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Old 30th May 2005, 17:19   #106
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Quote:
I don't get why Maruti can't launch the Belano engined 1.6 at the same time as the 1.3L,
Beats me. The Swift has been given that sporty image right from day one. but, if you're gonna buy a car for it's driving pleasue, why would you choose a 1.3 over a 1.6?

I'm pretty sure that the Swift 1.6 will have a lot more sucess than the Palio 1.6 since it's a Maruti and there's no doubt the backup will be unbeatable.

FE wise, i don't think it should be too much off the Baleno's figures. Remember, the Baelno is just 35kgs lighter.

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Last edited by Shan2nu : 30th May 2005 at 18:25.
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Old 30th May 2005, 18:22   #107
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Originally Posted by RX135
GTX did come with airbags + ABS as options. My friend has it all in his car. Costed his approx 6L when he bought it 4-5 years back.
Totally for this thread, but there were two models of the Fiat Palio 1.6 - the GTX and the GTX-SP (I think). The latter came with both airbags and ABS as stock. That was a car that was before its time.The Indian market simply hadn't evolved enough then for such a hot hatch to be successful.

If I was to choose between the 1.6 GTX and the 1.3 Swift, if I was considering just pure unadulterated driving pleasure, the GTX would be the winner. But add creature comforts to the mix (like the better interiors and automatic climate control on the Swift) and I would have to choose the Swift - it is simply a more well-rounded car.

Last edited by johnjacob : 30th May 2005 at 18:25.
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Old 30th May 2005, 18:23   #108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnjacob
Totally for this thread, but there were two models of the Fiat Palio 1.6 - the GTX and the GTX-SP (I think). The latter came with both airbags and ABS as stock. That was a car that was before its time.The Indian market simply hadn't evolved enough then for such a hot hatch to be successful.
Yeap. They were SP PS and PS models as I remember.
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Old 30th May 2005, 23:25   #109
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That was the GTX-SP.But IMHO Maruti wont be looking to beat the palio 1.6 here.the GTX is a more focused car than the swift.Also what i have seen is that the swift is not really in the Palio,Indica or Getz category.it more in the wagon R range if u consider the space.it is just wider.the boot looks small and i found the engine bay way too small(comparing to the palio ofcourse).But at the end of it what really clicks for it is that it is priced too good to ignore+it looks hot+ it has very well designed interiors.
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Old 31st May 2005, 11:06   #110
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SWIFT Zxi or SWIFT Vxi+ABS+ ( alloys +tyres if possible)

Hey guys..

Need some suggestions to make my decision b/w vxi+ abs and zxi.
The prices On road in Bangalore are
vxi+abs= 4.84L
Zxi= 5.54L
What i dont like in Vxi

1) the tyre looks thin and the wheel caps does not go with the sporty exteriors.
If i want to go for the Zxi tyres+alloys..the company i guess will give me an option. In which case the price may go up by 20K which would make it 5.05L

Now the question is for the 50K the features that Zxi offers is it worth. The features are..

1) Air bags maybe 30K+

2) Climatronic 5K (some sensors and circuitry involved)

3) Some cup holder+rear charger+ blah.blah..blah

The key features i think are the airbags and the climatronic.Can anybody enlighten me abt tha climatronic system in comparison with the manual ac system.

1) I know i can set a temperature and that temperature is constantly maintained if i have the climatronic but does it make such a difference.
Is there some sort of power management/fuel efficiency that is involved in climatronic system that gives an edge over the manual A/C apart from the temp control.

2) Air bag is a gud feature no doubt abt that..but if at all there is any activation of the same on slight impacts..how will the maintanace be like..

Ur suggestions are welcome as i need to decide in a day or 2.

Thanks in advance.

Last edited by muni : 31st May 2005 at 11:11.
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Old 31st May 2005, 11:27   #111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muni
...how will the maintanace be like..
They save your life, but are extremely expensive to fix if there's a problem, or if you've (god forbid) had a crash and the airbag has activated once.

About the time I was leaving the Netherlands, there was a huge airbag related crime wave - thieves were breaking into cars just to steal the airbags (as they used to steal radios at one time) as there was apparantly a huge black market for it.

