[gkrishn]

So finally, after a 2 months of waiting, took delivery of the serene blue vdi.

few observation...

Did any one find the clutch to be heavy? Or is it a new car thing? I drove in bangalore evening traffic for about an hour, and had a knee pain. I guess this is due to angle of depression. vdi. so no seat hight adjustment! 8 year old half busted corsa clutch, now feels slightly lighter.

the hidden foot rest, though, proved to be very helpful.

While honking, the acc pedal gave a jarring effect. was able to feel it clearly while driving bare foot. no such issues from the brake or clutch pedal.

the power delivery is very similar to my corsa. very short first gear, which runs out of breath pretty soon. low end is non existent. but a very good 2k -3k. corsa was litte more responsive upto 2k. so I expect a pretty good highway performance. but a slightly below average in-city performance.

the interior is really good. though would have liked dezire colour combo. dezire has the best combination among swift/dezire/ertiga.durability will remain a question mark though. only long term usage will answer this.

front row seats are fabulous. very comfortable.

the overall dealership experience (a new maruti dealer in indra nagar. leo maruti) was pretty good.

though, except for the choclate box, they charged me even for the idol! it was part of the essential acc! and the floor mat provided as part of this ess acc, looked really cheap.

this is just initial observation guys. will keep posted, as i get to know more about this car.

and finally, for all ertiga's that are out there on the road. beware of the innovas. they are getting jealous, looks like.... few of them showed some attitude issue on way back home

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Maruti has given a dedicated ECU for CNG which speaks a lot for hard work Maruti has done.

Yes I have gone through your Wagone R CNG ownership thread and it has given me a lot of encouragement to go for a Maruti cng car. Who knows if the Ertiga CNG shows up, it may endup in my parking lot. But the problem of tank fitment still stays. Will the ertiga's boot hold a CNG tank with all the rows intact?
May be current owners can shed some light on it. Is the space sufficient to hold a CNG tank with the three rows in place?

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

So finally, after a 2 months of waiting, took delivery of the serene blue vdi.

Congratulations. Wish you many many happy miles.

Originally Posted by gkrishn

few observation...

Did any one find the clutch to be heavy? Or is it a new car thing? I drove in bangalore evening traffic for about an hour, and had a knee pain. I guess this is due to angle of depression. vdi. so no seat hight adjustment! 8 year old half busted corsa clutch, now feels slightly lighter.

Seems all diesel clutches are heavy :(. May be you will get used to it, as you currently drive a Petrol car which probably has light clutch

Originally Posted by gkrishn

the power delivery is very similar to my corsa. very short first gear, which runs out of breath pretty soon. low end is non existent. but a very good 2k -3k. corsa was litte more responsive upto 2k. so I expect a pretty good highway performance. but a slightly below average in-city performance.

Can you elaborate what you meant by "low end is non existent"? You mean it cannot pull easily in 1st /2nd gear at very low RPMs? How many people in the car? T-BHP official review mentioned very good drive-ability even in the diesel, except when fully loaded with 7 people.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Can you elaborate what you meant by "low end is non existent"? You mean it cannot pull easily in 1st /2nd gear at very low RPMs? How many people in the car? T-BHP official review mentioned very good drive-ability even in the diesel, except when fully loaded with 7 people.

this is probably another side effect of moving from P to D. In a very slowly moving traffic, esp when rpm is at 1K or slightly above in 2nd or 3rd gear, and then when traffic starts to speed up, push the accelerator gently, and nothing much happens.

May be, I am doing some thing wrong. In these moments, the vehicle ahead has moved on and and vehicle behind, are all over my rear view mirror. so I end up being the slowest one on the road. but then, my total diesel experience is about 50km.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

this is probably another side effect of moving from P to D. In a very slowly moving traffic, esp when rpm is at 1K or slightly above in 2nd or 3rd gear, and then when traffic starts to speed up, push the accelerator gently, and nothing much happens.

I am in the same boat as you, no diesel driving experience. Does the engine stall at low RPMs for you?
When I had test driven an Etios Diesel, engine used to go off in 2nd gear if the RPM was low. Then I heard from experts that driving style is different for Diesel. I am yet to figure out what that is, may be clutch release should be done slower.

[swiftdiesel]

At very low RPMs be gentle on the gas pedal and the MJD engine will pick up in a linear fashion. Pedal to the metal is best avoided at low RPM as the engine response will be coarse. Faster upshifts is the key and you can use 3rd gear like an automatic. The Ertiga comes into its own with the 4th and 5th gears that it just takes off! That's the time you realise the Ertiga is a perfect intercity express.

Also remember that the engine is new and it needs to bed in which takes at least 10000 on the odometer.

