[rohan_iitr]

Congratulations on your Sx4. It is one of my favorite Indian cars. It is really designed for Indian roads.

I really liked the way you compared the 2 shortlisted cars in an unbiased manner, appreciated both for their respective positive points and also mentioned the shortcomings. You have compared these 2 cars so well that someone else who is in a similar dilemma can virtually make his decision (either way) just based on your comparison, even a TD is not required.

Many people buy cars based on hearsay, brand image, A.S.S. experiences etc, but you are obviously not one of them. You compared both the shortlisted cars and picked the one which meets your requirements perfectly.

A car's underbelly scrapping the speed breakers is a real turn off for me. I wish we had more cars like SX4 and Fusion on Indian roads.

Also liked your initial review - very informative and unbiased.

Why on earth has Maruti given a beige dashboard in SX4 ? We already have so many i10 owners suffering from the beige dashboard reflection. Why do these car companies keep making the same mistakes again and again ? IIRC, SX4 used to have a black dashboard earlier.

Rohan

[ajmat]

Congrats - you did not mention the small deviation that I took you on?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Congratulations on your Sx4. It is one of my favorite Indian cars. It is really designed for Indian roads.

I really liked the way you compared the 2 shortlisted cars in an unbiased manner, appreciated both for their respective positive points and also mentioned the shortcomings. You have compared these 2 cars so well that someone else who is in a similar dilemma can virtually make his decision (either way) just based on your comparison, even a TD is not required.

Many people buy cars based on hearsay, brand image, A.S.S. experiences etc, but you are obviously not one of them. You compared both the shortlisted cars and picked the one which meets your requirements perfectly.

A car's underbelly scrapping the speed breakers is a real turn off for me. I wish we had more cars like SX4 and Fusion on Indian roads.

Also liked your initial review - very informative and unbiased.

Why on earth has Maruti given a beige dashboard in SX4 ? We already have so many i10 owners suffering from the beige dashboard reflection. Why do these car companies keep making the same mistakes again and again ? IIRC, SX4 used to have a black dashboard earlier.

Rohan

Thanks a lot, Rohan. Yup, I hate the beige dashboard too. SX4 used to have a nice black dashboard, but they switched to beige when they introduced VVT model in October 2009.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Congrats - you did not mention the small deviation that I took you on?

Thanks, ajmat! And thanks a lot for all your help. I know I bugged you a lot ;-)

Yes, I need to mention the small deviation. I will write about that in a separate post soon.

[rkbharat]

Congrats, you will enjoy this mini beast to its max

[WhiteKnight]

Dr. AD, reading your report, I could form a crystal clear picture of what type of personality you are. Deliberate and meticulous person who makes an informed decision. I am pretty sure you would never go for "Janata ka vote", or popular choice.

Thank you for the detailed report. I really liked that part where you did your Industrial engineering test to find the end user requirements.

Btw, you must have spend some days to prepare the report too!!

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

The engine pulls quite well in both city and highway conditions. On highway, in 5th gear and at about 90kmph, the engine RPM is about 2.5k, and it sounds just right at that point. -AD

Are you sure about the rpm figures? I am disappointed with it. I would have liked the car to have a taller 5th gear that would do ~80 KpH in 2000 rpm. Among the (petrol) cars I have driven, my old Esteem and Cedia could do that. Makes those really relaxed cruisers, as 120 would mean ~2.5 k rpm. It was another matter that Esteem never had the power to pull off such tall gearing.

Wonder how engine noise on SX4 would at speeds above 140?

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Wonder how engine noise on SX4 would at speeds above 140?

At 140 you can hear the engine notes loud and clear

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Congrats, you will enjoy this mini beast to its max

Thanks. Your travelogues and your SX4 stories also played a part in my decision making!

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Dr. AD, reading your report, I could form a crystal clear picture of what type of personality you are. Deliberate and meticulous person who makes an informed decision. I am pretty sure you would never go for "Janata ka vote", or popular choice.

Thank you for the detailed report. I really liked that part where you did your Industrial engineering test to find the end user requirements.

Btw, you must have spend some days to prepare the report too!!

Thanks a lot for your kind words! Actually I did not prepare the report as such. I already had all these thoughts hovering in my mind, so I just sat down and put down all my thoughts. It did take me some time to write it down and edit it. I guess I should have edited it more carefully though, because when I read it again I realized there are several typos (which are not caught by spell checker).

Are you sure about the rpm figures? I am disappointed with it. I would have liked the car to have a taller 5th gear that would do ~80 KpH in 2000 rpm. Among the (petrol) cars I have driven, my old Esteem and Cedia could do that. Makes those really relaxed cruisers, as 120 would mean ~2.5 k rpm. It was another matter that Esteem never had the power to pull off such tall gearing.

Wonder how engine noise on SX4 would at speeds above 140?

Well, thinking about it now, I am not 100% sure. During that highway drive, I was a bit excited and was also trying to observe (and remember) too many parameters at the same time, such as Speed (both shown on the speedo and measured by GPS), RPM, engine noise, tyre noise, wind noise, steering feedback, alignment, ride quality etc. So it is quite likley that I made a mistake and somehow remembered a wrong RPM number.

