[sudeepg]

I've owned an S-Cross DDiS 200 for almost 7 years. My ownership thread is here (Journey from a Honda City to the Maruti S-Cross 1.3L). I had been considering changing my car for a few months now with a budget of ~18-20 Lakhs.

I recently sold this car. Here's a parting shot after ~7 years

.... and bought a used S-Cross 1.6 in White colour!

So you'd ask why S-Cross again?

Likes

• Torquey 1.6 diesel engine with great mileage and mod potential.
• Excellent gear ratios which are great for highway drives. 6 gears are absolute must for this car.
• Mature ride & handling package. High speed behaviours are great!
• Spacious well laid out cabin and supportive seats and lots of legroom. I am very comfortable in this car over long journeys
• Maruti's excellent after-sales support network. Always got a 4-5 star experience in 7 years of ownership.
• Safety equipment - 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS & dual airbags.
• Features which are practical to use like sliding armrest, day-night rear view mirrors, rake & reach adjustment for steering, voice control for calling.
• ICE is good enough, although the latest Android auto has irritating bugs with this unit.
• Perfect size for city and highway use.

Dislikes

• Noise insulation could have been far better.
• Very weak headlamps and fog lamps. Upgrade is a must.
• Rear head rests dig into the back of your neck and isn't comfortable for long journeys.
• Maruti means rattles after few years or if you tinker around with your car, damping is a must.
• Uneven panel gaps.
• Ugly looking alloys on a premium car.
• Part quality is typical Maruti grade (e.g. Wipers, Gear Knobs, Steering leather etc.). Some parts take time to source. For instance engine mounts.

[sudeepg]

***** A bit of history *****

I wanted to get the S-Cross DDiS 320 when it was launched back in 2015, but the price at which it entered the market was way above my budget back then and I didn't want to get any other variant other than the Alpha. Nevertheless, the S-Cross package was wonderful in my mind. The car was spacious with very high build quality, unlike any Maruti I had seen so far. It was comfortable, wasn't too big nor too small, handled bad roads pretty well, had very good high highway manners and to boot it all, gave an excellent mileage. In my opinion, the single biggest disadvantage it had was the poor tune it came with. It was not at all practical for overtakes on highways. Power band was between ~2000 RPM to ~2800 RPM with no progress after that and only noise. The solution I adopted back then was to get a Code 6 remap. That really changed the behaviour of the car and Sajan (Bay6 Engineering) delivered an excellent tune. I eventually moved on to Wolf Moto maps including switchable maps. I primarily used map #2 and the car was excellent to drive in the city and highways. It could cruise all day long comfortably ~120 KMPH and keep its occupants comfortable while delivering a strong mileage with full-time air conditioning.

The DDiS 200 was serviced at Bimal Maruti and the experience has been top-notch compared to my Honda & Hyundai experiences. In the 7 years of ownership Maruti was willing to look at the issues and ensured customer-reported problems are addressed, although sometimes I did feel a lack of competency with some mechanics on trivial problems. The mechanic who serviced my car at Bimal, Jeevan, is top notch and the service advisor Hemaprasad always listened and helped with all issues, concerns and queries. My current service advisor Harish and technician Vijayakumar are pretty good as well!

This car was also my project car. I ventured into the world of DIYs with this car and has some great experiences, all of which are documented on this forum. Since there is enough and more discussion about S-Cross on our forums (The official review and ownership reports like benzinblut's beautiful, well-detailed report (CROSSing the line: My pre-worshipped Maruti S-Cross 1.6 Alpha)), I'll share how I ended up picking up the DDiS 320. My observations are pretty much the same as these ownership reports.

[sudeepg]

Like most other folks here, I was thinking of changing my car, although I had no real complaints or reasons for an upgrade. The initial plan was to keep the blue S-Cross for 10 years. However, it is hard to not read about new cars and consider potential upgrades.

Other Cars Considered

***** Jeep Compass Diesel Sport *****

I went through the Official Review and Ownership report of Crazy Driver (Here). I really liked this car and was somewhat of a natural choice in my head after using the S-Cross. The initial budget was ~20 Lakhs and this variant would take it beyond that in Bangalore.

***** The Kia Seltos *****

Loved the styling and the package except for the poor safety rating. I am not a Kia/Hyundai fan post owning two Hyundai cars (A Santro Xing & an i10 Kappa2). So although I considered taking a test drive, I never really took the time out to do a test drive. During that time, my best buddy took a test drive of Kia Carens in consideration for his family trips and the experience at the dealership was underwhelming. It ended at that.

