Bought it a month ago. Driven the car for 1300 kms in 1 month as went on a highway journey 1st week of purchase.
My reason of selling my 15 months old Wagon R VX I(only 9400 kms) & buying AT. During a sports activity 4 months ago, I hurt my left leg & broke my ACL. Dr recommended knee surgery to replace broken ligament, which is not complicated but scary & I would have landed with crutches for a month & no driving for 3-6 months. Decided not to go for surgery.
While driving during stop & go heavy traffic, my left knee used to get fatigue. Didn’t prefer A Star as its too small for me, i10 AT(1.2 Kappa 2) model out of production, also mileage stories are horrible, i20 overpriced, Grand i10 again overpriced 5.7 lakhs ex. showroom for Sportz model, Brio too low for me, no boot space.
Settled for Ritz AT as got a good deal & discount more than 1.5 grand for a display car, only 180 kms driven, warranty free service etc from Maruti authorized with accessories like parking sensor, leather seats, foot mats, stereo with hands free Bluetooth, body graphics, leather wrapped steering wheel, central locking all worth 35, 000/- free free free.
OK enough, here I start the review.
Exterior always a debate for Ritz. Either you like it or hate it. Personal opinion. I always liked it & with facelift it has new front grill, new fog lamp, spoiler it has become better. No changes at side/rear profile. Yell
Interior(features, space & comfort) Ritz is excellent for tall & fat people like me(5’11", 235 lbs), but.only till front seats. Moment I am in, Rear space is a compromise for tall people. Its ok for a person max 5’6". Under thigh support is amazing, seats gives you feeling as if it hugs you, comfortable for non-stop journey even for 300 kms. No issues for paxs rubbing their shoulders like in WagonR. Comfortable for 3 medium at back.
Company provided features: All 4 power windows, tilt adjustable steering, ABS with EBD period. I feel its overpriced by atleast 50, 000/-(6.2 lakhs ex. showroom Delhi). I expect atleast body colored & electronic adjustable ORVMs, body colored handles, defogger, keyless entry & company fitted stereo for this price. Ritz ZXI MT is 5.20 lakhs ex. showroom which also has airbags, alloys, rear defogger & wiper, driver seat adjustment. That’s the main reason for not so successful Ritz AT.
Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox super silent VVT engine. No sound what so ever. Yes, it becomes audible it rev really hard & RPM needle shoots above 3500. Killer K12 engine by Suzuki. AT transmission is a boon to drive in traffic situation.
No delay or lag in AT transmission. You get a minimal feeling of upshift or downshift & let me explain how "You drive a manual car, upshift from 3rd to 4th or 4th to 3rd, & leave the clutch. You feel a slight jerk? That’s it." Only 4 gear shift for AT, Believe me, I am still very happy as my injured left knee is happy & I drove 250 kms non stop. Still was fresh & active.
Mileage. Never trusted mileage indicator or DTE system. Did a tank full to tank full same pump, same machine, same attendant. Completed 710 kms which includes 490 kms on under construction NH 8 full of diversions, 220 kms in crowded Jaipur & Gurgaon city with 70% AC.
Car consumed 40 liters of petrol(710/40= 17.75 kmpl), which is fantastic & better then company claimed 17.16 KMPL considering driving conditions & let me remind I never drove 60-70 kmph. I went till 100 as well. Mostly drove around 80 kmph. 12-15 KMPL when driven in Delhi /NCR traffic again depending upon traffic & driving style.
Ride Quality & Handling: Smooth ride, confident on pot holes, slight body roll due to tall boy design, stable at high speeds, doors close with a heavy thud sound, can drive with ease even in crowded roads, parking sensor is a must to have to avoid crashes at the rear bumper. Can’t expect anything better then in terms of ride quality & handling.
Final words: Ritz is most under rated car. I found it better then Swift in terms of space, comfort & looks(Again as I said personal opinion). Wish Maruti either provide more features or shed price of Ritz AT by atleast 50, 000 to see some numbers flowing for such a fantastic car.
Areas of improvement Maruti please Increase the rear leg space by atleast 40 mm & either reduce the price or provide more features. Also promote the car as there are no advertisements for an AT version seen. You will see the numbers for Ritz AT going high in sales.