[saurabhdadhichi]

Swift 2008 replaced by another Swift in 2012

Why because newer one is bigger & better!


OK that's not the only reason why I bought another Swift while I have already owned a Swift diesel for over 4 years. It all started when I got the possibility of owning a new car through Leaseplan

I have been driving Red Swift VDI for 4 years and the experience has been great. It has been my special car as this car has been a Doli car 3 times including my own wedding


Thanks to my company's finance department(or should I say No Thanks) that they realized this year only that the FBP (Fringe Benefits for claiming Petrol & Driver Expenses) I have been getting since last 2 years was not supposed to be claimed by submitting Petrol & driver bill per month but directly transferred as a part of salary after deducting 30 % of tax. Colleagues who have company owned car gets to claim for Petrol Expenses & Drivers salary claim per month. Well that was not good news for me as I would have to pay extra tax.


Why Leaseplan?

Well it saves me from paying additional tax if I own a company car & also maintenance cost is inclusive for Leaseplan deal. In this option company pays 50% of the EMI while 50% is paid by employee. Every employee based on their position are entitled for specific amount & if one does buy a car beyond the entitled limit, then the additional expense is borne by employee and is deducted accordingly from his salary.


Now that I did make up my mind to get a car through Leaseplan, next question which car? To give you an idea I test drove Skoda Rapid & Polo 1.2 Petrol just to help me in making up mind. Well little did I know that my intentions of getting a car of a different manufacturer didn't fly as the monthly EMI I am entitled to with was only possible to own another Swift VDI while Polo or Rapid were far from my reach in fact buying a car was cheaper for me as the EMI offered by Skoda dealer was lesser than what I would have paid through Leaseplan. That said I was not keen on buying Swift again but had no option, so decided on paying extra and getting Swift ZDI since it has all the gadgetries in place and thus won't have to spend extra on accessories.
Color choice was made by Wifey as she wanted to go for new Cherry red metallic and as a good husband I agreed also since this was not the typical red I owned earlier.


Booking of car through Leaseplan was done on 11th April 2012, & surprisingly got an unexpected delivery date of 11th May 2012, which was very easily updated by Leaseplan to 31st May 2012 saying that Maruti produces Swift ZDI only in the last week of the month. I personally didn't believe even a single word of it & even had put a consumer complaint with Maruti with NO SUCCESS till date. That said I got my new Swift in Cherry Red color delivered on 28th May 2012, 3 days prior to the promised date.


Immediate Observations I could make out comparing the old swift with new gen Swift are:

- Car in reality also does look bigger than old gen Swift but only if both are kept side by side

Take a look yourself:





- NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness) level is surprising low in the new swift. That definitely makes car feel lot more upmarket.


- Steering wheel is lighter than old gen Swift, it feels direct & has good amount of feedback.



- Car interiors & dashboard are very well designed. Car also appears bigger because of this new dashboard.


- Gear Shift is smooth as butter and ensures gear shifting is almost effortless

- Braking is faaaar better than what it is in my old gen Swift VDI specially with that ABS also available for added safety.


- High speed stability & handling has always been USP (besides Punto) of this car along with the fun to drive factor always being there.


- Turbo Kick has been subdued and to me it has made driving much more pleasurable since the rush is still there but in a subtle way. This also ensures less fatigue in city driving conditions (atleast thats what i feel)


- Diesel motor is very well refined & has sufficient punch even at RPMs lower than 2000. Of course when one wants to push then best is to shift gears in a way to ensure engine RPM stays above 2000 & trust me you won't be disappointed.


- ACC is very effective & cools the cabin quite quickly, though I am yet to test it in harsh conditions like taking the car out in an afternoon with outside temperature being 43 Degree Celsius.




- Music system is easy to operate & is a delight to operate with steering mounted controls & speed based volume control.


- Suspension is a lot better than previous gen Swift & I felt driving that suspensions was very well tuned for high speed stability & taking on not so good roads at low speeds.


- Seats offer very nice thigh support & being height adjustable is a boon for people preferring to drive at a higher seating position.


- Shin would hit against the plastic panel below steering wheel if you sit in car with seats very close to the steering wheel but for those whose seats are pulled back would not face any such problem.


- Leg space at rear has increased but not substantially.


- Instrument cluster looks much more classy than before & has as said before Honda Inspiration.(Notice the Avg KMPL is 17.6 after driving for 145 Kms)



- Rear Visibility is just about adequate & better than the Polo i test drove.



Few Grudges:

- Only thing that is sourly missed in Music system is Bluetooth connectivity. What were the Maruti guys thinking or were they sleeping when it came to working on Bluetooth connectivity?