Anyway, I am planning another highway drive this weekend, and I will ensure to accurately measure RPM information again, and I will post my findings here.

In the meantime, maybe other SX4 owners can comment on the RPM numbers.

[carfreak]

AD this is a beautifully written thread!!in fact being in the market for a new car after (notice the similarity) selling off my palio, i can relate very well to your dilemmas especially with regard to the Linea!!Like you said that is a car that makes having 'second thoughts' out of fashion!!

I had a clarification-in the brochure the GC is mentioned as 180mm for the zxi but you have mentioned as 190mm.So which is correct?

And the importance of GC is more in these parts of India where post monsoons, roads resemble the moon surface (mind you, i am not exaggerating!!) I was planning on the Thar but the lack of HT version has given me second thoughts!!

I feel the best way to see the sx4 is as an suv that can handle well!!and not as a car that handles badly!!

[p'arth]

180mm GC may be for the Vxi since it has 15" wheels.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by carfreak

AD this is a beautifully written thread!!in fact being in the market for a new car after (notice the similarity) selling off my palio, i can relate very well to your dilemmas especially with regard to the Linea!!Like you said that is a car that makes having 'second thoughts' out of fashion!!

I had a clarification-in the brochure the GC is mentioned as 180mm for the zxi but you have mentioned as 190mm.So which is correct?

And the importance of GC is more in these parts of India where post monsoons, roads resemble the moon surface (mind you, i am not exaggerating!!) I was planning on the Thar but the lack of HT version has given me second thoughts!!

I feel the best way to see the sx4 is as an suv that can handle well!!and not as a car that handles badly!!

Thanks for your compliments! GC is 180 mm for VXi version (which has 15" steel wheels - no alloys) and 190 mm for ZXi version (which has 16" alloys). Check the brochure carefully again, or even check the SX4 website, where this is clearly mentioned.

I like your last statement. It is a good way to make myself happy

Originally Posted by p'arth

180mm GC may be for the Vxi since it has 15" wheels.

Exactly!

[echo77]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Thanks a lot, echo77. And best luck for your own selection and purchasing process. Keep us updated on your selection process. Should I read more into the word "endeavor" that you used? ;-)

Now, if only I had that much money to fool around with...

[marathp]

Dr. AD - Excellent report. Congratulations on your new acquisition.

I was also in a similar dilemma between Linea and SX4, and finally settled for SX4 for its practicality. It proved right and am pretty happy about it except for few issues like what you have mentioned.

It was a surprise for me that new VVT costs more than 1 L compared to the old model. I paid Less than 8 L for Zxi exactly 1 year back (I too bought from Pratham motors)

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by marathp

Dr. AD - Excellent report. Congratulations on your new acquisition.

I was also in a similar dilemma between Linea and SX4, and finally settled for SX4 for its practicality. It proved right and am pretty happy about it except for few issues like what you have mentioned.

It was a surprise for me that new VVT costs more than 1 L compared to the old model. I paid Less than 8 L for Zxi exactly 1 year back (I too bought from Pratham motors)

Thanks, marathp.

It is actually interesting to note that so many of us have gone through this dilemma between Linea and SX4. Although these cars are so different, there must be something in these that attracts some people. May be it is the strong character (in their own ways) of both these cars, as I said. Maybe something else.

Regarding price, yes, it is a painful truth that SX4-ZXi costs more than 1L more compared to last year. However, all this price increase is not due to VVT. When VVT was launched, the price in Bangalore was about 8.8L for ZXi-MT. Then there was an increase in excise duty in budget in Feb 2010, then increase in road tax in Karnataka in April 2010, and another round of price increase by Maruti in April 2010 etc. Adding all this, the price of ZXi-VVT-MT in Bangalore shot up from 8.8 to 9.3L in about 6 months time.

[allajunaki]

May I suggest a good polarized sunglasses
Polaroid has a huge collection of polarized sun glasses. Ray-Ban also has some. And so does Fossil. Don't know much about others, I know about these coz I own Fossil and Polaroid polarized glasses. And my dad has Ray-Ban Polarized.
They are very very effective in removing dashboard reflections. DONOT go for the so-called "Anti Glare" stuff. Only Polarized glasses really work.

Personally I prefer the green tinted ones. Since they tend to be vibrant while driving through road with lots of greenery, without being overbearing

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

3.4 Dashboard reflection in windshield: I knew during the TD that this is going to be a problem, especially with the beige interiors of the VVT model. And unfortunately, I was right. The beige dashboard reflects badly in the windshield especially for some specific angles and intensities of sunlight. I will just have to live with it, I guess.

[vasoo]

Excellent review Dr. Loved to read the comparison and factors that determined your final decision. After all the feeling you get after making a tough decision is really exhilarating. Wish I could write something like this regarding the events that led into buying my car. I am somehow not so good at writing and too lazy as well