his car is like a tiny go kart you weave through traffic, it feels agile at quick overtakes above 2000 RPM
BHPian ttm_220d recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello Team BHP,
This is my experience with the New Swift ZXI Manual in a 40KM night drive in Bengaluru. This car was purchased by my friend who kindly lent me the car for my thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of some aspects while a little underwhelmed by a few others. This is my experience that may help you in your decision if you’re considering this car.
Prelude:
A little background of the cars I have experience with so that you know where I am coming from when I drove the Swift. At home, the fleet is almost all Diesel Cars ranging from a 2.8L D4D, 220D, 1.5IDTEC and 1.5 CRDI. I am used to driving Diesel cars so naturally I am accustomed to the higher torque on these cars. This makes driveability, especially in a manual a lot easier as a lot less acceleration input is needed in stop-go city traffic. I have also spent an extensive time with the new Baleno Alpha Amt when it launched. I had almost two months of driving it through the highways, village and city roads etc. I really enjoyed my time in the Baleno, solid car- gets the basics all right. The AMT is a little bit dull but the Engine is a gem, ride is sublime and everything works well. This will be my reference point comparing it to the Swift, as will most of you.
What I Loved:
The basics- In a world where everything is going digital including our cars, there was something so aesthetic and pleasing about the instrument cluster dials. It was clear, looked modern but timeless, it’s hard to put in words but there was something refreshing about the way it looked. I was particularly impressed by the reach and illumination of the LED headlights. I drove through some dark stretches and at no point did I feel there was not enough illumination. The Air Conditioning as with any Maruti Product was superb. The Infotainment system worked well, my phone connected right up- and there was no issue at all with the wireless connectivity of the Apple CarPlay. The rear camera and parking sensors were clear enough- drove through some rain but it still the quality was good. Front parking sensors I feel are a huge miss at this price though. The soft clutch and gear feel were my real highlights of the drive. It felt smooth, easy but robust while shifting gears, an enjoyable feel while shifting gears.
The Ride:
This car is like a tiny go kart you weave through traffic, it feels agile at quick overtakes above 2000 RPM, there is good visibility on all sides and I had no problem at all quickly adapting to this car- I think the sign of a good car is if you’ve never driven it before and get used to it within 3 minutes of driving. What blew me away was how comfortable the suspension was on Bengaluru potholes. Even my Seltos GTX or my Honda City do not have such comfort over the bumps. I also liked how at higher revs, the engine sounded nice and sporty- I might not have actually been driving that fast but, it made a nice sound and felt like a peppy car.
What I didn’t like:
The mileage was only between 13-14 kmpl in the city. See, I am not a Maruti purist, I am just giving my impressions with the car, but if there’s anything even I know about Maruti is that the corners cut in the weight of the car, the power, the creature comforts are all in the interest to save fuel. I’m sorry but the claimed mileage of 24.8KMPL on the manual is just not true from what many of us have experienced. The owner of the car who has taken it on many long drives, and city drives has reported a max mileage of 16 KMPL. This mileage the Swift is returning is still okay had they maintained the power and refinement of the 4-cylinder engine in the Baleno. But this brings me to my biggest issue- the engine just doesn’t have enough power in the initial get up and go. Why is this important? In city traffic and in a manual, you have a lot of creeping- even on the mildest of incline during city traffic, you have to give so much accelerator input. The lack of low-end power means at slow speeds, while doing the balancing act between accelerator, brake and clutch, you are very often going to stall or you heard that ‘clacking’ sound of an impending stall.
My final thoughts:
The owner of this Swift is someone whose family has only used Maruti Suzuki products for almost 40 years. The reason they stuck with MS is the same reason why anyone would stick with M&S, but I think the Swift’s greatest rival is M&S itself. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is the best allrounder car in every right. Smooth engine, decent mileage, a richer experience on the inside. The Swift looks lovely, technically has better driving dynamics and is also is a nice city car, but from my experience with the Swift I would urge you to strongly drive the manual to see if you can deal with the low-speed performance or maybe check out the AMT option, if you want the Swift for city driving.
Hope my experience helps.
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