I have driven quite a few cars and after driving a 14 year old maruti
800 for quite a few years the swift vxi was a pleasant change. I have
clocked 2500+ kms on mine and I think its a brilliant car.
*Space
*Some
people say its not high on space. Well, I say its high enough on space
for a family hatchback. If you are really looking for a car with enough
boot space for vacations then go for a station wagon, hatchbacks aren’t
for you. The boot space is marginally less than that of indica.
The
cabin seats 5 people comfortably. Leg space, in front as well as rear
is really good and is better than quite a few sedans (read: esteem).
*Drivability
*The
EPS is brilliant, and its actually possible to drive this car with a
finger hooked around the steering wheel for major turns and with just a
finger on the steering wheel for normal driving...seriously! The engine
is really torquey and the gearbox acts as a great adjuct to the sporty
feel. The steering wheel is really responsive and helps you communicate
with the road and the car really well.
Performance.*
Extremely
peppy. The car zips through traffic. The overall flat gear ratios make
sure that you don’t have to keep on changing gears in traffic. On open
roads, the car will overtake most cars with ease(you will also find
almost every other small car trying to over take you, and failing! ).
The specs here say that the top spead is 156 kph, I say bullcrap; I
have clocked 170 kph and had to only stop acclerating because sanity
caught up with me. Even at 170 kph, the car is extremely stable and
with the windows up, its not even possible to tell the speed without
looking at the speedometer. No wind noise, no vibrations barely
perceptible engine noise, even at this speed. No vibrations even while
idling. The engine gently purrs when you start accelerating and roars at
high/near red lining RPM :).
Interiors.
Suzuki has
done a great job here. The interiors are elegant. Nothing too flashy
here. The gray and black theme works well. The instrument panel is well
arranged and clean. The dash board could use an open compartment too,
there sure is space for it. Split rear seats would be a great addition
too. The AC is great, with rapid cooling, though they could have placed
rear vents too (may be a bit over the top though). The cabin is
extremely silent with the tacho as the only indication to whether the
car is on or not.
Suspension & Brakes.
The ride is
extremely comfortable, and glides over potholes. The tubeless tires
make me feel really safe. The brakes are very responsive too. Something
i learnt the hard way, being used to the heavy force I had to apply on
my old maruti 800.
*Fuel Economy.
*Fifteen in city with
the AC, 17 on Highways with the AC on. 91 Octane petrol used. Anybody
who says the mileage on this car is less or poor can eat sh*t. Swift
has the best mileage among all hatchbacks.
Negatives.
I
will have to be really petty here. First up, the A pillar blocks your
vision at times, but this is the case with most cars nowadays and is
not specific to the swift. I think the option for body colored handles
and mirror cowls should have been a standard one, and not limited to
the ZXi. The doors produce a mild rattle when closed if the glass is
half or fully lowered. The front fender is pretty low and has to be
taken care of while parking. No air bags, rear wiper in VXi.
*Dealer Update:
I have to update my review here, the car as always
is beautiful. Though people in Mumbai might want to avoid Ratan Motors
as the dealer. I took my car for second servicing, and when I got my
car back that evening, the guys at the service center had managed to
bruise the front fender, and quite badly. The only saving face was that
they offered to fix it for free. I dropped of the car the following
week, and after about two days I went to get my car back. They managed
to fix the front fender, but they had got 3 new scratches on the left
door. This surface scratches took them 5 days to fix (with a delay of
one day in the scheduled delivery) and I went to get my car back, and
right in front of me, they backed my car into another...getting one
more dent in the rear fender, which they have offered to fix in the
next servicing. At home I also noticed one more dent on the door which
they had supposadely fixed. Now, after all this the dealer is trying to
make me feel like he is doing me a big favor by doing it. I see
absolutely no remorse on the dealer’s part. I have made a complaint
with the maruti helpline. More updates when I hear from them.*
Faux Negatives Cleared.
- Reversing is difficult, I cant see anything...Mummyyy !!!
Use the 3 mirrors, to reverse and only that. Its more than enough. This is the easiest car to reverse in in my experience.
Drive
properly, dont speed and brake too rapidly. Analyze the traffic, dont
keeping on giving the gas if you see a stop light from a distance.
Drive at a constant speed and in higher gears. Get your car serviced
regularly and keep the tyres at optimal pressure (33 for regular
wheels not alloys)
- My car is noisy...mummyyyy !!!
Celebrate, you are gifted with dog/bat like hearing.
Will post more later.