[Samurai]

Just read in today's Times of India that Swift prices are going up by 8K-10K. The introductory prices were for only first 20,000 cars, they have 18,000 bookings until today. Bookings after June 8th will be charged the new price.

[Montoya]

I was really expecting her to be very good but it dissapointed me..

[Samurai]

http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jun/07maruti.htm

The Swift which was first talked about three years back as Concept S, will be produced at MUL's facilities at Gurgoan with a local content of around 86 per cent and with a 1.3 litre engine, an improvised version of the engine fitted into the three box model Esteem.

They call the detuned engine as improved engine???

[Montoya]

Samurai why aint the link working??

[veyron1]

maybe the particular swift that you drove wasn't properly set up, montoya..... or maybe you expected a li'l too much from the car, like me.......but nevertheless, the car does handle very nicely- in my drive, i found it to be better than the baleno, too...!!! at the end of the day, it's the overall capability that matters.... the swift has enormous untapped potential; unlike the palio and the baleno, in which the powerplants overwhelm their chassis, the swift's chassis feels capable enough to handle much much more......but yes, the 1.3 does feel underpowered, and even though the official timings suggest otherwise, the car feels slow, which it isn't....

i too, am eagerly waiting for the 1.6...... but until then, we can see stock swifts smoking the citys and accents...

[Montoya]

Well Veyron why is it alwayz with me that a particular car not well setup up for my test drive.. i mean the Corlla also has problems and so did the Swift..

Anywayz i feel the Palio is capable of handling 1.6 with ease and the Swift should also be.. but the 1.3 i am not impressed at all..

As far as smiking Citys is concerned depends on which one you talking about OHC or NHC.. LOL.. An Amby can smoke a NHC LOL

and i am talking about stock form in which the Swift fails to impress.. when the 1.6 comes then i guess i can talk otherwise..

Its all about the car feeling fast as the NHC does reach 6500 in a spec of time due to superb gearing where as the Swift motor wakes up at only 4000RPM..

p.s Montoyas test results are protected by world copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of montoya..

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Montoya

Samurai why aint the link working??

Here you go... http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jun/07maruti.htm

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Montoya

. but the 1.3 i am not impressed at all..

How do you rate this car ( forget the hype this has created) comparing others in the same (price) segment like Zen, Wagon-R , Santro & Palio (1.2)

[Montoya]

Thanx Samurai.

Well Suprise its the best in this segment no doubt but only IF the PALIO 1.6 was here she would have some competition but the hype created about the car is way too much then the car and the car is highly overrated by magzines and many people.. it isnt that good also as people make it out to be if you getmy point good enough or i will quote some words said by some people in this forum which i found to be untrue..

[RX135]

Montoya, if you think there are certain aspects of Swift, which are projected wrongly in the forum, please discuss them. Everyone on the forum will benefit from that.

P.S.: Palio 1.6 is very much there.

[drifter]

I and f50 took a test drive today....the engine is a SOHC unit...maruti would have been advertising this if it were a dohc.

First of all the car is quite a looker...looks best from the front...as f50 made me realise the lights remind you of the 350Z. Large and uneven panel gaps noted on the boot...but other areas it seems to be well built. The steering feels very good at low speeds...its EPS but didnt feel speed sensitive.

The interiors feel fresh nothing like a maruti...but that double din slot for the music system looks odd if a normal single din head unit is used. The dials look quite sporty. There is loads of headroom all around. And best of all it doesnt have that typical suzuki tinny feel to it.

The rear leg room is really bad with the front seats pushed all the way back. The getz fares much better in this aspect.

We drove the vxi without abs.
All that width (1690mm) is put to waste with a soft suspension and high profile tyres.
Those 80 profile tyres on 14inch wheels dont do the handling any good....there was noticeable body roll...i expect the zxi with 70 profile to be better but not to a great extent. The brakes had good feel...but those stock tyres (JK Vectras) could have been better. 15inchers should do a whole lot of good to its handling besides making it look better. Even the zxi with 70 profile rubber...looks odd...screams for bigger wheels.

The engine...well...didnt like it too much...performance is nothing to write home about...the engine felt very tight maybe because it had only about 1100 odd kms on the odo. But then also that 1000kg weight (VXi) blunts the performance. Gears are too tall in my opinion...probably in the interest of fuel economy...but the driveability suffers here...and after all that i still expect its FE to be in the 8-9kmpl region.

Max torque (11.3 kgm) comes in at 4500 rpm, in other words you have to cane this engine to make it perform.
The gearshift has a short throw...but all this is spoilt by its notchy feel.
The centre rear view mirror is woefully inadequate on the vxi...dont remember if it was bigger on the zxi.
Height adjustable drivers seat is only on the zxi and no tilt steering is available.

Its good to see maruti providing airbags abs and ebd. abs and ebd are options on the vxi...but i feel the airbags shouldnt have been left out on that list.

All in all i think this car is a bit expensive...i would have loved to see more people being able to afford this car...especially the airbags and abs. But nevertheless i liked it...

Drifter

PS. I loved the side rear view mirrors...they were big and provided a good field of view unlike the dinky mirrors on the getz.

