[giri1.8]

Hi Bhpians,

This is my first thread on team bhp, so please excuse me if the quality of the thread is not up to the mark. I will try to keep it neat and simple.

I have been using my bike for commuting most of the time, my previous petrol car was resting most of the time! Since I have quit my job to start my own business I sold off my previous car and decided to get something efficient and reliable.

Requirements:

• ABS and Airbags(no compromises here)
• Decent acceleration, handling and ride quality
• Acceptable fuel efficiency
• Good A.S.S
• Reliability
• Reasonable resale value

Initial contender

Maruti Suzuki Celerio Zxi(opt)

Likes:

• Space! Didn't expect this tiny hatchback to have good interior space
• Responsive engine
• Good fuel efficiency
• Decent ride and handling
• ICE quality was good for a stock unit
• No nonsense looks
• Interior was neat

Dislikes:

• Zxi with optional package came close to 5.75L, which is a lot considering what the car had to offer
• Fit and finish was not so great
• Front seats were not comfortable enough for long rides

I was almost certain that it was going to be celerio Zxi(opt) in blue color, but I decided to give myself some time to think about. I saw few of them on traffic and asked dad if I should go for it, he quickly told me that I shouldn't go for such a drastic downgrade from my optra, he insisted that I should extend my budget a bit more and get something from a segment above. So I increased my budget to 8L and went to TD few cars that might suit my requirements.

Cars that made it to my final list:

• Hyundai i10Grand diesel
• Honda amaze petrol(diesel was way too expensive)
• Fiat Punto(Mind never accepted it as a contender)
• Maruti Suzuki Ritz Diesel
• Maruti Suzuki Swift
• VW Polo 1.5 diesel
• Toyota Etios Liva

Hyundai i10 Grand:

Overall experience was great, sales executive was very courteous. I walked into the showroom and requested for a TD, he immediately arranged for the same and explained all the features neatly. They even gave me a feedback form to fill after the TD which had few questions about TD experience, the quality and condition of the car offered for test-drive, I was impressed!

Likes:

• European quality interior
• Amazing fit and finish
• Features(many of which are first-in-class)
• Fresh looks
• Refined and efficient engine
• Fuel efficiency

Dislikes:

• As safety was a major concern, I was searching for details about the same on team bhp, in one of the thread a member had posted that the cars sold here were structurally different from the export models and made for India i10's star rating wasn't helping things either
• FTD factor was missing, power was too linear and suspension was soft

[giri1.8]

Honda Amaze:

To be frank I didn't expect much from the car after reading all the reviews online, but I was wrong. I liked the overall package and experience, but it had its own flaws just like any other car.

Test drive experience was very good, I walked in the request a TD and even told them about other cars that I considered(swift was not in the list yet, celerio was still in my heat). The sales executive didn't immediately start bashing other cars, he politely pointed out what the amaze has to offer when compared with other cars I had considered and TD went smoothly (literally!). The smoothness of the 1.2 motor was just amazing! but low-end torque was just not there. Biggest dislike was the basic looking interior.

Likes:

• Sweet petrol motor
• Space was ample, but I wouldn't be having passengers most of the time so front seat comfort was more important than rear legroom!
• Japanese reliability
• Honda's fuss free A.S.S

Neutral points:

• Looks good but feels small for a sedan, but my dad's Polo is almost as long as this car!
• Reported fuel efficiency was around 12-14 inside city, I am not a FE concious driver so I might get even lesser numbers!

Dislikes:

• Basic looking interior. I am okay with simple looking interior, but it was too basic.
• Car is definitely lacks equipment, forget bluetooth, ICE doesn't even display the name of the song being played(correct me if I am wrong)

Fiat Punto:

I was not ready to buy a low selling car once more(no offence!). But I decided to stop at Fiat showroom while returning from amaze test drive. I was immediately attended but the TD car was not available at that time, sales executive promised me a test drive the next day, I told her I will have a look at the car first then will let her know if I need a TD( I didn't want to waste their time). Interior was not as bad as people was in flesh! but I was also aware that facelift will be launched soon, but no clear date was mentioned at that time, so I left the showroom and told her that I will come back if I need a test drive. I was sure that car will depreciate very quickly so I rejected it.