***** The MG Astor *****

The initial impression was excellent and the showroom experience was great except that I was looking for test drives of the CVT or the TC versions and they had none available. They did offer to bring the car for test drive when available but never received a callback. I left it at that.

...... and then an event unfolded which changed my decision to the DDiS 320

Back in May this year, we embarked upon our usual holiday travel for summer vacations. We loaded up our car for the Kerala trip. The trip started at noon and it was hot. I wanted to get to the highway soon. Me & family were on the Sarjapur road heading towards Attibele toll booth when a truck ahead of us dropped several stones, one of which came flying at us and hit the windshield at the leftmost edge. A couple of minutes later, I noticed a nice crack forming up and it progressed well towards the center of the windshield in the next 15 minutes. I wanted to call off the trip and get the windshield replaced before proceeding. The crack progressed quickly due to the hot air outside and cold air inside. We saw a Maruti service center on the way and asked a service advisor for advice. He mentioned that I could continue the journey without the risk of windshield falling off but recommended getting the replacement if I could before continuing the journey. I called my trusted service advisor who quickly put me through the windshield expert at Bimal. He advised replacement and also that we could continue without the windshield breaking up, but preferred replacement if possible.

The decision was made to halt the journey and get the windshield replaced. I called my best bud (who is also a member of this forum) with whom I did the Morimoto project on our cars. He came along to inspect the car and offered his car for continuing the journey while he got my car in for repairs. I was reluctant taking his car for a long drive, but he insisted I take his car and continue. We transferred the luggage and went our ways. Thank you bud for lending me your car and tripping me over to DDiS 320.

This, was the turning point for me & my family. I had not driven the DDiS 320 on highways much, but this opportunity revealed how good this car is on the highways. My family fell in love with the car and to sweeten the experience even further, my friend had installed a 3 way speaker system. The journey started by ~3 PM from attibele and we were home just about by 10 PM. We arrived fresh and well under the normal time it takes for a trip to Palakkad. The car munched miles without breaking a sweat. It got to cruising speed quickly and would be at the beginning of the power band at ~120 KMPH. The average speed was higher than what we were usually accustomed to. Overtaking was a breeze! My wife and kid was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we covered the distance and how comfortably the car is on the highways. 120 feels more like 80's.

This incident also gave me a chance to appreciate the DDiS 320 even more and experience as well as understand the gear ratios compared to the DDiS 200.

Sharing a picture of his very well-maintained car

[sudeepg]

***** Bitten by the DDiS 320 Bug *****

After I came back to Bangalore, I couldn't think of an upgrade to a new car from a higher segment as this car satisfied all of my requirements. It made sense in every way, familiar cabin, a comfortable cabin, the mod potential, the power on tap and the great service. This was also a time when we had bought a new apartment, so financially also it made a lot of sense to get a used, well maintained DDiS 320 if available. A decision was made to look out for a used DDiS 320.

I came across several used DDiS 320s, most of them in bad shape or very high mileage, or DDiS 200's masquerading as DDiS 320s. The handful of good ones were already committed. Some of the options were also from other states and getting it re-registered in KA was another headache that I didn't want to deal with.

A few weeks later, a friend drops a note on WhatApp about an immaculately maintained white DDiS 320 in Bangalore with ~60K on the ODO. My car had completed 1.08 Lakh KMs by then. It was a weekday and I didn't want to waste time in closing the deal provided the car felt great after in-person inspection. I went to see the car and it was indeed in top shape but with an asking price that was high. Still, the deal was worth it because it has swanky Momo alloys, XP fog maps, a great ICE and a Wolf Remap. I gave in and agreed to the deal and asked the seller to share his bank details so that I can wire the money to him to start the Hypothecation closure.


***** The big mistake! *****

I honestly felt I had a deal and the seller was sweet to interact with. I drove back home to get back to work and an hour later, I got no messages from the seller. He eventually called me and said he had someone else offering 10K more over my price. I felt terrible. It wasn't something that I couldn't match. I told the seller that once I commit to a deal, I would not back out of my word regardless of how better the deal got. I also added that it was his car and therefore it was entirely his decision. My big mistake was not exchanging a token amount.

I lost the deal to someone else for a mere 10K more!


***** A new opportunity *****

I had given up hope of finding a well-maintained S-Cross DDiS 320 when I saw a used S-Cross ad show up on one of the websites (due to my search behaviours on various search engines). I clicked on the ad and it took me straight to Olx.in. From the looks of it the car was in good shape. It was a 2016 June build with ~62,000 KMS on the ODO. I messaged the seller and there was no response for a few hours. When the seller responded, he indicated he already had a buyer for the car, much to my dismay. Sensing my excitement and willingness, he also added that if the deal didn't go through the following day, I had a chance.

