[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by Tapish

Thats a beautiful road you have mentioned. To check once and for all, the lugging ability of the car, take a detour from the Barlowganj side and climb up to the Jaypee Manor. If the car can do that, you'll be confident for the rest of your life.

PS: I climbed that stretch on a friend's Activa with a pillion rider. The Activa was thoroughly put to test.

Cheers,
Tapish

That'll be a REAL test for the car - the roads are narrow, the inclines steep and the bends are hairpins. Both the car's lugging capability and handling would get a thorough workout there. Happy driving !

[ajay0612]

In the meantime I have gathered the data about gear ratios of Ertiga. (These ratios were not available in brochure/ service book. I tried to find the details from Maruti Call centre too, but they too did not have these details!)

In the table below, I have compared it with SX4 and Dezire on this aspact. The relatively shorter gear ratios of Ertiga make it pull easily from stand still even when loaded. Any observations?

[John]

Originally Posted by superutp

Congrats on your new acquisition! Must feel really good to own one of the first Ertiga's in the country.

Had a laugh with the series of pics about the Ertiga's looks on the first page.
I really hope the Ertiga doesn't turn into a value-taxi-badge like the Dzire did.

Why do we all have this hang-up about "taxi image"? I don't see why one would not buy a vehicle just because it is popular as a cab - in that case people would not buy Indica's, DZire's, Logan's, Innova's etc. Why even Corolla's, Camry's, MB E Class among others are used as cabs by 5 star hotels.

[ajay0612]

Originally Posted by John

Why do we all have this hang-up about "taxi image"? I don't see why one would not buy a vehicle just because it is popular as a cab - in that case people would not buy Indica's, DZire's, Logan's, Innova's etc. Why even Corolla's, Camry's, MB E Class among others are used as cabs by 5 star hotels.

Not the way you think!
1. In India, taxi drivers usually overload/ drive rash and sometimes without permits. They are one of the prime/ easy targets of cops to extract some money. By owning a vehicle having 'Taxi Image' one may expose himself to such harassment.
2. Usually cops don't stop a vehicle having a 'Personnel Vehicle' image due to above reasons.
3. A person driving a vehicle with 'Taxi image' may be considered a driver (profession). In india, it is not such a rewarding/ respected profession so is looked down upon.

Personally I don't care much but I have a family whose vote also counts :-).

[John]

Originally Posted by ajay0612

Not the way you think!
1. In India, taxi drivers usually overload/ drive rash and sometimes without permits. They are one of the prime/ easy targets of cops to extract some money. By owning a vehicle having 'Taxi Image' one may expose himself to such harassment.
2. Usually cops don't stop a vehicle having a 'Personnel Vehicle' image due to above reasons.
3. A person driving a vehicle with 'Taxi image' may be considered a driver (profession). In india, it is not such a rewarding/ respected profession so is looked down upon.

Personally I don't care much but I have a family whose vote also counts :-).

I've been driving an Innova for two years. Have driven all over South India, Maharashtra and Goa. Not once have I been stopped/harassed by cops in any of these States. The regn. plate clearly shows that my car is a personal vehicle. And I'm pretty sure no one has mistaken me for a 'driver'!

[ajay0612]

Originally Posted by Ironhide

I miss the twists & turns of the Dehradun - Mussoorie road!(Sigh!) And definitely the lugging capability and the handling of the car will be put to test on roads like these. A word of caution - do be careful towards the end; when you're closing in towards Mussoorie. There's sewer digging in progress and they've dug up one side of the road and one is forced to drive towards the valley side of the already narrow road.

Many a times errant drivers and those not used to driving in the hills blatantly hog the road even while driving downhill throwing caution (and hill driving etiquettes) to the wind.

How right you were! On the way back via Mussorie, an Audi-man, a bus and an Indigo caused a jam in exactly the same way you described. Nevertheless it was cleared in 15 min due to the wisdom of Bus driver and some passengers.

