Today morning i gave my Swift-D for first servicing after completing 1111 kms, which includes a to and fro trip to chennai. I started to chennai with total km reading of 160 ~ kms and now i have completed 1111 kms. I like to update all swift lovers with my experience...
FE (blr to chennai): i filled up tank in a reliance petrol bunk which is immediately after Hosur. Approximately i filled 20 ltrs of Diesel and rest of the tank had diesel filled up in Blr BP bunk. After driving 700 odd kms, i again filled the tank to calculate the mileage. I was happy to see that it gave me 19km/ltr. which includes 350 kms of highway driving and another 300kms inside city with 99% AC on. chennai heat was not bearable and i have to have AC on right from the moment i start my car.
while coming back to blr, i stopped in a HP petrol bunk, close to Hosur to refuel and again calculated the mileage. it gave me 18km/ltr. the dip in the mileage is due to the fact that blr is located slightly above the sea level which means i have to climb up (almost 40%). so i can understand the 1km loss in mileage.
one more interesting note, one of my friends is a mechanic in Ford chennai and i showed my new vehicle to him. the moment he got into my vehicle, he asked me where i filled my fuel and when i said Reliance, he was shouting at me and advised me not to fill fuel in reliance at all
.he gave a list of complaints which happened to few vehicles because of filling fuel there. not sure whether this is correct or not
Ride: only word to describe ride quality is.... "
awesome". I say this because i have been driving Ford Ikon before this and i never felt this much easiness to overtake or to handle the vehicle in high speeds. After getting some suggestions for the speed limit, i decided to keep the vehicle in 100km/hr @ 2200 rpms. though i have not ripped the car in high speeds, small example to demonstrate the power of this vehicle is, all it just takes 3 seconds to touch 110km/hr from 100km/hr in 5 gear @ 2500rpms....pure thrill
. this vehicle is a real beast hiding under a beauty
i have one observation while taking high speed corners. the vehicle is not sturdy enough to stick to the road while taking high speed corners. i know the reason for this as i did not change the OE tyres came along with the vehicle. maybe if i change to recommended tyres with alloys i might feel the difference. but i never had such problems with my Ikon.
Finally, EPS has also helped to improve the drive quality in high speeds. clearly in high speeds the steering wheel will be bit hard to steer and in low speeds its like playing a video game. thanks to MUL for having this feature.
First service complaints:
1) Wheel alignment problem: vehicle is slightly pulled towards left side while driving in straight roads. this is not because i have hit any potholes or bumps, i noticed this problem right from day one. but after my highway drive i confirmed it.
2) i felt that all my doors has to be pushed/pulled a bit hard to close it properly. Not sure whether this is a common problem in all the Swift-Ds
3) Reverse gear engaging: I have to try atleast twice to put my reverse gear. though i apply full clutch i have some difficulty in engaging reverse gear properly.
4) to add to the list today morning one auto guy opened his account to introduce a new scratch to my vehicle back bumper. i was standing in a signal, he took a turn, scratched my vehicle and started shouting at me as if i made the mistake
. Asked to do a paint touchup work during service.
overall the experience with the vehicle is good and to be honest none of the people whom i showed my vehicle believed that its a diesel engine. only when you open the bonnet, they realised that its a diesel engine.