Thankfully, the potential buyer didn't turn up and I had my chance at buying the car. I wasted no time in going to see the car. At very first sight, it was evident that the car was in top shape, except for a couple of snags on the body here and there. The seller offered to test drive the car. It drove very well but it was evident it needed a service. I completed a thorough examination and was satisfied. I wasted no time in making an offer. The seller was very good and we eventually settled on a price that was acceptable to both parties. The car was bone stock except for a wolf remap.

The seller and I agreed on a date and time to complete the transaction. I wired the amount in full, filled out the paperwork, took signatures, handed over the delivery note, and picked up the car on June 1st, 2022.

So here she is, parked in my parking spot in the basement.

[sudeepg]

***** The Registration Transfer Experience *****

In one phrase - Painful but convenient.

The seller was very accommodating and we both preferred to do an online transfer rather than approaching an agent for the RTO transfer. We read up the procedure on Vahan site. Thankfully, there was no RTO change. We both fall into the jurisdiction of KA53 RTO and therefore no clearance certificate was required. The seller initiated the transfer online and sent me soft copies of Form 29 & 30. Hypothecation cancellation was a breeze and it was finished in a few days time itself. What took almost 2 months was the actual ownership transfer. I printed all the documents, signed them, and uploaded them online. Then, submitted the hard copies along with supporting documents at the RTO counter.

Please note, I was asked to pay Rs 75/- extra, over and above what the online system calculated (~INR 650) as there was a "shortage" of the required fees. Without making much fuss, I paid the balance and picked up the acknowledgment. It took almost 2 hours for the entire process. I was told to wait for 30 "Working days" to get the ownership transfer completed, which meant 6 weeks!

Next up, I submitted an application for the insurance transfer to Bimal Maruti since the car has insurance directly from Maruti. This didn't go well as the insurance broker asked for some endorsement from BangaloreOne, which was not really required. I had to keep my voice stern and also indicated reporting the matter to IRDA when a junior staff accepted my application and gave an endorsement in a matter of minutes!

While waiting for ownership transfer in RTO records, I got a full service done and parked the car until the paperwork was completed as per my agreement with the seller.

Once 6 weeks elapsed, I got an SMS that the ownership transfer was completed. I used the mParivahan app and downloaded the digital RC. I also saw the updated RC in Digilocker. 1.5 weeks later, the physical RC arrived.

With this in place, I was set to drive the car without any hassles from the traffic cops. I also got the updated PUC.



***** Life with the DDiS 200 & DDiS 320 *****

For almost a month, I had both cars with me and it really helped me understand and appreciate the difference between these two engines, the gearing differences, and the power output. I enjoyed both the cars turn by turn during this time and I have to admit - I love both these cars.

The DDiS 200 really shines in the city (better with a remap). It is geared very well for city traffic and the remap makes it sweeter! You can chuck around the city, and close gaps easily. The light clutch makes it effortless to drive around. On the other hand, push it and it takes time to pick up speed because the RPM build up is slower compared to DDiS 320. I found the DDiS 320 to be more free revving and quickly building up the RPM. One wouldn't notice this until they drive the DDiS 320 or something similar. Get to the 5th gear in the DDiS 200 and it will happily cruise effortlessly. A downshift is required if you drop speed.

The wolf remap on the DDiS 320 has almost eliminated the low-end turbo lag, but I feel the 200 is better. It is well known that once the turbo spools in the DDiS 320, there are not many matches to this car in this segment. You'll enjoy watching cars disappear in the rearview mirror. You join a road and gently press the A pedal and the ones who were about to go past you are left behind. The second gear is not so great to get to speed, but the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th are really awesome! In the 6th gear, which I usually engage only post 110 KMPH, the car still picks up speed very well because it is right at the beginning of the power band! You can feel the car surge forward as you apply the accelerator in almost all gears; the pull from this motor and transmission is relentless all the way to the redline with the power tapering off in the last 500 RPM or so. Drop the speed and a downshift is inevitable, but you will get back to cruising speed pretty quickly!

Once you get used to the S-Cross, you can chuck it around the city like a rickshaw. Heh, I am kidding but I hope you got the idea that it is easy to maneuver once you get to understand the steering behaviors. Having used a Honda city, I'd say it is not as precise as the City, but still good enough. The steering centering function is slow. Out on the highway, if you run into a dip, the car handles it very well with no swaying. The faster you go the flatter the ride is!

