[GeekSrik]

hey jaggu, guess you are driving more than you are working these days!

[blorebuddy]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

And i did lot of abuse over broken patches, and continuing with the village roads in palakad.
Heavy traffic and 2 lane from krishnagiri onwards.

So how is the ride quality in Krishanagiri to Thoppur 2 lane not so good roads? Hope the pot holes are not reopened yet.

[Jaggu]

Had to pick up my in-laws from Kerala (Palghat), so decided to make this an opportunity to do a proper long trip. 410 kms one way so in total 820 kms plus additional 85 kms there in Palghat.

Started off from Bangalore early (545 am) on Friday to avoid traffic, first thing I noticed was the air pressure. Big mistake it was on the higher side (34 Front, 32 Rear) for 2 people and a back pack on board. I think 32 F and 31 R is a better option for 195 65 14, which I need to try out.

Otherwise it was great drive till Krishnagiri, doing 100 to 120 kph throughout. Usual road side tea shop fro chai and then started off towards Dharmapuri, cautious coz this is the first time am driving with alloys and usually in the iKON I used to inflict very serious impacts on the steel wheel. To my surprise the pot holes have been erased with new layer section wise, so only impact was jumping onto the new layer some one inch high.

They have started the four lane work after Krishnagiri, so beware roads are narrow and no run off area.

Had breakfast at Salem and started towards coimbatore. Saw a black Tucson flying in the traffic, was having some nice conversation with wife so didn’t want to spoil that and start a chase though i managed to check out his tail pipes without disturbing the conversation for couple of kms, so journey was slower but un eventful. Again four lane work along with TN buses with head light ON calls for alert driving.

Took Coimbatore bypass (L&T) and decided to push the car a lil, 0 to 100 and all lol, thing that stands out is Swift Vdi is a torque bomb and the fly by wire throttle a gem of an instrument. Though I felt that it gave better results if used keeping in mind the feedback from the engine, mashing the pedal doesn’t really help.

So after some drag runs settled down for 120 kph cruise and this where the car really shines, 120 kph and RPM is around 2500 and another realistic 1500 rpm to play with is sufficient for some good fun. Traffic was heavy and didn’t want to do any dare devil antics so took it only to 130 - 135 kph max, cross winds in afternoon is a pain but the car was commendable with the good feedback as well as those fat rubber.

Tyres felt lil smooth in the noon, wondered if this was due to loosing grip but was wrong at that, they held on pretty well and delivered great levels of security while cornering as well as braking. Rough winding patches at very high speed and yes they lost lil traction, mind you these were really high speed considering the condition. The stretch after Coimbatore, when you enter Kerala is what am talking about and I love to speed on this stretch and yes by noon the traffic was thin.

Coming back to tyres well as others had opined, for Diesel swift with stiffer suspension set up, 195 65 14 is the ideal set up, I feel going towards 15 inch might not really help much in handling and ride comfort. Sad coz finding 195 65 14 is a difficult task and not many options there.

And the best part of the trip, cost aka mileage, I tanked up in Bangalore (first cut off, correct to next liter) ran some 20 kms before the trip and again tanked up in Palghat as soon as I entered. Pretty impressive figure considering the traffic 21.25 km / Liter of the thicker fuel. AC ON 99%, keep that i mind when i refer to mileage now on.

AC well thats another thing great about this car, 2 onboard and i kept blower at 1 and 2 for the noon sun in Tamil Nadu and Palghat. Fully loaded car parked in sun requires AC in 3 to kewl down in approx 10 mts to almost bone chill.

Had a function in Palghat so next day was spend ferrying passengers and traveled in and around with 5 and at times 6 people in the car.

Return trip, started off in the noon on Sunday. Well things changed and car was loaded to the brim, boot filled to the brim with bags, rice, coconut and some house hold utensils. Again had kept some more coconut, mangoes and my back pack for rear passenger seat and added another 2 adults also. Hence didn’t reduce the tyre pressure also.

The stretch from Palghat to Coimbatore was not at all nice now, loaded car with minimal suspension travel made the swift feel little on the edge but manageable, maybe the higher tyre pressure also didn’t help after all. Broken tarmac is what am talking about.

One thing that surprised was the engine, though the handling was not upto the par but the power delivery, WOW same as before and AC or NO AC doesn’t make a difference to the engine unless one tries to do a drag strip launch. Car pulls effortlessly with minimal fuzz and entertaining the driver all the while.

Traffic was ok till Salem and I was ripping more compared to the onwards trip, wanted to reduce the night drive as much as possible. In the process got thrown at with some tar and pebbles, lucky the windshield has a very very minor scar and some small spots of injury on the front bumper.

