I had taken a swift ldi as the dealer told me there could be delay of 3 months in getting the vdi model, neverthless I had to buy one to avil depreciation benefits in march’07 and went for the ldi itself. Buy the Ldi only if you are very much concerned with the budget. The VDI seems to be more value for money and the fit and finish with the silver toned trims are attractive. The ldi comes without the rear head restraints( It sucks to feel a 5 lakh car doesnt have one) . I had retroffited the ldi with the power windwos from xenos the keyless entry from nippon and fitted the rear head restraint made by a local guy at the dealers service sation. The seats are black and it is not all the comfortable especially during the summer and you can feel the heat( need to go in for a decent seat cover which could brightenup the overall ambiance inside the car). The car has terrific pickup with the turbo lag not all that evident.
The ride is not all that great and you can feel the car hitting the bumps with a thud at lower speeds. The handling of the car is fine but with the narrow profile tyres you need to be extremely watchful to hit the corners. It skids and squeels and you need to go down on the gears to take a sharp corner. Driving enthusiasts are best advised to go in for the fatter tyres like the ones that come in the swift zxi and that can improve the pickup handling and ride instantly. But for city cruising at average speeds you dont need to invest on that do we?I wonder how many swift drivers faced this problem:
When you brake when you are in 3rd gear and the moment you take your foot of the brake pedal you can feel the car moving and accelarating as though it wanted to reach a reference speed already programmed in. Yes it is absolutely true The ECM in the car has been programmed in that fashion and when I hit the service station for the first service the guys changed the ECM with a new programme as advised by Maruti Udyog and now the vehicle listens to what the drivers wants it to do. Thats something the Folks at Maruti have figured out and recommended all the old vehicles to be reprogrammed or ECMchanged I guess.I think it is perhaps time Maruti thinks of providing a tilt steering in the vhicles like the swift and Wagon R as the going gets tougher with the high arm position for long. But certainly Maruti should also feel comfort for 5 lakh car should be at par with its rivals and should have atleast not forgotten to have provided with a rear head restraints. after all even the Maruti 800’s have one. There are not sufficent storage space unlike the wagonR perhaps Maruti should also think of reworking the dashboard to accomodate a few things like your cellphones etc.The plastics again arent the greatest around attracts a lot of dirt and prone to scratches if not maintained well. The Boot is adequate for a city drive and reminds me of the old zen with regards to the available space.
The car definitely roomier inside but the all black seat covers and the charcoal grey plastics make it gloomier perhaps a brighter seat could ahve done away with the same2500KM REVIEWI had driven around 1350kms in the last three days mainly on the highway about 70% of the time and small village roads 30% of the times and now its time I feel I need to report on what I felt of the carperformance: Its definite drivers delight with performance diesel and the pickup especially on the 3rd and to certain extent the 4th is remarkable. Its responsive and you certainly feel the josh that one normally associates with the Ford Ikons. The downside is its pain overtakin in the fifth at lower speeds and you need to necessarily switch gears.
The engine is literally you may say noiseless at cruising speeds in relative terms and all you hear the clattery noise as you accelarate . The gear shift is notchy and gives a sporty feel and yes its quite like the ones you find on the Ikons. The vehicle at speeds of 70 to 90km/hr and a/c at all times with five passengers plus the luggage retuned about 18.6 to 18.9km/lt . The only discomfort for the driver is the inadequate space to keep the left foot by the side of the clutch but be happy theres no evident body roll while hitting the corners .Ride and handling: Handling is excellent but I would never say anythg good as far as the ride goes as when it hits the small potholes on bad indian roads it really hurts the thuds are very prominent and the vehicle jumps and bumps as they drive over the potholes .
I guess a lot of compromise to improve handling which would have been just terrific with fatter tyres. But dont expect anythg better the old wagonR had better ride than the swift . comfort: The front seats are quite big and comfy not much to say about the rear. I made a terrible mistake by fixing the rear head restraints and it only adds to the discomfort as it is an intrusion not helping in adequate back support for long rides. The rear glasses being smaller and the top of the car contouring into the glass at the rear the rear view mirror perhaps needs to be fixed a few inches below the current position to aid in proper view of vehicles coming behind . Space I would say is just adequate certainly better than all other Marutis .
The boot certainly dissapoints adequate enough only for the short trips . NVH levels are pretty low and hence you would never get dissappointed to use the car for the longer drivesThe aircon is perfect and the major factor is you dont feel any loss in power because of the same.I would have been a lot happier with a tilt steering, shoulder certainly hurts for long drives.One aspect about the swift that is exceptional is you feel that you are finally driving a maruti product which is quite refined for a diesel and style which has made big impressions in terms of new trend in India( many people down here still feel the looks are crazy like the old Impalas .i certainly feel that they would be found wanting soon) Overall package is certainly cool and with the maruti customer satisfaction and service backup no matter how many attractive other brand models that may be launched in the near future this car is gonna rule .
Not that I have bought it but if a lot of intellectual thinking goes into it the maruti swift diesel would win hands down in all front inspite of the cons. If at all I foresee a competiton it should be the skoda fabia I guess! Fiats Getz and the Indicas still need to something miraculous to catch the swift diesel market enitirelyYou may wonder but I honestly confess I was not a great swift fan like most of you reading till I stopped being emotionally attached to the cars I like most. verdictclose your eyes and Just go for it inspite of the cons. But ensure you have fatter tyres . happy motoring!regardssampath