Keeping Maruti’s penchant for going slow and steady, this one’s a cracker of a car. It’s affordable, spacious, zippy, , mileage-conscious and has a smooth gear box mated to an equally smooth and silent engine. For those with just about enough cash, the Lxi version is best suited. But for those with deeper pockets the Vxi and Zxi variants are best suited. The top end Zxi has anti-lock braking system, a feature very few people understand and respect. For a moment just forget the alloy wheels, leather upholstery, side mirrors, inside mirrors and all those cosmetic do-gooders and let’s just talk about ABS. This is a great feature in a car and I hope some day it comes as a standard fitment in all cars in India. In cars without an ABS, the moment you brake, the the wheels lock. You can try this yourself at a lonely stretch of road. Go at around 60 km and upwards and just jam your brakes by stepping hard on it. The common perception is that these brakes are meant to bring your car to a halt. Well it does that, but what actually happens is that the wheel just get locked and though the brakes are pressed hard, the car skids for a while. So the actual effect of applying brakes is to some extent nullified by the skidding. When your car has an ABS installed, the skidding in minimal and the chance of a crash is also minimal.
Coming back to the Swift, the Zxi has ABS feature installed in it. Go for this variant if you have the money. Yes, it may be as expensive as the Esteem, but remember you are buying a contemporary model with modern features. And to top it all, the Swift is a Maruti product and that itself means less headache in terms of procuring spare parts etc.