Maruti Suzuki Ritz:

Ritz had lots of discount and since it shares almost everything with the best selling cars from Maruti's stable it made more sense. only issue here was its looks(no offence again), I thought it would be better to look at swift even though I'll be paying more for a mechanically identical car.

Maruti Suzuki Swift:

I took my own sweet time to make my decision, but meanwhile during weekends I was driving my friend's brand new Swift Vdi. My dad was given swift diesel as his office car when the diesel version was launched, so I have some idea about what to expect from the swift, but I was surprised to see the improvement in interior quality(still average), Zdi's interior and equipment list were good enough for me and suddenly I was almost sure that it was going to be my next car!

Will discuss likes and dislikes later in the review in a detailed manner

VW Polo 1.5:

Since dad is completely satisfied with his polo he wanted me to get the same car, with updated 1.5 engine it was definitely appealing to me. BUT getting the same car and same variant didn't make sense to me, so polo was not going to be on the list.

Toyota Etios Liva:

My friend has sedan version of the same, so I decided to drive it instead of Liva.

Likes:

• Toyota's legendary reliability
• Drive-ability of the 1.5 diesel was good
• Fuel efficiency

Dislikes:

• Dashboard was my only major complain

Decision:
I was quiet sure that it was going to be swift! no confusion here, Zdi version ticks all the boxes and ongoing discounts were icing on the cake! but perfect car would have been Polo with i10 grand's feature, interior space of amaze, suspension from punto, Toyota's reliability and Maruti's A.S.S

Color Choice:

While finalizing celerio I fell in love with the blue shade of that car, and decided my next car should be some shade of blue! so blue it was, and also I was not personally impressed with other color choices available(problem with most cars in India). Had a slight hesitation to go for blue in the last minute since the waiting period quoted by the dealer was three weeks (some colors were available off the shelf), but after having a look at them I decided to wait anyway.

Booking experience

We decided to book the car with Khivraj motors, as they have very good reputation. I went to the showroom and was greeted by Mr.Senthil Kumar, he enquired about my preference and what I was looking for and gave me a quote immediately with all the standard discounts going on, only problem was availability of Zdi in Toruqe blue, but I decided to wait since it was the one which appealed to me of all the available colors. After having discussion with my parents at home I went to the showroom and booked it by paying the initial amount. I requested sales executive to inform me once the car has arrived at the stockyard, told him not to go ahead with registration formalities till I do an PDI to which he agreed. So the booking experience went smoothly without any issue, I was impressed. If anyone wants Mr.Senthil kumar's number feel free to PM me.

Payment and PDI

As promised by the dealer, I got a confirmation call regarding the arrival of my car, thankfully I didn't have to wait 3 weeks! I didn't take loan since dad was willing to lend me, I personally prefer to make ready cash payment for my vehicle purchase. PDI went smoothly and I didn't find any faults as expected, I should thank team-bhp for providing tons of information regarding PDI and other purchase related information.

[giri1.8]

Delivery

Once all the registration formalities were completed the sales executive gave me a call saying that my car was ready for delivery. Went to the showroom next day, Collected all the papers and went straight to the stockyard and did an brief inspection once again, once that was completed took few snaps and was given demo about how everything works. Well nothing new here but they did warn me that auto-lock feature might lock itself if the key is on the ignition for more than few minutes! once the demo was over I handed a small gift to the sales executive and took a snap of him with the car. Finally they filled five litres of diesel and then we drove off to near-by temple.

Time for some pics from here on!



Sales executive Mr.Senthil striking a pose with my car(Posting here with his permission)



Took my car to Muniswaran near central station and had all the rituals completed, you can always find new cars and bikes here waiting for blessings from the lord, as people believe that lord Muniswaran will protect his devotees and their vehicles.

Snap taken after the ritual



While coming home filled the car's tank with diesel for the first time! came home then took some snaps with my phone and decided to take it out the next day. First thing I did the very next day was to remove almost all the plastic covers and other stuff, love to keep my car simple and neat, no dolls and no fancy stuff on board.

