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Delivery Experience
Took delivery of the car on 27th March 2010. Armed with T-BHP PDI checklist got the car inspected. The salesperson at Bimal Auto was extremely courtesy and friendly, very patiently and methodically explaining me every feature of the car. Going through every document that he was handing over to me.. in short a thorough professional. I had read about some horror stories about BIMAL. But till date have found them very professional and thorough. Have to wait and see how my first service experience is going to be like with them. In fact got a call from them today on submitting the feedback form and they also took a feedback on the phone. Either Maruti has put in the stick to the dealers on customer first initiative or its Bimal's initiative.
I went in for additional 2 yrs of extended warranty. The odometer showed 30kms which I guess is pretty decent as per checklist. They filled in 5 litres of complimentary fuel. The sales guy walked me through the essential parts of the manual and extended warranty and meticulously tick marking his checklist as he was handing me the documents. We had a look at the bonnet, dickey, exteriors and interiors checking every feature was working, oils were topped up or not etc. as mentioned in the checklist. By the time we were through it was a good 1hr. We signed all the documents including Bimal's very own Pre-Delivery checklist. With all these we just didn’t have time for the customary photo snap. We left Bimal at 7:30pm and headed straight to the temple.
Initial Ownership Experience
Filled up full tank at Shell and by the time the day was through we had clocked about 100kms on the odo. I always loved the exterior of the SX4 and now with the 10 spoke alloy and the honeycomb grill it gives the SX4 a much more matured and executive look to the car.
I was so used to waiting for the ignition coil to go off before I cranked the Indica that I ended up doing the same only to realize this is a petrol car and this doesnt have a coil. I found it very amusing that as you crank the SX4 the engine automatically raises for a brief moment and then settles down to a gentle hum. I found the illuminated key to be a nice feature especially at night where you don’t need to hunt for the key slot. The engine is so silent that you don’t realize its running when in idling position. The controls are very well laid out and didn’t have any difficulty getting accustomed to it. I was actually expecting a lot of noise, rattle as I read about it in this forum. But to my surprise there was no rattle, engine was ultra smooth and the car just hums away into the traffic. Didn’t feel any rattles or any sound for that matter. I remember in my Indica as soon as I switch the AC you can see a phenomenally dip in power. But to my surprise in the SX4 it appeared as though the engine didn’t feel any load of the AC whatsoever. I guess most of the 1.6ltr and above don’t have this issue of dipping of power when AC is switched on. The Automatic climate control is an awesome feature to have. There was one goof up on Bimal with respect to the under chassis coating. Some brush strokes got sprinkled on to one of the mud flaps. I am not too sure what to do to remove those black marks.
It took me some time to get used to the clutch as I was used to the very torque nature of a diesel car as soon as you release the clutch. Have been changing gears keeping the rpm within 1.5 to 2.5 so far and haven’t strained the engine yet. I think the max speed I must have touched is 80km. Bimal was telling me that I don’t need to maintain any speed limit for the run-in period and can very well go till 140 kmph if I want to. There is no speed limit requirement. I have my doubts on that. I thought run-in period had some definite speed limits to maintain. I could be wrong on my assumption. The other very interesting statement he made was he explicitly told me to avoid sudden breaking during running period. It was the first time I was hearing something like this. Still racking my head as to what the logic could be and how it is linked to running in period. Experts please comment and also suggest what the ideal run-in method needs to be followed. I searched through the manual but couldn’t find any reference to it.
Didn’t find any difficult making U turns or going over speed breakers. Come to think of it I have still to find a speed breaker big enough to scrape the under body of the SX4. Though it was quite a challenge doing a reverse as all these year I have been used to driving a hatch. Judgment of the boot is taking me time. The other issue I found was with the headlamps. I felt they were kind off underpowered. Not too sure if I can upgrade them without messing with the warranty. One cool feature I liked though was the headlight adjustment based on the load in your car you can align the headlamp focus which I thought was a pretty neat feature to have.
I am still to determine the fuel efficiency. I will update shortly on the mileage. Fitted in 3M films (RE Series). While they were putting the film they kept the engine running and AC on so that the films stick better. I guess it was running for a good 1 hr which means there would be a skew to the fuel efficiency results.
Observations on SX4 Features
Exteriors: Love the Oyster Blue color and the high aggressive stance of the SX4. Huge Boot. Liked the 10 spoke alloy wheels and even the spare wheel is an alloy.
Interiors: Music system is pretty decent. Didn’t find any issue with it. Steering controls, ACC, Illuminated Keys, Tilt steering, Driver seat adjustment makes the drive quite pleasurable. The SX4 gives a lot of headroom even for tall people like me (I am 6ft 3in). I felt that the driver seats gives on a very high seating position and kind of tricks one in to believing that I am driving a car that is a lot higher than it actually is. There is ample of space in the front and back and despite me pulling the driver’s seat back due to my height, folks at the back didn’t complain of any lack in space. I found the legroom at the driver seats much comfortable than the Fiesta that I test drove sometime back. I was however disappointed with the seat covers and the wooden rest on the side doors seems out of place. IMO either they should have given the same woodish texture to the music system panel or totally have a gray or black kind of texture.
Engine & Performance: 1.6 VVT is smooth and powerful engine. I never once felt underpowered despite the sheer weight and size of this monster. The vehicle plants itself so well on the road and turning radius is perfect and tight especially when you make a U turn or negotiate tight corners. Sometimes I forget it’s size since its so easy to turn than even my previous Indica. Never once did I need to reverse because I couldn’t complete the U turn in first go. With 5 people sitting in the car and with ACC on, I never felt any shortage of power. It can overtake, pull up to speed very easily and moreover give a very luxurious feel to the ride.
I personally feel it’s a true VFM product which gels well with our Indian road conditions. Perfect price and package.
Future updates on mileage and art leather seats.
Posted some more pics. Will post pics on the interiors once I get the seat covers done. Btw this one has the 3M film on it. | 
29th March 2010, 11:56