Braking is sufficient, although I feel the brakes are not enough at very high speeds (Read > 140-150 KMPH)

Oh, and one other thing - A few folks don't expect the S-Cross to be this fast, so you are likely to get some competition on the highway. While this car is a very capable car at speed & handling, I suggest exercising caution at all times. Enjoy the power, but let it not blind you to the safety on Indian highways.

I really did not want to give up the blue S-Cross, but it made no financial sense. I am practical when it comes to such matters and the head ruled over the heart. I reverted the tune to the stock map via Engineering Exponents and sold the car.

[sudeepg]

***** Upgrades are a Must! *****

No sooner than I got the car, the list of things to upgrade was already made, which includes but not limited to:

1. Dash Cam (Transferred from my previous car)
2. Hyundai Creta horns (Transferred from my previous car)
3. Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (Removed, requires reinstallation)
4. The car came with Continental MC5 tyres with lots of mileage left. No change is required here, except for the dull alloys.
5. Wolf Remap (Latest map update pending)
6. LED Projector fog lamps (They are on the way)
7. New battery. The OEM Panasonic ones failed within a month as I was not using the car before the ownership transfer.
8. ICE Installation
9. Last, but not least....The Morimoto stage 4's are back on this car

I firmly feel it's a disservice to this car to have poor headlights. The alpha projectors are totally useless in my honest opinion. I had the headlights from the blue S-Cross saved up. The D2S bulbs & ballasts had conked soon after the Covid restrictions were removed and I could not source a D2S bulb back then due to the economic conditions. I had sourced a new pair of headlights for temporary use and the Morimotos were packed and stored in a loft. I took this opportunity to reinstate them back on the DDiS 320.

***** Special thanks to Amit (Blaze India) *****

When I considered reinstalling the Morimotos, I had to source some of the parts again. I was not happy with the D2S bulbs for only one reason. The connectors from the igniters to the bulbs are of poor quality and it can cause a bad connection leading to premature wear out. I believe this is what caused the failure. After reading much on the internet, I realized that the D2H bulbs are a perfect fit for this projector. The base is the same sans the D2H bulbs come with integrated wires and connectors, which can be directly fixed to the ballasts. I bought a pair of ballasts with attached igniters from Blaze India (contact person: Amit) and took a few hours to complete the wiring and installation.

Amit is very helpful and sweet. Not only is he a good businessman who understands what a client needs, but he also doesn't lose the opportunity to make his sale. He was very responsive & gave me all the technical information I needed to make my purchase decision. It was a great experience talking to someone who understood the technical aspects. The pricing was also good and the material was shipped the same day without wasting any time. I wired the money and the goods were delivered within 1.5 days! I can share that the quality of the parts is really good. I also recently bought sealed LED fog lamps from Amit and it was again a seamless experience.

The MotoControl relay was intact when I tested it with my bench power supply, so I decided to use that for the time being. I also prepared a new wiring harness to make this a really high-quality installation. Some pictures from the installation.

The H4 connector end of MotoControl, Heat Shrink applied and finished off with TESA Tape



The wiring harness to tap power without any splicing of stock wires. The high, low & ground wires from the stock input connector to the headlight (right in this picture) are redirected to the H4 male connector (Orange coloour) of the MotoControl. The wires to the DRL are passed as is to the connector mating to the headlight (left in this picture)

In the picture to the right - TESA tape applied to absorb vibrations

[sudeepg]

***** Installation Pictures *****

Acknowledgment & Credit

To my wife and my 10 year old son - For helping me with the installation. In our basement parking, the lights are limited and a helping hand to hold light and run around to get missed stuff from the apartment is a real help!

Some pictures from work in progress. The wires have been further tidied up and secured properly.

Full Wiring harness installed and plugged in with the factory wiring using specially created custom wiring harness



To attach wiring securely to the body, you can use one of these cable straps which you can order from Boodmo. This is what typically manufacturers also use.

Part Numbers

1. J96627274
2. 91540TA0003
3. 09407-17401

In the circled area, you can see the strap secured by merely pushing into an available hole in the body frame. You can then attach wires or something like an igniter or small box and it will hold it well.



Positive side for the MotoControl connected directly to Battery positive & Grounded the ballast on co-driver side to the battery. I'll be changing the grounding point to a factory bolt on the co-driver side. The reason being, it is recommended to use such a grounding point instead of the battery because there is a battery sensor attached to the negative post on some vehicles. It is so in this case as you can see on the negative post of the battery.



Ballast grounded on the driver side to a factory provided grounding point



Igniter secured to the body using 3M command strips which are of dual locking type.


Driver side Ballast installation (In the side fender cavity)


D2H Bulb with Grommet. See how cleanly it exits from the headlight! The extra holes in the grommet are for tapping wires from the headlight connectors in some models. I removed the wires and applied a sealant to prevent water ingress.