I do not know what the situation is in India, but with very few cars actually using airbags I'm sure the bags themselves are pretty costly per piece. Also not sure if production has been localised - unlikely to be.
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Old 31st May 2005, 12:14   #112
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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....
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Old 31st May 2005, 12:42   #113
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hi muni,

the zxi will be worth it, as if you go in for the zxi's alloys and fit them on the vxi, it will cost you close to 35,000, (20,000 @4000 per alloy wheel; perhaps more, and 185 section tubeless tyres, assuming 3000 per tyre- and the dealer won't offer you that good a deal while trading in your existing set of tyres/rims). also, you get keyless entry, which, if you fit as an extra, will cost you 6,000 more, because that's the cost of the dealer endorsed nippon series, given as an MGA; similarly, body coloured mirrors, door handles, blah..blah.. etc...

as for the airbag, no, i don't think it will be set off or activated in case of bumps (not crashes) that occur at speeds of upto 10-15 kmph- the sensors are programmed to activate, in case of minimum 20 kmph offset crash/accident(i think). also, i haven't heard of that many airbag malfunctions around here, except in some very rare cases (a skoda and a merc).and don't worry, airbags don't require any maintenance- some periodic checks on the sensors by authorized personnel maybe- but these don't need to be done for the first few years too,so...

and as for the the a/c, the climatronic matches the temperature required by that of the user, and the ambient, via sensors. therefore, the climatronic (or climate control/ auto a/c) system automatically decides between the compressor, blower, and air circulation settings. so, it is designed for optimum cooling efficiency while minimising energy consumption. now how does all this translate into actual usage terms?? well, even though the actual difference between the performace/ F.E of a climatronic equipped swift and manual a/c swift might be negligible, or even nil, it will help in the long run. bottomline: yes, it's beneficial.

besides, there is no substitute for safety (and convenience) now, is there? so, unless you are looking at the vxi non-abs version, no point in going in for the vxi- go right ahead and book the zxi.

Last edited by veyron1 : 31st May 2005 at 12:46.
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Old 31st May 2005, 12:58   #114
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Yeah Shan i agree totally the 1.6 will have the more FTD in it(fun to drive factor) and i would pick it above the 1.3 any day thats why i am waiting for the 1.6.. or else Viper is there na.. have PMed him and ge will give me some engine options.. i think the current engine in vipers car is faster then a stock 1.6 baleno engine.. and vipers car has a swift engine.. imported..
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Old 31st May 2005, 13:24   #115
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Quote:
i think the current engine in vipers car is faster then a stock 1.6 baleno engine.. and vipers car has a swift engine.. imported..
well, the imported swift 1.3 engine has twin cams, and it produces 100 bhp, in stock form, as compared to the baleno's 94 bhp stock. and i think the twin cam head is designed same for all the G13 series/ swift engines- so basically, it should be a direct bolt-on to our humble esteem block, the designs for the passages and mountings remaining same for both the SOHC and DOHC heads.... am i right viper?

but you also get proper, bolt-on, hassle-free DOHC heads for the 1.6 too- and that gives you 300 cc more to play around with.....
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Old 31st May 2005, 13:51   #116
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So how much is a decent sound system gonna be as an addon to the Swift????
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Old 31st May 2005, 14:09   #117
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeroid

About the time I was leaving the Netherlands, there was a huge airbag related crime wave - thieves were breaking into cars just to steal the airbags (as they used to steal radios at one time) as there was apparantly a huge black market for it.

.
another reason is that an airbag has a effective life of around seven years. When an old car has its MOT (fitnnss) test, if the system fails it, the airbag costs half the price of the car so it is scrapped for this single item.
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Old 31st May 2005, 14:30   #118
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmat
another reason is that an airbag has a effective life of around seven years. When an old car has its MOT (fitnnss) test, if the system fails it, the airbag costs half the price of the car so it is scrapped for this single item.
wow..!!! that's some info, bro..!! but do the cars depreciate that drastically over there, such that an airbag costs half the price of the car that it was meant for, five-seven years afterwards??? but then, won't the airbag be old too? so how will it be utilized?? considering what you said, if the airbag of a particular car has a life of seven years, what's the point in removing it if the car is seven years old, and has failed the test?

and how often do the cars over there have to undergo the fitness test? i think that it runs on a minimum of 15 years here in india, for the commercial vehicles, am i right?
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Old 31st May 2005, 14:37   #119
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Quote:
Originally Posted by veyron1

and how often do the cars over there have to undergo the fitness test? i think that it runs on a minimum of 15 years here in india, for the commercial vehicles, am i right?

cars go through the test every year after they have completed three years.

My folks sold their c180 1996 model with low milaege for 6000 pounds. Used cars are cheap as chips over here
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Old 31st May 2005, 18:10   #120
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Is it not zippy

I had read a review on Swift praising for its looks and the features it offers for that price.

Also a negative point it mentioned was not to expect Swift as a zippy car and watch the other cars on the same segment give swift a sweat to keep with them up.

Because of the 1300 cc and 87 bhp, I though Swift would be competing even with Honda City (1.3) ( wild imagination guys, do not get offended if it was a blunder). Never even thought that it needs to put its effort for Zen, Santro & Wagon-R.

Now little bit of confusion on this ( Discussion on the 1.6 ltr engine on swift added strength to my thoughts)

Please clarify

Last edited by Surprise : 31st May 2005 at 18:12.
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