page Advert where Vista Vx throws an open challenge to Swift VDI. Would Maruti Retaliate?

Looked this up and yes it is interesting. Showed it to my colleagues and they were like, "Hey, see there are so many stuff on the Vista, which is missing on the VDi". So that way, the advt is worth the money. Ofcourse, other than ABS, the rest of the "missing stuff" is basically about beige interiors and such trivia.

BTW, I looked up the boot-space in the comparo and it is 204 for Swift vs 232 for Vista, which does not seem that big a difference. Are we really making a big deal of the Swift's boot, given the few litre difference with one of the most spacious hatches we have ? Also, if bootspace were up there on buyer priority, the largest selling hatch would be the Polo, but that isn't the case, right.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Can't blame MUL; they're just selling what people buy. It's not their responsibility to care for customer's well-being, is it?

I think it is high-time the Govt stepped in and made ABS and atleast dual airbags compulsory in all cars. If a person can afford 2.5 lakhs for a car, he should somehow find another ~40K for these features that would save his life. We cannot let this be at the whims of manufacturers or worse their stupid dealers, who would say, "Saar, you know ABS-option adds to delivery period. Or inflated airbags cost a lot to fix".

[muni]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, I looked up the boot-space in the comparo and it is 204 for Swift vs 232 for Vista, which does not seem that big a difference. Are we really making a big deal of the Swift's boot, given the few litre difference with one of the most spacious hatches we have ? Also, if bootspace were up there on buyer priority, the largest selling hatch would be the Polo, but that isn't the case, right.

The higher loading position along with lack of a 60:40 split is what is making things worse for the new Swift. 28 ltrs excess space does translate to something if you are looking at hatchback segment. Having booked the Zdi in July am a bit putoff with Maruti's approach of handling the boot space when the international swift has the 60:40 split.

Will take a call after I see / drive the car whether to go for it or not.

[andromeda]

Originally Posted by bigvishnu

Pepsi - Coke like ad campaigns... I have never seen a car maker give an "open challenge" to Swift until this morning, when i woke up to my "The Hindu" last page that has a full page Advert where Vista Vx throws an open challenge to Swift VDI.

Open Challenge | New Vista Vs New Swift

Would Maruti Retaliate?

Good to see that the manufacturers are making things a little easier by identifying their competitiors (instead of saying Car "X" as they used to earlier). Of course this is not a full comparison since they'll only those features that's in their car and missing in the competitor's car, but not the other way around.

Right now Maruti is in a quandry. They cannot retaliate with a similar Ad immediately because they can't take bookings (thanks to their ongoing labor woes). Delaying or ignoring to respond will only embolden Tata/Others to put in more Ads (with more frequency too) and chip away some chunk of Swift customers (those who've not yet booked Swift as well as those who are in the supposedly 100000 Swift waiting list).

[RGK]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

it is 204 for Swift vs 232 for Vista, which does not seem that big a difference. Are we really making a big deal of the Swift's boot, given the few litre difference with one of the most spacious hatches we have ? Also, if bootspace were up there on buyer priority, the largest selling hatch would be the Polo, but that isn't the case, right.

I think it is high-time the Govt stepped in and made ABS and atleast dual airbags compulsory in all cars. If a person can afford 2.5 lakhs for a car, he should somehow find another ~40K for these features that would save his life. We cannot let this be at the whims of manufacturers or worse their stupid dealers, who would say, "Saar, you know ABS-option adds to delivery period. Or inflated airbags cost a lot to fix".

Actually it is not the metrics about boot size. The convenience of carrying more luggage is definitely missing in new Swift (which was highlighted by almost all users of old swift). So MUL should have taken a note of this and rectified in this new car. No one chooses a car because of one positive point or rejects because of a negative feature. The choice is based on the purpose of the buyer.

Yes ABS should be made mandatory and also the insurance cos should not charge any extra premium for these safety features.

[sids911]

OK Guys,

I just received a call from my dealer in Pune that my Swift ZXi is getting shipped. It would arrive in 7 days.

He has asked me to arrange for rest of the payment.

With the ongoing labor issues, I heard there were quite a few quality issues. Would it be prudent for me to go for this car at this point of time? Or should I wait just a little more?

With the Jazz commanding a 6 months time for delivery and no other petrol hatch that suiting my fancy - this is the only car that I was counting upon.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I think it is high-time the Govt stepped in and made ABS and atleast dual airbags compulsory in all cars. If a person can afford 2.5 lakhs for a car, he should somehow find another ~40K for these features that would save his life. We cannot let this be at the whims of manufacturers or worse their stupid dealers, who would say, "Saar, you know ABS-option adds to delivery period. Or inflated airbags cost a lot to fix".

Why make Airbags compulsory ? It saves only the life of occupants and if the buyer is not intelligent enough to value his life over 40k, best of luck to him. ABS i can understand - he can go out of control while braking and hit another innocent chap outside.

But think from the company perspective, in India though the number of people who value ABS/Airbags are in a minority - they value it enough to upgrade to upper variant. So win-win for the company, they get extra margin from all the other useless features they have bundled in while they dont lose sales coz junta still will buy the mid variant. Eg. Majority of Swifts on the road are Vxi even while people had option of buying Zxi.

Agree strongly to comment about the salesmen, most try to explain lack of ABS/Airbags by some stupid comments which scare away people from those options. One gem from a Maruti dealer when i asked the reason for absence of Airbags in old Swift Diesel - "Saar they will explode even if a auto hits you from behind !!"

[gops2009]

Dear GTO,
Thanks for the well written and comprehensive review, it's a pity that, in what is the next version of a best seller, Maruti decided to remove the ABS option from the V variant.

Also, in the name of weight reduction, using thin glass, is that not a compromise on the safety too?

The tyre specs on the other hand may have been a decision based on the FE tests conducted and this would have taken precedence over enthusiastic performance