Snap taken near my home



Well I have covered just 1065KM till now, but drove her on all sorts of conditions and climates so I guess it's time to write about my ride in detail

Likes

• Refined and efficient engine
• Comfortable front seats
• Good ride quality and handling
• Color, of course
• Looks! both exterior and interior
• Safety(ABS and dual airbags)
• ASS is expected to be good
• Amazing resale value
• Reliability
• Steering feedback

Neutral points

• Interior quality
• ICE
• Equipment list
• Expected service cost
• Build quality

Dislikes

• Rear seat legroom
• Boot space
• Sheet metal thickness
• Paint quality(extremely thin layer of paint)

Time for few more paragraphs of text again ! Yes I know, swift has been reviewed extensively but I will add few comparisons with the cars which we previously had or the cars which I have driven extensively

Cars that will be feature in comparison

• Santro - Dad's first car, peppy little city car
• 2007 Swift Ldi
• VW Polo - Dad's current ride

Engine

Much appreciated and trusted multijet engine from Fiat



As we already had swift with us, I had few ideas about how the engine would be, but I was surprised with the refinement of the multijet on my new car! Guess they have managed to reduce NVH over the period of time. Car shakes a bit while starting, just like most diesel cars but it feels very refined after that and stays that way till 2K rpm, after which engine noise is audible but not annoying at all, in comparison TDI sounds horrible at every possible rpm and Hyundai seems to have most refined diesels in this class.

turbo lag has been reduced when compared with the 2007 model but I can feel that turbo kick is not as exciting as the previous one we had, guess they have reduced the boost to some extend. Power delivery is not as linear as my previous ride but its miles ahead of TDI in this aspect, diesel's torque surely helps on the highway which is one of the reasons I didn't consider the 1.2 petrol.

Drive-ability within the city is good enough and I didn't have to shift gears too often, efficiency has also been good in city driving conditions. When it comes to drive-ability in city conditions santro has the best engine & gearbox combo, peppy little engine is eager to rev and the mid-range torque is best in its class. Don't want to talk about the TDI here

Italian heart



Ride and Handling

Ride quality is decent and has improved from the first version, car glides smoothly on rough roads unlike the 2007 one, apart from ride quality other complain about our previous swift's suspension was it's ability(or inability in this case) to withstand abuse, suspension on our 2007 swift gave up just after 45K KM. In the new swift suspension feels softer but handling is still decent and bodyroll is well controlled. Hope the quality has been improved.

Good handling coupled with superb steering feedback at high speed helps the car to munch miles at good pace, in comparison the polo has slightly better suspension setup, high speed stability is better than the swift and ride quality is also slightly better, But swift is not lagging far behind in this aspect.

Brakes

This has to be one of the most discussed topic related to the swift on this forum, base versions have terrible brakes and absence of brake booster makes things worst. Thankfully top-end has brake booster and better components, apart from airbags, brakes were one of the reason for choosing Zdi over Vdi.

As expected, it performs better than the ones found on my friend's Vdi, good thing about it is that the bite is very progressive and predictable, which is not the case with the Polo! once you press the brakes the rotor just bites the disk hard, feels like its over-assisted at low speeds. Sadly this is case with many modern cars and this makes people believe that the brakes are extremely good, which is not the case always! remember that indica was the only car behind i20 diesel in terms of braking distance, yet to see anyone complain about that till now!

Interior design

Interior has taken a giant leap from the previous swift. Interior on the previous one was an eyesore with hard touch plastics everywhere and the design too was average. The quality of plastic on the new one is still not in the league of Polo or the grand i10 but the all black interior visually doesn't look very inferior.

Dashboard has been given a fresh design which feels complete with the integrated music system and climate control which looks really good when illuminated at night, USB port has been placed near the cup holder instead of placing it on the ICE unit itself, this gives a clean look to the dash as the pendrive wouldn't stick-out like how it does in most of the units. Steering wheel design is ordinary but feels small when compared with other cars which I have driven, only thing that makes it look good is the controls mounted on it.

Speedo and tacho meter are clear and easy to read and the MID sits in between throwing information like Average fuel efficiency, time, outside temperature etc. All the backlights are orange and are not distracting to the driver.

Instrument cluster



Fabric seats look neat and serve the purpose, front seats provide excellent comfort, Rear seats are just normal. I didn't go for any fake leather seat covers, as they don't have any ventilation and make you sweat in no time. Might go for fabric cover in the future if they look good, thankfully seats won't get dirty easily since they are black, light color seats on the polo always remains dirty, its almost impossible to keep it clean.