- Bottle holder just next to the seats has been removed, only to provide nothing as can be seen in the snap:


Although that has been answered by providing bottle holders in the door pocket:


- Boot space is below average and to add Maruti didn't provide even now 60:40 split seats which could have been a subsitute to limited boot space while still offering possibility for third passenger to sit at back.


- Driver side controls built quality is just about average but useful feature to electronically adjust the side mirrors.


More to follow on the driving experience in coming weeks!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[amtak]

Congratulations on getting India's national car home. I see a lot of people moving from Swift to New Swift which says a lot about the trust and confidence one has in the model.

Nothing against the car, but the only grouse that I have against Maruti is not launching the Swift in Fire Red color like the previous gen model.

[Rameshdude]

Congrats Saurabh and a very nice comparison. How is the clutch in the new shift? Clutch play and is the clutch hard?

[ScorpMan]

Congrats Mate. Good to know that the waiting period has reduced significantly. And, thanks for the nice comparison, totally agree with most of your points. The car has improved significantly over the previous gen. But, tiny Boot and rear leg space are still the biggest negatives for this awesome car.

[saurabhdadhichi]

Originally Posted by amtak

Congratulations on getting India's national car home.
Nothing against the car, but the only grouse that I have against Maruti is not launching the Swift in Fire Red color like the previous gen model.

Thanks buddy, indeed Swift can be treated as our national car and the new gen is also selling like hot cakes is an evidence to our belief.

Originally Posted by Rameshdude

Congrats Saurabh and a very nice comparison. How is the clutch in the new shift? Clutch play and is the clutch hard?

Thank you Ramesh. Clutch of new Swift is a bit hard to press but that I believe is because it's new and might get better with use. I don't feel any play at moment infact the throttle response is pretty sedate.

Originally Posted by ScorpMan

Congrats Mate. Good to know that the waiting period has reduced significantly. And, thanks for the nice comparison, totally agree with most of your points. The car has improved significantly over the previous gen. But, tiny Boot and rear leg space are still the biggest negatives for this awesome car.

Thanks dear. Boot is indeed a sour point and leg space is not at all segment leading although it has got better than the old gen Swift.

In old gen swift I used to normally drive keeping my seat pushed back to the end and if someone else had to sit at the back then I would have to pull back the seats closer to steering wheel. In new Swift surprisingly if seats are pushed back completely then the driving position is no longer comfortable and have to pull back my seat closer to steering wheel for a comfortable drive. That leaves about a 8-10 inches of space in the rear which is better than before.

[fuel_addict]

Congrats Saurabh on moving from the old to the new. I am happy to see you have retained the same colour (well almost) as well. I too moved from the old Swift (2006 ZXi) to the new one (2012 ZDi) but did not have courage to go with the red again due to colour maintenance hassles. The difference from the old to the new is apparent and the new one does feel like a class above in many respects.

Couple of things that I slightly disagree with on your review:

1) You say clutch is hard and should get better with usage. I really doubt that will happen. Infact it'll only harden with usage. I have not experienced any clutch hardness in my ZDi till date. The clutch travel is butter smooth so far.

2) You say brakes are far better than the old VDi with ABS. I haven't driven the old VDi to pass a judgment on your claim. However, based on my old ZXi experience, I feel the brakes in the new ZDi are equal or a notch lower in actual braking effectiveness. I don't say they are bad but I don't find them "better" than the older Swift. That is just my opinion.

[Ayedongivadam]

Congratulations on the car, the colour looks really good on her.

I remember driving the Swift Diesel (2007) as a courtesy car for a couple of days generously provided by my dealer on the delay of delivery of my SX4 Zxi which itself was allotted to me out of turn. I was completely floored by the performance, space and comfort and the ultra low noise levels at the time. So much so that I turned the key twice to start the engine without realising the car was already on.

Your personal experience with both the old and the new plus attestation of the improvements now I'm sure will make this hatch unbeatable. There is a good reason Maruti rules almost all the categories.

[CLIX]

Congrats ! New machine looks AWESOME!

Useful comparisons with the older one there...

[ku69rd]

Congrats Saurabh, the new red definitely looks cooler compared to the old red. Probably the old Red was more prone to fading?
How does the car behave when you throw her round corners? One of my friend who has bought the ZDI was complaining of a bit of body roll compared to my Old Swift.
Bit surprising of your mention that the clutch is a tad hard compared to the old one.
All the best for your new car.

[saurabhdadhichi]

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

Congrats Saurabh on moving from the old to the new. I am happy to see you have retained the same colour (well almost) as well. The difference from the old to the new is apparent and the new one does feel like a class above in many respects.

