Took my 2024 Swift instead of my Verna for a weekender: Key takeaways

Getting in and out of tight parking spots was a breeze because of its tight turning radius aided by reverse camera

BHPian fhdowntheline recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

2024 Swift Road Trip- Some Insights:

So me and wife made a weekend trip to Mahabaleshwar. Nothing special, just a quick break from " Sus-Chande/Nande-Hinjawadi routine, that's all. But from my perspective, it was a bit different because we took the Swift AGS instead of our regular highway queen (Verna 1.5 DCT). There were two reasons:

• I wanted to see how the Swift performed on such journeys involving a mix of highway (if you can call it that) and hills.
• Mahabaleshwar is increasingly getting crowded and its better to take small cars instead of large SUVs if you want to visit places.

In respect of pt-2, the car was quite the boon. Getting in and out of tight parking spots was a breeze because of its tight turning radius aided by reverse camera( which is not too bad actually). The car also offers decent luggage capacity for a short weekend trip.

In respect of pt-1, my experience is as follows: With 2 people and weekend luggage, the car is a smooth performer on open roads. You almost never feel the lack of grunt and thanks to MH, you never get an opportunity to exceed 80-90 kph frequently either. So you are always in the sweet spot, and the mileage on such roads was phenomenal. While going up and around the hills, it is a bit of a mixed bag because you always feel that you wont beat the oncoming traffic while trying to out-gun the slow bus/truck up ahead. Its not impossible, but every overtake is a major calculation effort and can be demanding (unlike the Verna 1.5 DCT). While heading back from Pratapgadh on Ambenali ghat (a rare smooth tarmac), I was literally hamstrung by a slow moving MSRTC up ahead, and the continuous blind curves of the ghat did not give the comfort to overtake quickly, lest there be an oncoming vehicle. Thats where I really felt the lack of comfort, if not lack of outright grunt.

But all in all it was a pleasant driving experience. As far as the overall trip efficiency goes, well, here it is for a 303 km trip. Maruti should really rechristen the vehicle as Maruti Efficient.

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