[sudeepg]

***** Morimotos in Action *****

Videos

https://youtu.be/4sMw0K9SAKQ

Level Control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPDZdQJ2bo

[sudeepg]

***** Other Noteworthy Points *****

• The ICE screen is perfectly positioned with no glare during daytime. It is bright enough to be used at all times.
  
  
• There's a light in the storage area just under the aircon controls, but you'll never realize it because it is too weak!
  
  
• Cold tyre pressure of 34 PSI gives me the best comfort for 4 passengers and some luggage.
  
  
• Service center will invariably break the glove box damper stopper when changing cabin air filters. Once broken it will keep rattling because the protruding arms to stop the damper are broken. Quick fix - Put in a rubber band.
  
  
• Configure the fuel reset in MID settings to "Reset after refueling" option and it seems to provide more realistic numbers.
  
  
• You will not be able to use the MID & engine start/stop button to turn off the car if the car is moving a wee bit. To turn it off in an emergency, you must engage the gear to neutral and press and hold the start/stop button for several seconds. Do this with extreme caution!
  
  
• Reverse gear is fully synchronized, Yet, do ensure you stop the car completely before engaging reverse. You'll need to pull up the collar to engage reverse.
  
  
• The sunglass holder has a coarse material inside. Do not use it without fixing a felt liner. It will scratch your expensive sunglasses. Felt lining will also prevent the rattling if you have the habit of leaving your sunglasses in there.
  
  
• There are no more map updates for the ICE. They are useless anyways. I suggest using Gmaps always.
  
  
• There's a Suzuki remote control app that you can use to control the functions of ICE. My son is our DJ on the road and he uses the app and its functions to control what music is played!
  
  
• According to my calculations, the maintenance cost for this car so far has been about INR 1 - 1.50 per KM.
  
  
• NEXA folks are useless. They know nothing other than canned responses and stupid replies. Bimal and other service centers trump them in customer experience on all counts. I say to Maruti - Wind up NEXA and give the opportunity to your dealers. They do a better job of selling & maintaining your premium car.
  
  
• The windows on all doors shake within their channels. There is really no solution I have found so far. It adds to the rattles in the car.
  
  
• If you drive with the rear windows open, there is a distinct wind noise which is very irritating to the driver.
  
  
• No shake when you shut down the engine, thanks to the throttle body in the DDiS 320. Not so the case with DDiS 200.
  
  
• Most S-Crosses out there are running on Wolf Remap. Wolf remaps are excellent and highly recommended just because of almost nil low-end turbo lag, linear power delivery, and the excellent support from Rajiv and his team. He is always pleasant to talk to.
  
  
• There are several reports of premature failure of the clutch release bearing on several DDiS 320, around the 80K ODO mark.
  
  
• You can easily upgrade the looks to the facelifted version. It also gives you the DRL function, although I find DRLs annoying in our country. People drive around at night with their DRLs on and there is no warning in the cars to tell the inobservant driver that he is a threat on the road.
  
  
• To use the panic Alarm Feature, press both the lock and unlock buttons on the keyfob. To cancel the alarm, press any of the keys or turn on the ignition.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[arvind71181]

Welcome to the S-Cross 1.6 club Sudeep. Wish you thousands of kilometers of great ownership!

[Turbohead]

This is exactly what happens when one tastes a car with sorted fundamentals i.e engine, ride, handling and steering feel. You just can't buy any car out there ever again and 'features' hardly make/break your decision.

Congrats on the 1.6 monster! It's the best Maruti I've ever driven! You found a gem!

[RROD]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

You just can't buy any car out there ever again and 'features' hardly make/break your decision.

Congrats on the 1.6 monster! It's the best Maruti I've ever driven! You found a gem!

I agree with you sir.
I am unable to make up my mind on what car to upgrade to.
Every time I make a decision thinking this car is right for an upgrade, and then, the moment I drive my S Cross (1.3l) I don’t feel like letting go of it . The other cars just don’t connect..
The search continues..
My couple of gripes with the car.
* NVH
* Headlights

[travelling owl]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

***** Upgrades are a Must! *****


9. Last, but not least....The Morimoto stage 4's are back on this car

Hi Sudeepg, where did you source the Morimoto's from? I have been trying to source them for my Jeep Compass and so far didnt find any reliable source. Could you please share your source and contact details?

[vikispeaks]

Probably the best of the Diesel's available on the market (albeit used) today. The one Maruti that I think deserves even more love than it gets. Congrats on the new possession.

Happy motoring.