What route do you plan to take? If you go to Mussoorie and then to Dhanaulti, then you may consider getting down from the less explored and more scenic Dhanaulti-Chamba-Narendranagar-Rishikesh-Haridwar route.

I went on the route a very long time ago and the road, though narrow, was decent. I believe it's been resurfaced recently. Do post some pics please! And do let us know in your detailed style, how the car behaved on the narrow and twisting and turning hill roads.

We took the circuitous route. i.e. Haridwar-Rishikesh-Chamba-Dhanaulti-Mussorie-Dehradun-Haridwar.

Total Distance Travelled = 250Km
Total Payload = 425Kg (4Adults+4kids+luggage)
Average fuel consumption = 15.8Km/L . Yes no typos here.

The car passed the hill-test with flying colors. Never felt any stress on the engine. Nevertheless the car is fantastic cruiser on plane areas. I rarely felt the need to go to 3rd to accelerate while coming from Dehradun to Haridwar (Enough reserve in the 4th gear). AC is quite good if you maintain speed of 30+. Else it struggles a bit to keep the heat out of the cabin.

By the way Summers are not such a great season for snow peak views as the sky is quite hazy.

Below are some of the snaps:

Ertiga, my LUV :-)




Chamba Dhanaulti Road




Tried to extract snow peaks out of haziness




Finally, was lucky to see Sun Halo/ Gloriole
Ream more here

[vibbs]

Nice pics Ajay, and great to know that the Ertiga faced no problems lugging around 4 adults and 4 kids even on the hills.

This I think is the target market (I mean 4 adults and kids) and the intended use of Ertiga. And as per you it comes out with flying colours. So unless somebody really packs it up with 7 adults for long routes, they wont be disappointed I feel. As the word of mouth spreads, I think peoples apprehension about the lugging capability would be cleared and we may see new sales peaks for Ertiga.

How were the kids in the third row? How was the second row comfort with two adults and a kid? I feel it should be better than a regular hatch back in the second row. Your opinions please.

[gkrishn]

Ajay, please remove the ribbon. it might cause some damage to the paint.

A nice review. I am constantly keeping a watch on this thread.

BTW, I had booked a zdi last month 23rd. I had received a booking confirmation no of format "xy0000ab". anybody has idea what they mean? is there a way to know where in the queue my booking?

[ajay0612]

Originally Posted by vibbs

How were the kids in the third row? How was the second row comfort with two adults and a kid? I feel it should be better than a regular hatch back in the second row. Your opinions please.

There was always a fight among them for the last seat! They felt cozy and comfortable there .

Middle occupants were also comfortable as they could recline the seats and stretch.

Originally Posted by gkrishn

Ajay, please remove the ribbon. it might cause some damage to the paint.

Thanks. You are right.

BTW, I had booked a zdi last month 23rd. I had received a booking confirmation no of format "xy0000ab". anybody has idea what they mean? is there a way to know where in the queue my booking?

No idea. However you may be able to get the details from their call centre.
The number is:
1800 1800 180 (Toll Free From BSNL / MTNL).
Also
+91 11 46781079

[souravc]

Originally Posted by ajay0612

In the meantime I have gathered the data about gear ratios of Ertiga.
\
In the table below, I have compared it with SX4 and Dezire on this aspact. The relatively shorter gear ratios of Ertiga make it pull easily from stand still even when loaded. Any observations?
Attachment 926534

Congratulations on your hot UV , I am truly impressed by Maruti's offering - no wonder that Ertiga has received a warm response.

The gearing ratios comparo was interesting . Thankfully Maruti has been sensible enough to sacrifice a bit of the 'economy' gearing ratios of the Dzire/SX4 to compensate for scenarios where Ertiga would be fully loaded (given its bigger luggage space) - thus you find that with only passengers, the Ertiga would effortlessly pull away from dead stop .

[rajshenoy]

Thanks for all the hands-on updates. This surely is keeping me hooked as a next potential upgrade.

I drive a petrol swift(1.3L) and looking at what you say about performance and FE, I feel this is very similar to My swift. And as a bonus you get extra space for luggage/last row.

