[anupamkansal]

Boys Toys: Swift VXi

Few months before, just when I was getting married, I started looking at a new set of wheels … basically I needed a cage. My heart was set on the Scorpio  but practicality was speaking a different language. Lots of research and taking to people and ROI calculations later, I settled on the Suzuki Swift VXi. 6 months down the line and with just 5k km on the odo … I think I have been there and done most of the stuff one can do with a city car  mind u no off roading adventures as yet. So guys, for your benefit or not, I m sitting down in my office waiting for a concall to begin and fretting awaytime by writing this review. A few weeks back I took it for a spin towards Jaipur with the guys and so time is also ripe for this review, now that it has seen a highway without the wife / parental speed-limiter.


Main points that influenced my decision to buy a Swift:
1) It is a decent size car that any one can drive and not be overwhelmed by its size. Important point as My dad will be driving it and hope fully even my wife  If that happens, I would love to sit in the pillion seat and let her drive and just chill with a diet coke and njoy the cool breeze of the a/c
2) Good serviceability (have purchased a 2 year extended warranty for the car)
3) Good Resale value: most Maruti cars are blessed with it
4) Decent fuel efficiency: I get approx 10kmpl, as I drive pedal to the metal types many times with ac running at full blast all the time.
5) Good for highway driving as my parent like to drive to Mathura etc (me I would like to take it to …) once in two months etc.


Now about the car: It is a Swift Silver VXi model without ABS. I tried to get the VXi ABS model, but delivery timeline constraints played spoilsport. It is a gr8 car to drive, the whole of 87 horses are rearing to go at the touch of the accelerator, especially in the first and second gear … the exhaust sound is pure muzik and the acceleration is gr8. But will like with all cars in India the 5th gear is overdrive, so the top wack is around 150kmph plus, haven’t tested it much, so planning to hit the Noida Express way some time this or next week to check the top speed in day light, when I m more confident 
The engine is the Kohinoor of the crown, and I simply adore it. Definitely a driver’s car; can cruise at 110-120 kmph for all day long. And the breaks are also pretty responsive. This gives you a range of approx 450km on a full tank.

The interiors are grey and drab, but good quality. But they are solid and have a good feel about them. The center console has a dual din socket for a fully loaded muzik player. It has the controls for the HVAC and guys the ac is really effective. But if you are 5 people in the car and it is roasting outside and u r stuck in traffic, the cooling goes down quite an extent. But it is definitely it is better than any other car in the same category like Santro etc. But I believe that the Climate control system (std in ZXi) is a definite requirement for this car, as I have to keep switching the ac / fan on and off to maintain bearable temperature. The center gear console has 3 cup holders (Cup holders (front 2, rear 1), with a removable ash tray and a 12V accessory socket in center console (cigarette lighter is missing). You can plug in a 120 watts utility gadget in it easily.

The seats are good and comfortable and the rear seats have collapsible headrests. The front seats are addressable for movement quite a lot. Unfortunately the steering wheel does not have the tilt adjustment, like the new Hyundai i10.

The headlights are good and so is the fog light. The rear fog light is only a mere decoration. Also one thing that is weird is that the reversing lights are red in colour !!! so while reversing their intensity is reduced. Also this is compounded by the fact that the rear visibility is less due to the high rise back and small glass area and the wide C pillars. In Swift, u need to use the side mirrors to gain full view of the back and sides, unfortunately this exposes them to idots who can rip them off causing a 5k ka fatka to u  Then the bumpers are body colors (look good) , so even minor scratches are visible. And thanks to ruffians, I have lots of scratches on the body … one bugger drew circles on the door with a rock and left the rock on the roof as proof of his idoticity.

I have just added sued seat covers to the car (look good but get hot and uncomfortable), planning for a stereo system and a reversing light in the near future.

Some UIP (uniquely irritating points) are: NO AIRBAGS !!!!!!!! **** for a car costing 5Lac not even a driver side airbag …. Also Can’t fix a reversing horn … the built in central –locking does not support this feature nor does it support all the 4 indicators blinking together (Hazard lights) when the car is reversing, a globe compartment that has no lock, missing rear parcel shelf (yar INR 300 ki ati hai, kya factory fitted nahi de sakte 5 Lac ke gari mei).

Things I would like to have are: Airbags, Steering wheel mounted audio controls like the new desire  and a turbo charger for those high speed times , 12V accessory socket in luggage compartment the remains powered off so that I can leave my battery charger in the car and it keeps charging the battery (is it safe is the question), Factory option to have Alloy wheels and tubeless tyres as showroom option and a CNG kit that doesn’t void my factory warranty 

What I now feel is that though I love this car, the fully loaded version ZXI is a definitely buyable upgrade. Also, in very clear terms, Suzuki is defiantly taking is customers for a ride and milking them … what else explains no airbags in a premium hatchback… I love the car and hate Suzuki  LOLs

[darkside_of_d_sun]

Nice review, I would love to own a red Swift ZXi !

But dont be a hypocrit & blame Suzuki, you are concerned about your safety, go buy the ZXi! Indians put more emphasis on their time than their life, they cant wait for two-three months for the delivery of their car, but they are willing to buy and drive a car without ABS and airbags and then risk their lives. Who to blame is anyone's guess!

P.S. I advocate mandatory fitment of ABS and front airbags for all cars across segments before they can be sold.

P.P.S. The Swift deserves a 1.6 litres, 100 bhp engine.

Cheers,
Shamik

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Nice review, good to know you are happy with your decision

Ps. Topic moved to Car and SUV review section.

[hitanshu]

agree with darkie completely. the spark would've gotten you a good package in 1L lesser

[Yogesh Sarkar]

P.S. I advocate mandatory fitment of ABS and front airbags for all cars across segments before they can be sold.

Couldn't agree more, however when companies like Honda only offers ABS in City VTEC and not in the non VTEC versions, one has to really wonder whether or not it is implementable for small cars.

[darkside_of_d_sun]

YS: What I meant is that, I advocate a mandatory clause by the Government that no car can be sold in India without ABS and front airbags as standard equipment, irrespective of the cubic capacity and price of the car. Yes, that means from a Tata Nano to the Rolls Royce Phantom.

Cheers,
Shamik

[Scorpion King]

thats the way, no, that is the only way it will happen
the government has to make it mandatory
thats the prime reason we have fuel injection systems today
and to be honest that will be the only way we will have air bags in all cars.
getting to the swift.
good review.
given your current running i dont think a scorpio would have suited you well.
by the way i am quite surprised that u liked the fog lights and stuff.
i joke with my dad that the fog lights on my swift vdi dark gray are for others to know that my car has them coz to be honest they seem to make absolutely no difference as they light up the blind sector and i just get a faint glow on the visible part of the road
nonetheless i love my swift. its put a big zing factor in my driving.

[hitanshu]

YS,

It is implementable. Its just a chicken egg problem. Unless govt mandates it, no one wants to price their 3L cars at 3.5L with the safety features. and once its mandated, like in worldwide - it'lkl cost <20k to the car's cost max!

spark has it. suzuki worldwide has it. sab karte hain. heck, omni would've never been sold anywhere else except india and such markets - its a bloody killing machine.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

You guys are right, this isn't going to happen unless government imposes this on car manufacturers.