I bought this car on sep 26th 2009. I would like to share my experience. Let me explain each experience separately.
Decision making : Before buying this car I had the following order of shortlist of cars in hatchbacks. First thought was petrol or diesel and I decided it has to be diesel because of long weekend trips. Next when I thought diesel, I finalized it has to be a fiat engined car. I am great fan of Fiat and so had swift, vista and palio in my mind. First palio somehow was not interesting in its looks. Next I test drove swift and to say it is on as much as pulsar 150. At last I took test drive of vista and it was very silent and peppy. Cornering ability is not very good but wasn’t too bad.
Driving experience (Best): We can feel the Turbo Lag in diesel cars which really makes one feel diesel cars are slower. It also reduces the driving pleasure especially in city. Of the swift and vista here vista has the least turbo lag. I found it more drivable of the two (reason for choosing this).The power delivery is linear and smoother. Pickup is better than old Indica but is lesser than swift. But drivability is better than swift. This may be because of shorter gearing ratio (5th gear of Quadrajet is nearly equal to 4th gear of TDI) which should improve response but the pickup is spoiled by the extra 250kg over swift (1010kg). But you get comfort for the sacrifice of performance which is acceptable.
The drivability of this car is well proved on steep inclines. Due to shorter gearing one can maintain in 3rd or 4th gear with only occasional 2nd. This was really impressive as the hill I climbed was very steep and it managed a steady 40kmph and could reach 60kmph. Just maintaining the rpm above 1500 is enough to attack steeps in 3rd easily. But the downside is when u stop in the middle of steep incline it is very difficult to climb. 1st gear itself is useless and a lot of clutch action is required to start climbing again but vans and jeeps easily take off before you!
On highways the gear ratios feel very apt for the car. The car easily reaches 100kmph. The refinement of the engine is very good because even at 120kmph the engine feels relaxed and silent. When I travelled at 140kmph it felt like 80kmph. The actual speed is never felt in the car. I am sure this car is great for long distance travelling. Overtaking is also very easy and that big busses and trucks pass by in a fraction of second.
Refinement levels are very good. Almost no sound reaches the passengers even with mild AC and no music. Only at 120kmph one can hear engine sound. Surely it is a silent performer.
Gearbox(best): It was difficult to change gears in a hurried manner and required lots of patience. But once after getting used to it will feel slick. It gives good feedback to me while changing gears that makes me shift precisely. So people in car could hardly notice the gear changes. Such a smooth is the changes. The gearbox and engine as become like a buzzword as I boast it to others often.
Space and Comfort (best): Mine is Aura which was top model in vista untill Ignis. Its interiors are excellent in beige. Space and legroom is ample. Driving position is best with loads of space and adjustability. Steering column too can be adjusted. After driving this, I did not like Santro because it felt small and cramped. Surely equals many sedans.
Mileage (Average):Mileage is where we Indians are most interested in. I got 14kmpl on mix driving which I feel is the good considering the kind of roads this car is subjected to. This mileage I feel can be given average rating. But I am satisfied with it.
Air Conditioner (Best): While at idling in traffic the AC is very effective in cooling even in hot summer. I parked the car on roadside for half an hour with no shades around and sunlight blistering outside the AC cooled the car within minutes and was effective throughout the long idling period.
But the peculiar thing happened was while moving the effective cooling is reduced. And the cooling again gets better only after 60kmph. This I have experienced many times and only on moving below 60kmph I do feel the outside heat. I don’t know how this is happening because a moving car no matter how fast it is moving dissipates heat better than a stationary car and has to cool more. Please can someone explain this?
Update at 17500kms: With some good amount of days spent in the car I can surely say that it is reliable and good. Problem faced till now is the stereo set which stopped working all of a sudden has gone for replacement. Other than that there is no problem in the car.
Engine is very good but is very sensitive to diesel quality. I experienced this. For power diesel in HP>BP>IO. For quietness its just the reverse. Once diesel is filled in Hindustan Petroleum the car runs and pulls better than others which made me to stick on to HP itself although the noise is a little bit high with this diesel.
After 3rd service the car has done many fun trips with my friends and it won many hearts. It was because of trip to Valparai - slopes of higher gradient and really very steep. We were five in the car and the luggage was also present up to considerable amount. We were really delighted when the car climbed effortlessly in fourth gear. Just could not imagine how it managed to climb steep slopes in higher gears. Thumbs up for the fiat engine. It made me very proud that day as my friends were whispering the power of the car.
Second trip was to ooty when I decided to just have a fun drive and was really a fun that day. Way to Ooty by Kotagiri route is known for steep inclines but the road is very nice for driving. It is almost 55 km and I was having smile in my face throughout this route as the car was climbing in 4th gear at almost 60-70kmph. Just 1 hour it took and it was good experience.
So HP diesel is the best fuel for this car and I get around 16kmpl on tankful to tankful basis. Mileage may be a downside but the power of the engine will make you happy.