Looking forward to hear more great updates from you.

[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by ajay0612

How right you were! On the way back via Mussoorie, an Audi-man, a bus and an Indigo caused a jam in exactly the same way you described. Nevertheless it was cleared in 15 min due to the wisdom of Bus driver and some passengers.

There ought to be a small 5 minutes test for drivers entering the hills to acquaint them with hill driving etiquettes. Most drivers are inexperienced in hill driving and are unaware of the hill driving etiquettes, which can get really dangerous on the narrow winding roads where there's hardly any room for error. The best example of hill driving I saw was in Aizawl - no one ever leaves his lane, vehicles climbing up are always given the right of way and the honking is kept to a minimum. If ever there's a traffic jam, the cops swiftly step in and clear it

We took the circuitous route. i.e. Haridwar-Rishikesh-Chamba-Dhanaulti-Mussoorie-Dehradun-Haridwar.

How was the route? I was told that portions of it have recently been resurfaced. If the picture (with the temple in the foreground) is anything to go by, the road looks good.

Total Distance Travelled = 250Km
Total Payload = 425Kg (4Adults+4kids+luggage)
Average fuel consumption = 15.8Km/L . Yes no typos here.

With these excellent FE figures (considering you had a full load, drove in the hills and had the AC on most of the time, and also that the vehicle hasn't been for its first service, after which the FE figures are bound to improve) the Petrol Ertiga presents a strong case for itself. It'll be just the right vehicle who don't have very long daily commutes(thereby justifying the lesser premium paid over diesel) and still need a 7 seater for the weekend sojourns or the odd long drive or two in the year. Maruti Suzuki has indeed priced the petrol versions very competitively. Smart move by MS for sure!

The car passed the hill-test with flying colors. Never felt any stress on the engine. Nevertheless the car is fantastic cruiser on plane areas. I rarely felt the need to go to 3rd to accelerate while coming from Dehradun to Haridwar (Enough reserve in the 4th gear).

Glad to know that. However in the official review by Vid6639, he had said that the progress after 100-120kph was not rapid. Compared to the diesel (you have driven the diesel too, right?) how does the petrol fare? In the straight stretches between Dehradun & Haridwar, did you get to test this aspect of it?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

In terms of outright acceleration, the Ertiga petrol will easily match the C1 segment sedans. That said, highway performance is strictly average. The tall 4th & 5th gears mean progress is slow after 100 – 120 kph. The Ertiga petrol is no expressway scorcher, and can run out of breath if you try to keep up with equal-price 100 BHP sedans. Expect frequent downshifting on the highway when you encounter traffic and road inclines.

[ajay0612]

Originally Posted by Ironhide

How was the route? I was told that portions of it have recently been resurfaced. If the picture (with the temple in the foreground) is anything to go by, the road looks good.

The road condition on the whole route is good (barring a few Kms near Mussorie where the roadside is dug up.)

With these excellent FE figures (considering you had a full load, drove in the hills and had the AC on most of the time

Ye. AC was on for the whole journey.

Glad to know that. However in the official review by Vid6639, he had said that the progress after 100-120kph was not rapid. Compared to the diesel (you have driven the diesel too, right?) how does the petrol fare? In the straight stretches between Dehradun & Haridwar, did you get to test this aspect of it?

I did not go beyond 100Km/Hr (that too very briefly) as the traffic does not leave room for such and higher speeds. Even if it does, there is always a danger of encountering unmarked car-breakers (i.e. small triangular illegal? humps on the roads).

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by ajay0612

...
I have pulled one maximum forward and pushed other one backwards after folding rear seat (leaving head rests in place). and See below:
Attachment 919956
...

Ajay, is it possible to remove the headrests completely (and easily) from the third row before folding it down to generate more leg space for the middle row? If so, how much does the middle legroom improve?

I hope you have not answered this earlier.

[nandans2005]

ajay,

Your "ERTIGA" looks smashing and congrats on your buy. I always felt the cars look great in their whites .

why didnt you opt for the diesel though ?