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-   -   Frankmehta's workhorse : Black Maruti Swift ZDi. EDIT, now with RD Box (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/141195-frankmehtas-workhorse-black-maruti-swift-zdi-edit-now-rd-box-4.html)

For the lights I will sugget swith over to the Osram Nighbreakers, I have been using them for many months now and the spread is very good. If you are not satisfied with them, then maybe switch over to 90/100's.

For the horn, I will suggest upgrade to any good horns from various options including Hella, Bosch etc. will do a much better job within city and on highways.

Hey Frank,

Congrats for your wonderful Purchase.
I agree with all of your other observations regarding horn and light i have changed horn to Roots Trumpet and 100/90 with hella relay long ago in my Dzire sep 2008 model and clocked 1.56L. Now Horn compliments the speed of the car alongwith lights at night. I have also drove my friends Swift VDI Jan 2012 model. I love the power & refinement of the engine the most. I also love Steering of the vehicle, which is too smooth. I think no other car give so smooth and responsive steering wheel. Anyways Congratulations on your new purchase. Keep Posting.

Happy Motoring.

Update:
1. Just realized how much of a difference 2 psi of pressure makes to the ride quality. I was actuallybbeginning to think that the new car effect is going away slowly, as the ride had become a little bumpy over the last three days. Went up to the pump, checked the pressure and realized that I was 2 psi shorter than the manufacturer specified 30 psi. Drove about 40 km back today and she's back to riding like she did a few days ago. Remember, guys, stick to the manufacturer specific air pressure in the car and it will be perfect. No experimentation required (as I had to do with the Fiesta that was just stupid harsh at 30+ psi)
2. Fueled up as well today. 725 km and 36 litres. Do the math guys :-)

One thing I'd forgotten to mention here. The Durapluses (apart from being a bit noisy) seem to be very very sensitive to tyre pressure. I once had them at 34 (badly calibrated air machine which I discovered later when changing petrol pumps) and the ride was crashy. I've had them at 30 and the ride was crashy. At 32 (29 rear), it's perfect. Serves us right for thinking we can tweak :D

Thanksb
Yes, the Durapluses feel a lot more sensitive to pressure. I am going to experiment with 32 now. But I make it a point to fill fuel and air from my fixed bunks only. I don't trust the fuel and calibration of air machines elsewhere. Since tires are the only thing of the car that actually are in contact with the road, one must NEVER compromise on the rubber being used in their cars.

Completed 2525 km today.
Update 1:
Installed almost invisible Suntek VLT60 sun film on the windows. Windshield next week.
I need to do something about the damn horn. It's a PAIN. I HATE IT!

Update 2:
Someone was asking about high speed stability, and here's the thing. I was on the freeway today and decided to push her on the longest and safest straight stretch (about 4 km) of road one will find in Mumbai. The Eastern Freeway.
She cruises at high speeds without breaking into a sweat. But the car was vibrating and hence decided not to push the car much. I don't advocate these speeds on our highways, but the freeway is just one straight road without any intersections and signals and hardly any cars at 745 am.
Immediately after that, I took the next corner and still felt that the beauty of a chassis did a great job.

Next stop: Race Dynamics Dieseltronic Tuning Box!

I have been contemplating between a Swift/i20/Polo as my next drive. Your review is definitely pulling me towards the Swift. The black interiors look gorgeous. My only grouse is with the boot space. I know its smaller than the Polo's, however, how small? I have to make some trips to the stations/airports every other month. I wouldn't want to be filling in the extra bag in the rear seat because of lack of boot space.

Two big bags is a tight fit. It's not THAT bad, though. You can live with that much space.
For example, three of us went for a two day trip with three loaded haversacks. The haversacks kind of filled the boot entirely. We managed, and we didn't really need more space.

Update: Got FANTASTIC art leather installed on the seats. Photos this weekend.

This is an excellent initial ownership report Frankmehta, thanks a lot for sharing. This thread spurred me into joining the forum and helped me zero in on Swift too. I'm going to buy the ZXi and an Alto for my parents. Will you be able to provide contact details of Mitin Udeshi? I don't think I have access to private messages yet, so even his email address would suffice in case you are not comfortable posting his number in a public forum.