Interior has good number of useful storage space.

Bottle/cup holder



Bottle holder



There are bits and pieces of silver thrown at places of interior to break the monotonic look of the all black interior, this certainly helps.

Features

Car has decent amount of features, but could have had few more if you ask me. After going through zest review features on my car look too basic for the price I paid! but I am more than happy with what I have right now.

Basic features

• All four power windows
• Alloy wheels(spare is an alloy too!)
• Foglamp
• Central locking with remote
• Day/night mirror
• Adjustable side mirrors
• Turnsignal integrated to RVMs

Day/night mirror



Turnsignal integrated to RVMs



Notable features:

• Integrated ICE
• Automatic climate control
• Height adjustable driver seat
• Rear wiper
• Adjustable steering
• Safety features

Integrated ICE

ICE has been neatly integrated to the dash, bright white color display gives a premium feel to it, first thing I was planning to upgrade after getting the car was ICE, but once I changed few settings I found it to be pretty decent for a OEM system at this price range, BUT it's only as good as a basic after-market system. Functions on the ICE are nothing out of the ordinary, only additional part being the steering mounted controls.

How ICE and ACC looks at night



Automatic climate control

This is the first time I am using a car equipped with this neat feature, cabin temperature is constantly maintained according to our wish and everything is neatly displayed below the ICE, this unit has a rear defogger too, there is no need to change stuff like fan speed or other aspects very often.

Height adjustable driver seat

This feature surely helps me out on long drives, I used to struggle to find a comfortable seating position on my previous ride, if had the seats close to steering I didn't have enough thigh support as the seat was very low, so I end up pushing the seats far back! now instead of pushing it back I just increase the seat hight.

Rear wiper

Must have feature in every hatchback, not sure how they can omit it on base variants!

Adjustable Steering

Steering can only be tilted, there is no adjustment for reach sadly.

Safety features

Car has ABS with EBD and dual airbags, no traction control or any other form of active safety. Eager to know about NCAP rating for the locally made swift.
Passive safety features include engine immobilizer and very useful auto-lock feature, thankfully all the doors have individual lock button unlike polo, which has only one control for all the doors.

Issue(s) till date

I am not sure if this is a design flaw or its by design, when I press mute button on the steering control the song pauses instead of muting the speaker! forgot to clarify about this during first service

Few random snaps

Tiny boot space



Taillamp cluster



Windscreen washers with 3 jets each



Tiny antenna for AM/FM reception



Illumination for boot

[giri1.8]

Striking front end



Munching miles on the ECR



Sporty rear end



Weird stance due to uneven surface



Long way to go



Few minutes of rest





Over stretched headlamp



First service experience

Left her for first service exactly one month after delivery, everything was checked and car was given back by evening. Car was properly cleaned and few tiny scratches were removed, interior was cleaned too! I opted for diesel sticker on fuel cap, which looks terrible I should have seen it before nodding my head, waste of 150INR for first free service.

Overall experience

Overall experience has been very good,car has exceeded my expectations in terms of performance, will add more updates as I cover more miles.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[saket77]

Congratulations Giri on your new Swift! Wishing you trouble free ownership of the car for years. Just a small correction; brake boosters are available on almost all cars sold today, including all versions of Swift.

[a4anurag]

Congratulations Giri on getting the Swift that too in ZDi avatar. A sensible decision.

No doubt on the car or any part on its ownership for you in future. Have a great long mile munching ownership experience.

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I am not sure if this is a design flaw or its by design, when I press mute button on the steering control the song pauses instead of muting the speaker! forgot to clarify about this during first service

Not a design flaw but I like this feature. At least I get the song from where I stopped it.

Anurag.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by saket77

Congratulations Giri on your new Swift! Wishing you trouble free ownership of the car for years. Just a small correction; brake boosters are available on almost all cars sold today, including all versions of Swift.

Thanks a lot saket77 ! Just now went through old thread about brake booster issue, yes you are right, lower variants seems to be having brake booster, but issue is that they were not as good as the one on the top variant! thanks for the correction.

