Your review is Submitted Successfully. ×
4.0

Summary

Maruti Suzuki Swift
Narasimhan C@giridhar81
Nov 17, 2008 02:38 PM, 8394 Views
(Updated Apr 10, 2009)
Initial Feel of driving a swift- Update

Okay, it is only a week since I got the new swift LXI and maybe a bit premature to comment on the reliability and performance of the car. **Now it is close to 6 months. This review is just an initial review of the car- Not so initial review.

Handling:

The Car’s handles like dream. Turning seems to be pretty smooth and steering the car seems to be pretty good. Car is easily on power( more than requried to be honest). My objective of buying a car which was city worth was satisfied by Swift. ***Update*** Handling of the car is stunning. You will realize the stability and cornering grip of the car at relatively high speeds only if you have a co-driver/ co-passenger seated next to you. When the car’s weight is balanced, I was able to make sharp turns ar 70+(on a flyover :) ) without much of a fuss. Full Marks!!!!!!!! When other sedans are looking forward and on their rear mirror for approaching vehicles before making a sharp turn, swift just flys past them. I couldnt believe that I was able to overtake many cars on the third lane(right most) of the Kathipara flyover. People who have driven from Tambaram to Guindy using the flyover will vouch for the never ending curves of this flyover.

**Suspension**

A big improvement on the previous cars that I have owned/ dirver(Corsa, WagonR and Old Model Zen). Suspension is pretty good, added to this is the relatively better ground clearance, which ensure that over expansion of the springs when driving out of a pit or a bump does not make the body hit the surface. ***Update***As mentioned in the handling section, suspension is a dream sply the balance in the suspension. It is critical to maintain good traction when taking sharp turns at a good speed, the suspension can neither be very soft nor hard. The stock suspension setup of the car takes care of the tractionwhile making fast turns.

**Engine performance**

This is one section where I can only have a limited comment. The pickup with or without AC seems to be very good, only that I am not to cross 70 kmph upto 1000 kms. I really cannot comment on the top speed.***Update***. Power of the car with and without AC varies significantly. I can feel an adrenaline pump when the AC is off and the Car whooooooshes past other cars. I live in Chennai and summer is fast approaching. I regularly use the AC nowadays and feel the pickup to be sluggish, when compared to days when AC usage was limited. Nevertheless, when compared to other cars, Swift’s pickup with AC seems pretty decent.

**Looks and external finish

**Somehow I feel that the swift has a monkey like appearance from the front, having said that the looks are offbeat and the exterior finish is very elegant. For a car which is used in rallying the car looks pretty good. The headlight and danger light assemblies are relative big for a small hatch, but they add to the MUSCULAR definition that the car tries to project -***Update***- Unfortunate incident happened when I was getting my stereo fixed, a loose billboard fell on the front driver side door and caused a dent. :(. Nazar lag gaya!!!

**Interiors

**A big letdown is what I would say as far as the interiors are concerned. I have an LXI, and have a two toned fabric finish seat, The color contrast is not all that great. The Dashboard, however looks simple and neat, with provision for a 2din Music system and simpler AC console. Speaker provisions are provided in the doors.

**Addons

**Car does not come with music system, central locking/ remote locking or any other feature. Had spent around 17K for these. In fact the end deal was pretty satisfactory. ***Update*** Had fitted a Xenos head unit with DVD, VCD, MP3, WMA, FM, AM, USB playback and AUX playback. Head unit costed 7.2 K and the speakers(JBL ROCKS) costed another 7K. USB playback is a bit sluggish, otherwise the HU seems to be working grt.

End of it I did buy a car which is city worthy, yet to chek on the milage, but initial milage seems to be in the range of 12 kmpl in the city. will comment on this later. ***Update*** Milage of 12-13 kmpl in the city(chennai) with AC always on. Intermittent use of AC results in the milage improving to 14kmpl. Yet to test on a highway, am sure the milage will only improve!!!

overall, Swift is a car worth spending around 5 lacs. Lets wait and watch wat Maruti Splash does

(3)
Please fill in a comment to justify your rating for this review.
Post

Recommended Top Articles

Question & Answer