The Vitesse Andheri dealership is closer to our house, but a quick search tells me that the Worli branch has a Maruti True Value outlet too as we might sell our old car. So we will mostly go to Worli at the end of this month or early next month.

8097662522 Mitin Udeshi
In other news, just booked a Swift Petrol for my good friend today. In all we will touch 10 cars from Mitin soon.

The car has completed the magic figure of 3000 km. Fueled her up on Sunday and this time she returned an average of only 16.5 kmpl. The car did a lot of idling and traffic runs and also did a few high speed runs. That explains the poor mileage of the car this time. Anyway, still happy with what I'm getting. She's improving in terms of responsiveness and tracyability through the gears. In fact second gear is fast becoming a killer tool.
The seat photos are pending but trust me. They're worth the wait. Beautiful.

Done 310 km on this tank. Have a look at the fuel gauge. Mind you, this is with a ratio of 60-40 highways and traffic. Only this time I've been stingy with the rpm and have not crossed 2500 rpm. Hypermiling is a little addictive and slightly obsessive. I'm keeping the car at a constant 80-90 kmph and cruising at 2000 rpm or just below it for long distances. The smoothness of the engine, and the silence (since we are not revving the engine much) and the cruising ability of the car in fifth gear are extremely convenient and also, if required, 80-120 just requires a slight prod on the gas pedal without a downshift and she just flies with a slight turbo whistle.
The whole process of keeping her under a leash is very difficult and requires restraint but is going to keep my accountant very happy.

Loving her in the city and on the highway. A jekyll and Hyde combination of greatly tractable engine in traffic and superior cruising abilities on the highway make this car very endearing and a perfect companion for driving in Mumbai.

Why don't you get rid of the OEM horn and go for Roots or the Skoda horn?

About the RD Dieseltronic on the 1.3 MJD, it makes the car smoke a lot than the stock ECU. I have seen a few cars that have the RD box here in hyderabad and are also feeling the increase of smoke.

On the stock ECU it smokes only on hard acceleration but the RD box makes the car smoke almost all the time.

Anurag.

I have long followed this debate. Whether to get a tuning box or a remap..
I have pondered over it too, and I feel that having a piggyback ECU makes a lot of more sense over flashing a stock ECU. I will explain why.
I have a 4 year warranty on my car. JUST in case, Maruti Suzuki DOES come up with an ECU update (they do it on a very irregular basis, but if the car comes to them for a routine service and there is an update available, they will do it silently) and flashes it over a remapped ECU, they will end up corrupting the ECU and blame me for it. Warranty will be voided, and I will be sitting on a huge bill for ECU replacement. The car will not even function until I get the ECU replaced in Maruti itself.
Rather than go through all of that hassle, I would rather have a piggyback ECU installed. Something I can pull out when she goes for service and refit it when she's back. Simple.
Smoking is something that is observed on hard acceleration and I rarely do that in my car. This box will be installed to improve driveability and also efficiency of the car. Even a Pete's PSi box causes a car to smoke under hard acceleration. I am of the opinion that the RD box will serve my purpose better.

If this car is intended to be the work-horse (100+ kms daily) and if I quote correctly "Fill-it, drive it, no-nonsence, no extra trips to servcie center or ECU guys, etc", avoid the remap, or piggy-back boxes. Let the car run in the tolerance levels that the company has tested it for. Basically play boring but safe. And its not like the car is not pleasurable in stock form either.

The 'Maruti phenomenon' has finally struck her. She now has a rattle in the boot area. Most probably from the rubber shroud on the boot lid. Irritating buzz that becomes loud on hitting bumps. Super irritating. My first actual complaint about the car after 3900 km.
Approaching the 4k mark and will cross it tomorrow. The car is running like a dream. Acceleration through the gears has improved tremendously and she darts like a tracer bullet if I am in the right gear at the right RPM.
Fueled her up 4 days ago and she gave us 620 km on drinking 33 litres of fuel. An average of over 18.75 kmpl.