[F50]

Okay guys... Along with Drifter, we went to check out the two rival hatchs...
Getz and Swift.
First, went to Jaybharat Hyundai, Prabhadevi, did talk to a woman out there just to show some interest worked out on loans and stuff, then came to she knew drifter coz his Accent was bought from there.
We checked out the car was the base model of Getz and when we asked for test drive, the car was not there so she took the address and promised that she will send it at Drifty's house.
So, next on agenda was the most hyped car, Swift after searching for Maruti's dealership we found that it was near by in Worli, so we were off to Worli.
Talked to the guy out there, he showed us the ZXi version black in color ... looked good I had already seen car in Green( Mint Frappe) and Azure Grey.
After, talking to him about the car we asked for test drive and he said you have to wait for 15 mins, we agreed. More then 45 mins passed away no signs of the car, finally a Garnet Orange colored Swift badged Demo Car was ready to get ripped.
Taking on the Worli Sea face road it was ripped by drifter then after another stretch by me.

Likes :
Finally, Maruti has introduced something which looks better.
Handles some-what okay, never felt the EPS, though it showed.
Front seats were good.
Air-con.

Dis-Likes :
Rear leg-room sucksss!!! Found to much better in Getz.
Good amount of Body-roll
Tyres squealing at less then 20 kmph while taking a U- turn.
Rattling noises with just over 1100 kms done dont know what it will be @ 50000 kms.
Higher rim size would have given a better look.
It may be fast but engine needs to slogged.

With current prices I feel its expensive and prices going to be increased by 12-15k wont impress me either.

I feel Getz should be better, call me ol' fashioned but....

Will give my word only after Getz' test drive.

[Montoya]

8-9kmpl region

If thats the case then wont people go for the Palio. Just found out lot about the Palio after speaking to Fiat. Posting it in the Fiat thread..

@ RX.. some one said that the car felt dead stable at 160 and also they stood on the brakes at 160 and it came to a standstill which i failed to see.. stabilty is there but not that people make it out to be.. Also i didnot have the guts to take her more then 140 and the car slogged to go further..

[veyron1]

Originally posted byMontoya

Well Veyron why is it alwayz with me that a particular car not well setup up for my test drive.. i mean the Corolla also has problems and so did the Swift..

well, i guess it was bad luck, mate....maybe the third time will be a charm for you...he..he...

Originally posted by Montoya
Anywayz i feel the Palio is capable of handling 1.6 with ease and the Swift should also be.. but the 1.3 i am not impressed at all..

well, it is, but not much more, whereas the swift (chassis) does seem to be capable of handling much more.... the palio is a solid car, but it has a worthy competitor in the form of swift- the swift was originally designed as rally-spec (detuned or production version of concept S, which suzuki intended to rally with after trying out the ignis..). sure, the O.E version of the swift is not up to the mark, but it's better than it's rivals, and i found it to be the most capable of the current indian lot that can handle heavy mods- and i say this after driving the swift, and changing my decision to go in for the baleno, which is a modifier's dream car (mechanically).

Originally posted by Montoya

As far as smoking Citys is concerned depends on which one you talking about OHC or NHC.. LOL.. An Amby can smoke a NHC LOL

well, i was talking about the new city, of course.... but with respect to the amby.... maybe the silver one that came to the drag this year could smoke a new city.....LOL....

Originally posted by Montoya

and i am talking about stock form in which the Swift fails to impress.. when the 1.6 comes then i guess i can talk otherwise..

true...the 1.3 does fail to impress us enthusiasts...but i'm looking for modding capability, and the swift wins in that respect, hands down.... and yes, the 1.6 should be able to harness the swift's capabilities more... but maruti should give 15 inchers with it then....

Originally posted by Drifter

as f50 made me realise the lights remind you of the 350Z

my thoughts exactly, drifter and F50..!!!! that was the first thing that came to my mind when i saw the car.....dunno why i forgot to post it earlier...

Originally posted by Drifter

The rear leg room is really bad with the front seats pushed all the way back. The getz fares much better in this aspect.

so true... the indica, too, scores much better in the rear seat leg room... but, better than all the other maruti's though, and almost as good as the baleno's...

Originally posted by Drifter

no tilt steering is available.

that bothered me as well, but tilt steering isn't available in that many cars; even in the 'C' segment....

Originally posted by F50

Rattling noises with just over 1100 kms done

even i found it peculiar, but a second test drive in a non-demo car confirmed my doubts that the demo cars were put together for the sole purpose of that-demo. i checked a production batch of three cars, 2 Vxi's and a ZXi, and the build quality was good, with no rattles or anything whatsoever.....


but as far as the comparos go, well, here are my opinions, in respective rankings....

front seat space- getz, swift, palio 1.6, palio 1.2, indica (in that order).
front seat comfort- swift, indica, palio i.6, palio 1.2, getz.
rear seat legroom- getz,indica, palio, swift.
driveability- palio 1.6, swift, getz, palio 1.2, indica.
performance-palio 1.6, swift,getz, indica, palio 1.2.
chassis-swift, palio 1.6, palio 1.2, getz, indica.
suspension-getz, palio 1.6, swift, indica, palio1.2.
fuel efficiency-swift, palio 1.2, getz, indica, palio 1.6.
fun factor-palio 1.6, swift,palio 1.2, getz, indica.
handling-palio 1.6, swift, getz, indica, palio 1.2.
overall- palio 1.6, swift, getz, palio 1.2, indica.
modifiability- swift, palio, getz, indica.

[Montoya]

@ Veyron.. i can see the Palio 1.6 winning hands down..LOL

well, i guess it was bad luck, mate....maybe the third time will be a charm for you...he..he...

Third time not a swift 1.3 for me atleast.. I didnot find any problems on the Optra test drive. Though the Corolla had done 12 K it was disgusting but the Optra with 22K on it was like new.