I forgot to mention the jack *** at combi, last signal/cross road at L&T bypass I waited at the signal and when the signal changed to green took off in my usual spirited manner, lucky that I checked my left side road where I glanced a silver alto, unlucky I didn’t think he was that stupid and thanks to blind spot of the swift I was rudely awakened by my wife’s shouting and jammed the brake and swerved to the right. Thank god he missed me by half a meter or else my car front end would have been history, left myself shivering for couple of second.

That nymkampooh hadn’t stopped, just had slowed down and raced to the other end seeing the signal move to RED (assuming he had noticed yellow to red change some 10 secs earlier) !!! What was he thinking, that is a very fast intersection!! And trust me I have some good stuff stored for him if I ever meet him.

Salem onwards traffic was more and was using 3rd and 4th gears to a good extend to sneak into the tight space between two vehicles. Noticed a red lancer with K&N sticker on number plate KA regd, and wow she was moving.

Reached Krishnagiri and was joined by a rather spirited Golden OHC (first model) and two Scorpios and an Accent Viva Crdi who were racing from Chennai. And I just had to do it, did some racing for some kms and I guess all afore mentioned cars and drivers were surprised to see the lil swift move lol.

Could easily push it along with the OHC, actually pestered him a lot and overtook also finally let him go after a km or so. He was leading the pack and rest couldn’t match our pace, and the Viva with single person on board also had a tough fight with my fully laden car where the climb starts.

Finally had to let go coz of all the back seat driving from in laws. Trust me carrying passengers not used to your driving style is a BIG PAIN!! So reduced the speed to about 100 kms and reached Bangalore in some 6.5 hours of drive time over 410 kms.

After all the action couldn’t sleep so went about washing and vacuuming the car at night and then noticed the pebble marks on the bumper. Sonax car wash does a good job, didn’t have to resort to any Diesel to remove the stains and used only 2-3 drops od Diesel for the very stubborn marks on the side while drying the car.

Morning went and tanked up again, from last fill 501 kms, 30 liters and 16.7 kmpl was the mileage, so all the fooling around along with heavier load and the climb north did harm the mileage. Again keep in mind around 100 kms of non highway runs in Palghat and Bangalore included in this.

I guess further updates from my side only if I come across something entertaining to talk about the car OR when I cover some good km marks. Till then enjoy the travelogue/report from me and yeah do post comments and doubts which I will try to help with in best possible manner from my side.

Cheers
Jaggu

@ Geek: Yes I think am doing more kms than official emails, 2100 kms to be precise and hopefully another 2 trips to Kerala and one to chennai before June end, if my wife lets me (she is getting bored and jealous seeing me enjoy, need to find her something to do while at trips).

@blorebuddy: Road have improved but 4 laning started so net effect same timings.

[Jaggu]

Wanted to add this also. Driving in small towns with narrow roads with ups and downs (am referring to Palghat) is not really enjoyable for Swift D, one will land up in 3 rd gear especially when car is fully loaded and eventually get frustrated chasing the top gear. Yes might suffer in FE front also. Actually i felt the same with my iKON 1.6 also especially after being used to Bangalore topography and roads.

Yes the suspension is also slightly choppy for country roads compared to Swift P, while driving slow ie. Gather some pace and things improve a lot.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Could easily push it along with the OHC, actually pestered him a lot and overtook also finally let him go after a km or so. He was leading the pack and rest couldn’t match our pace, and the Viva with single person on board also had a tough fight with my fully laden car where the climb starts

That was a pretty nice update of your trip. A single guy in viva was tough fight for your fully laden swift??????

Either the driver was a newbie or he wanted to let you win

[Jaggu]

"ego kicked in reply by Jaggu" nope actually he was mashing the pedals quite alot, he was agressive, had some grey hair and very lil colored hair so might have been pushing the car to reach Bangalore before night fall, and yes he might have had lead loaded in the trunk which obviously i couldnt see.

Trust me he pulled away nicely once i left him alone and that too quite dangerously overtaking using "truck lay by" and landing up behind the bus he was trying to in the first place, so i wouldnt consider him a newbie or slow he is a well seasoned maniac who was messed up badly by "snowhite"

And am also becoming old so no drag challenges either.. just kidding...

[mobike008]

Hmmm, so who won the battle of egos???

[Jaggu]

OT: Ego battles rarely have winners!

in my case in-laws won, with me driving more sedate for their comfort.

I have to admit am a trigger happy driver but slowly coming to terms with what "i should do" to have a happy life ahead.

So refrained from chasing the Tucson (Fast and very smooth overtaker). Lancer with K&N (Average car but very aggressive driving). OHC, 2 Scorpios and the Viva guys (Reckless playing NFS on a Indian highway).