Every weekend I travel with 7 people in board within the city and the drivability is just excellent. In fact the engine enjoys the extra load. So, I do not agree with team-bhp official review's statement that the drivability is poor with 7 on board.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by mohan41

I am in the same boat as you, no diesel driving experience. Does the engine stall at low RPMs for you?
When I had test driven an Etios Diesel, engine used to go off in 2nd gear if the RPM was low. Then I heard from experts that driving style is different for Diesel. I am yet to figure out what that is, may be clutch release should be done slower.

no. i have not stalled any of the D engines, TDed thus far. i20/polo/etios/figo none of the stalled. generally, lift the clutch the vehicle will start moving. there is no issues that. infact it is easier, till this point, than petrol. i have stalled few of petrol engines form maruti. but not the diesel. It is just that, after the vehicle start moving, the pick up will slow, till turbo start spooling.

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

Pedal to the metal is best avoided at low RPM as the engine response will be coarse. Faster upshifts is the key and you can use 3rd gear like an automatic.

at what rpm you up-shift?

Every weekend I travel with 7 people in board within the city and the drivability is just excellent. In fact the engine enjoys the extra load. So, I do not agree with team-bhp official review's statement that the drivability is poor with 7 on board.

Good to hear that. One thing I found is, in petrol perf drops with more load. at least in ertiga when I moved from 1 to 4 adults, there not much difference in power delivery.

[KPS]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

this is probably another side effect of moving from P to D.

Originally Posted by mohan41

I am in the same boat as you, no diesel driving experience. Does the engine stall at low RPMs for you?

You must understand the basis of combustion. With petrol you have the spark plug which ignites the fuel mixture. Whilst in diesel it is the heat of compression which ignites the fuel mixture

See here Diesel engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hence in diesel the RPM is very important. If your RPM is too low, the compression will not be strong enough to ensure ignition. Please watch the RPM meter than the speedo. If your RPM falls below 1250 RPM change gears. The pleasure of driving diesels is to experience the torque, time and again.

Have a nice ride

Cheers

KPS

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by KPS

Hence in diesel the RPM is very important. If your RPM is too low, the compression will not be strong enough to ensure ignition. Please watch the RPM meter than the speedo. If your RPM falls below 1250 RPM change gears. The pleasure of driving diesels is to experience the torque, time and again.

Ok. That made a diff. If I make sure that rpm doesn't drop below 1.5/1.4k mark, then the car was way more responsive. thanks for the tip.

Also, based on the instant mileage meter, the FE is lower at around 1-1.3k rpm. It actually improves, after crossing 1.5k. Thats totally against wisdom gained from petrol cars. FE is pretty good in the band of 1.5 to 2.5k rpms. didnt check above that, as it is still in run-in period.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

Ok. That made a diff. If I make sure that rpm doesn't drop below 1.5/1.4k mark, then the car was way more responsive. thanks for the tip.

So, if you are in 2nd gear and RPM drops below 1.4k mark, you downshift to 1st. Do you feel a jerk when do you that? I am asking because if I did that in my Getz it jerks. Its smoother if I downshift to 1st when RPM is 1000?

Have you observed the speed in 2nd gear at 1.4k/1.5k rpm? Curious to know what it is.

Question to @swiftdiesel: Do you find the clutch heavy? Most reviews of Ertiga mentioned it has a light clutch. Wonder if thats only on test drive cars.

[swiftdiesel]

Originally Posted by mohan41

Question to @swiftdiesel: Do you find the clutch heavy? Most reviews of Ertiga mentioned it has a light clutch. Wonder if thats only on test drive cars.

I'm graduating to the Ertiga from a Swift diesel, and comparatively I find the clutch light just like my Swift.

[volkman10]

Ertiga to enter the Chinese market!

The Suzuki Swift-based Ertiga is a smash hit in the Indian market with waiting period extending for more than half a year for diesel variants. In Indonesia, the dealers cannot get enough of Ertigas to satisfy the domestic demand. We have reasons to believe that the Ertiga will create a similar effect in the Chinese market.


Maruti Suzuki Ertiga patent filed in China

[supremeBaleno]

Politicos in TN have some standard preferences when it comes to cars.
While the big shots use their Lexus SUVs, the next rung are partial to Scorpios. And they need to be in white.

What about the guy still lower in heirarchy ? He gets an Ertiga, puts bullbars up front, adds skirts/spoiler and last but not the least flies the party flag upfront.
Spotted this beige Ertiga with above characteristics today morning at Kotturpuram. And yes, with the numbers written in gold lettering.

I never thought I would see a day where an Ertiga would turn a favourite with the local politician.

[nurni76]

The dealer called me and informed that my Silver ZDi has been despatched and that he should be getting the same in a couple of days. Waiting anxiously now. Will be going for a PDI and then post my comments.

[selfdrive]

Went to the next door maruti showroom for an Ertiga TD. Unfortunately the TD was a bit bland for me.

In terms of interiors, the beige setup is a downer for me. The exteriors are also ok, nothing great but nothing bad (like the Ritz rear)

The TD went pretty ok too, again nothing stood out either as a positive nor as a negative for me. Perhaps this is why Marutis sell so well.
When I looked at the price list though, the top end diesel was quoted at 10L+. There is no way that I will be tempted to pay so much for a car which does not overwhelm me in any positive way.
Again, its my subjective opinion. I would not pay so much for this car. In fact while I am looking for a MPV, I dont think this is the answer to my requirements.