Couple of things that I slightly disagree with on your review:

1) You say clutch is hard and should get better with usage. I really doubt that will happen. Infact it'll only harden with usage. I have not experienced any clutch hardness in my ZDi till date. The clutch travel is butter smooth so far.

2) You say brakes are far better than the old VDi with ABS. I haven't driven the old VDi to pass a judgment on your claim. However, based on my old ZXi experience, I feel the brakes in the new ZDi are equal or a notch lower in actual braking effectiveness. I don't say they are bad but I don't find them "better" than the older Swift. That is just my opinion.

Thanks Mate, indeed new Color is tad more classy than the earlier red.

1) Regarding the Clutch point, I am sure every one can have his own views. My view is because i had got clutch assembly on my old swift changed to a new one & the clutch pressing was lot more softer than what i have in the new swift. This only can be felt if one drives them back to back.

2) I meant to say that Old VDI (without ABS) that i have didn't offer good breaking as is offered in ZDI (which is with ABS). Indeed i also have not driven any old VDI with ABS/ZXI to compare against the new Gen Swift breaking.

Originally Posted by Ayedongivadam

Congratulations on the car, the colour looks really good on her.

I was completely floored by the performance, space and comfort and the ultra low noise levels at the time. So much so that I turned the key twice to start the engine without realising the car was already on.

Your personal experience with both the old and the new plus attestation of the improvements now I'm sure will make this hatch unbeatable. There is a good reason Maruti rules almost all the categories.

Thank you, indeed car is a pleasure to drive & now that NVH levels has been improved it is quite a delight.

Originally Posted by CLIX

Congrats ! New machine looks AWESOME!

Useful comparisons with the older one there...

Thanks, i will try to add up more as i use the new machine

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Congrats Saurabh, the new red definitely looks cooler compared to the old red. Probably the old Red was more prone to fading?
How does the car behave when you throw her round corners? One of my friend who has bought the ZDI was complaining of a bit of body roll compared to my Old Swift.
All the best for your new car.

Thank you!

Yes you are right the old Red color does fade away after sometime, while the new Cherry red looks quite upmarket.

I yesterday only drove down to Fatehpur Sikri from Delhi & cornering was not at all a problem. Car was very planted at high speeds & turning at high speeds was also no problem atleast to me. Please drive yourself & may be you can confirm this as well as the drive was quite seductive & pleasing.

[CLIX]

Got my shining new Torque Blue Swift ZDi
(a couple of snaps attached)

- Pre Delivery inspection revealed a scratched headlamp (looked more like something hot touched the clear plastic dome of the headlamp.) - This was replaced.

- MRFs all round. Am planning to go for C Drives.

- There was a small "dent" on the hatch door. Did not find it a day later when I went back. [first day I refused to take delivery with the damaged headlight dome & the "dented" hatch door]

- The "S" emblem on the steering was looking dull and had some sticky goo on it - they cleaned / replaced it later.

- 5 nos. A Drive (195/60 R 15) - MASS gave a quote that was 5K more than the cost of the same Yoko A Drives at the regular Tyre shops. Did not go for it there.

Am pretty happy with the NVH management in the ZDi.

The OEM Stereo too - pretty good. I use the music system extensively and am happy with this one. Not the best, but very good.

It takes a little bit of getting used to the way the ZDi picks up speed (or rather doesn't) when one shifts to 1st and gets moving. There seems to be a slight lag typical of a Diesel. [I am probably noticing this more since I've been driving a petrol car till now ]

Overall - Very pleased!

*Drive Safe*

[saurabhdadhichi]

Originally Posted by CLIX

Got my shining new Torque Blue Swift ZDi
(a couple of snaps attached)

Overall - Very pleased!

*Drive Safe*

Heartiest Congratulations Buddy! Just Enjoy the car as you will get used to the way this car behaves and responds do share more on your driving experience.

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by CLIX

It takes a little bit of getting used to the way the ZDi picks up speed (or rather doesn't) when one shifts to 1st and gets moving. There seems to be a slight lag typical of a Diesel.

Congrats on the new car. Torque blue looks good on a very torquey car. You can just release the clutch in 1st gear and the car will roll forward without any acceleration. You might have figured that out by now. Turbo lag below 2K rpm is a common trait for all diesel cars except the Micra/Pulse/Fiesta. Just a matter of getting used to it.

[CLIX]

Just back from the Tyre change-

- Traded in OEM MRFs - 2.5k each.
- Replaced with Yoko C Drives - 195/60 15 - 4.8k
[this is in BLR - New BEL Rd.] - am wondering what the actual rate is, looking at the way this guy dropped from 5.3 to 4.8