Can anyone confirm that base variants too now gets better brakes? might be helpful for readers who are considering lower variants.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Congratulations Giri on getting the Swift that too in ZDi avatar. A sensible decision.

No doubt on the car or any part on its ownership for you in future. Have a great long mile munching ownership experience.



Not a design flaw but I like this feature. At least I get the song from where I stopped it.

Anurag.

Thanks Anurag , yes it's an useful feature but they could have labelled it as pause instead of mute. your thread helped me for finalizing the color! thanks for sharing awesome pics of your ride.

[RavenAvi]

Congratulations on acquiring the fantastic Jap which beats with an Italian heart, giri1.8! May she serve you for long and for plenty of miles (and smiles ahead). Maintenance-wise and performance-wise, she's one of the best cars available in the country at the moment.

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I am not sure if this is a design flaw or its by design, when I press mute button on the steering control the song pauses instead of muting the speaker!

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Not a design flaw but I like this feature. At least I get the song from where I stopped it.

It works as a mute button for the FM/AM Radio, and doubles up as a pause button for the USB/Aux/iPod/CD. Like Anurag said, this is very nifty since we get to start off from where we stopped our song.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Thanks Anurag, yes it's an useful feature but they could have labelled it as pause instead of mute. your thread helped me for finalizing the color! thanks for sharing awesome pics of your ride.

No complaints at all with that feature as I like it's function.

I am happy that you liked my thread and was a deciding factor on the colour. I really can't describe the beauty of that car in Torque Blue, a distinctive shade. Just love looking at it for hours together but sad part is to maintain it.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

It works as a mute button for the FM/AM Radio, and doubles up as a pause button for the USB/Aux/iPod/CD. Like Anurag said, this is very nifty since we get to start off from where we stopped our song.

Anurag.

[Carpainter]

Congratulations. Wish you many happy miles ahead with your blue beauty.

Btw, what accessories are you planning to get at the moment.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Congratulations on acquiring the fantastic Jap which beats with an Italian heart, giri1.8!

It works as a mute button for the FM/AM Radio, and doubles up as a pause button for the USB/Aux/iPod/CD. Like Anurag said, this is very nifty since we get to start off from where we stopped our song.

Thanks a lot RavenAvi! I didn't use FM extensively so I thought there must be some kind of mistake, neat feature I must say.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

No complaints at all with that feature as I like it's function.

I am happy that you liked my thread and was a deciding factor on the colour. I really can't describe the beauty of that car in Torque Blue, a distinctive shade. Just love looking at it for hours together but sad part is to maintain it.





Anurag.

I never expected people to praise the looks of my car since there a millions of swifts on road, but everyone seems to admire the car because of the color choice. Will follow your thread for other details like service advise and other maintenance related information, you seems to be clocking quiet a lot of miles on your swift!

Originally Posted by Carpainter

Congratulations. Wish you many happy miles ahead with your blue beauty.

Btw, what accessories are you planning to get at the moment.

Thanks carpainter, as of now I am planning to keep her stock, might go for seat cover

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I never expected people to praise the looks of my car since there a millions of swifts on road, but everyone seems to admire the car because of the color choice. Will follow your thread for other details like service advise and other maintenance related information, you seems to be clocking quiet a lot of miles on your swift!

Do get the underbody coating done, in case not done.

The colour being distinctive and not the regular silver and white ones, this stands out in the crowd hence attracts attention. Good in a way and bad also.

Follow run-in till 1000 kms after open-up slowly. Keep varying speeds and do not keep the speed constant for long.

I do 3K kms a month.

Anurag.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Do get the underbody coating done, in case not done.

The colour being distinctive and not the regular silver and white ones, this stands out in the crowd hence attracts attention. Good in a way and bad also.

Follow run-in till 1000 kms after open-up slowly. Keep varying speeds and do not keep the speed constant for long.

I do 3K kms a month.

Anurag.

Will get that done! Completed 1000KM few days back, been increasing the revs slowly to 2.5K RPM, I wont be clocking anything more than 1-1.2K for few months, till my business takes off, after that running will increase considerably.

[devil_klm]

Congrats Giri and welcome to the swifters club .
I would suggest to do the underbelly coating and PPF for side mirrors. Follow the instructions in break in thread to get the bast out of your car. Hope you havent came across any rattles so far.