All of these guys i overtook at one point or other (when i felt i had more space for error) but just switched the indicator moved out of their way sooner or later after that.

Point was to see if Swift D has got it or not. Which it has according to me, (also according to automags who commented about in gear acceleration, yeah i was just too curious to test the same) and to resort to pushing it further towards road race, i felt it was silly coz my aim is to get back to office monday morning.

[austere_sly]

fly by wire throttle

How does it works ?

I think it is something new generation thing. Then what is the conventional throttle system ?

Thanks

[nevertouchme]

Jagggggg,
That was one very detailed review about the drive.... Was much expecting since you signed off from your 9500 earlier...
Good that you are back...

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Had to pick up my in-laws from Kerala (Palghat), so decided to make this an opportunity to do a proper long trip. 410 kms one way so in total 820 kms plus additional 85 kms there in Palghat.

That's like one big trip ! I am sure, you were waiting for drive your new babe.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Originally Posted by Jaggu

They have started the four lane work after Krishnagiri, so beware roads are narrow and no run off area.

How did she handle? Bit stiff? Tell me this, when you encounter a Pot hole at 50 - 60 kmph, do you get the loud " thud " and can you feel this thud on your steering wheel? I use to drive a Zen D, she was always scared and alergetic to these pot holes.

At 40 K kms on ODO, i could not rectify the irregular tyre wear issues. Company guys told me that, Camber ( i dont know what it is ) settings have been changed. Was informmed that they had to remove the engine and work on it. I neglected their suggestion and lived with the tyre wear.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Again four lane work along with TN buses with head light ON calls for alert driving.

Usual. But, they are not as scary as the Private buses in Kerala. Do you agree with me? lol

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Took Coimbatore bypass (L&T) and decided to push the car a lil, 0 to 100 and all lol, thing that stands out is Swift Vdi is a torque bomb and the fly by wire throttle a gem of an instrument. Though I felt that it gave better results if used keeping in mind the feedback from the engine, mashing the pedal doesn’t really help.

So this is called as Drive by mind technology.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I feel going towards 15 inch might not really help much in handling and ride comfort. Sad coz finding 195 65 14 is a difficult task and not many options there.

Point noted...

Originally Posted by Jaggu

And the best part of the trip, cost aka mileage, Pretty impressive figure considering the traffic 21.25 km / Liter of the thicker fuel. AC ON 99%, keep that i mind when i refer to mileage now on.

I am loving it..............

Originally Posted by Jaggu

AC well thats another thing great about this car, 2 onboard and i kept blower at 1 and 2 for the noon sun in Tamil Nadu and Palghat. Fully loaded car parked in sun requires AC in 3 to kewl down in approx 10 mts to almost bone chill.

This too.... I am loving this too...

Originally Posted by Jaggu

I forgot to mention the jack *** at combi, last signal/cross road at L&T bypass I waited at the signal and when the signal changed to green took off in my usual spirited manner, lucky that I checked my left side road where I glanced a silver alto, unlucky I didn’t think he was that stupid and thanks to blind spot of the swift I was rudely awakened by my wife’s shouting and jammed the brake and swerved to the right. Thank god he missed me by half a meter or else my car front end would have been history, left myself shivering for couple of second.

So, swift D brakes are great too. I am sorry about the incident !

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Trust me carrying passengers not used to your driving style is a BIG PAIN!!

Agreed !

Originally Posted by Jaggu

After all the action couldn’t sleep so went about washing and vacuuming the car at night

Good job !

----------
Now where are the photographs? Did ya take some? When is the next excavation? Btw your car looks great ! Should i post the credit to magician rudra sir?

Cheers,
Jai

[v1p3r]

Dang, now I want one! With 195/60 15 Advan Neovas. And Pete's box. Dammit!

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Dang, now I want one! With 195/60 15 Advan Neovas. And Pete's box. Dammit!

You want all the vehicles.. The safari / The elantra and now this.. Make up your mind.

Godfather

[v1p3r]

OT: To be honest, there is talk of getting rid of the Baleno. It makes me cry. The obvious replacement would be the new Elantra or a Safari, maybe the 2.2. Or I could keep the Baleno, be nice to it, and get a nice shiny Swift VDi.

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

OT: To be honest, there is talk of getting rid of the Baleno. It makes me cry. The obvious replacement would be the new Elantra or a Safari, maybe the 2.2. Or I could keep the Baleno, be nice to it, and get a nice shiny Swift VDi.

Get the VDi.. and the petes box.. Should be good enough + you can also keep the baleno.why do u wanna sell that?

Godfather

[v1p3r]

You're forgetting the 15" with Neovas! I don't want the Baleno to go man, I love that car. But my parents don't look at cars as things to be loved.