well, after reading all your posts, all i can say is- i agree on all your views...
firstly, the swift is much more capable than what it's made out to be- yes, shan, the 1.6 swift would rock- rock the bejeeses out of it's competitors; even those that aren't in it's segment....and more power is always welcome....
yes rtech, the overall package of the swift is far better than anything on the roads today, for that price or more....so one shouldn't simply go by the power figures shown on paper..
and no doubt, a more powerful engine would only help tap it's enormous potential...
harrie, having subjected both cars to the twisties, i think the swift is more composed and will handle better around the track than the baleno- plus, the braking is much better too...
merve, i think it's the other way around- the swift has better handling than ride quality; which, in itself should speak a lot, since it's ride is pretty good. and yes, the boot is more cramped than the palio, and so is the engine bay- but if you look more carefully, you will see that the engine is mounted on suspension sub-frames (rear engine mounting), and the bay is way deeper than the palio or esteem. the design for the engine mounting is a novel one on this car, and is found only in much more expensive cars, or rally cars.
and no, i don't think it competes with the wagon-r; the competitors can't be decided just by looking at the interior space- if so, it should be fair to compare a merc c-class with the lancer, and even then, the lancer has more interior space.... but seriously, except the boot, the interior space is better than all the cars that you've mentioned; the boot is only better than that of the indica. the rear and interior space, is as good, if not better, than the palio and getz.
and guys, when you compare the swift to the palio, compare it with the 1.2- seems like a better competitor to me; as for the gtx, all opinions on reserve till the 1.6 swift comes out- though i personally feel the 1.6 swift will outperform the gtx, maybe by a small margin, but still.....
caliatenza, the esteem engine can be modded right upto 160 hp, or more...!!! just adding the bolt-on twin cam head (from the 1.3 twin cam G13 series available abroad) will up the power to 100 bhp. remap the ECM, tune the injectors, and you have 110-120 bhp on tap;
furthermore, add K&N, CAIS, headers, porting, and maybe a turbo/ supercharger with intercooler, and you're looking at 160 bhp+..... add an LSD, and NOS, (stage 1, dry- wet and direct port not advisable on the 1.3- plus the latter two aren't used that much in india, and requires much more expertise to install, and are W-A-Y more expensive..)- and you're looking at about 180 bhp+, which translates to about 150 bhp on-the-wheel....!!! (what about the costs, you ask?? well, here's a rough estimate-20,000 for twin cams, 6-10,000 for exhaust, ECM remapping/tuning-3-7,000, K&N/ intakes- 6-9,000, 10-15,000 for porting, turbo & intercooler- 40-70,000, supercharger- 90,000-1.3 lac, 12-18,000 for LSD, and finally, 35-50,000 for NOS---- a rough total of approximately 1.5 -2.0 lac;add another 1.5-2.0 lac, if going in for an AWD system). what has to be watched out for, is the torque-you want that too, because plain bhp isn't enough to give that "pulls-like-a train" acceleration effect....
and cool pic of the rally swift, dude- and now that the bhp-ians have seen it, expect to see a similar one on the roads soon.....perhaps we may get to see a lot of swifts like them in action in the next speed run.....
and guys, there is news of another new maruti coming out in the near future (inside sources); approximately 9-11 months, and keep your fingers crossed, 99% chances are, that it'll be the 1.6 swift...... i'll be waiting, just in case, to swap my engine.... |