car of the year 2009

Looks
Well, there is nothing to write about it. Haven’t seen any other Indian car of its class that has better looks than Swift.

Interiors
It has the interiors of a sports car with black finish and silver rims. Though it looks good in a new car, I am very skeptical on the how well the interiors will suit in dusty Indian environment. I like Getz interior though.

Comfort and Practicality
what matters for a normal Indian is how comfort and usable the car is for daily usage and for short trips.

Storage space
What Swift lacks is the storage space found on many competitive models. Wagon R has tones of storage space in the dash board. Indica has thoughtful spaces for the driver.

Swift has a plain stylish dash. There is one glove compartment, not very big though. There is a utility space on the center console, good enough to hold mobile phones and wallet. As usual door pockets and seat pockets. What disappoints me more is the absence of under seat parcel tray. The European version of Swift has this and Indian version of Santro and Getz has this. For a car with very less utility space, under seat parcel tray could have helped at least to store some audio cassettes and CDs. Everyone owning a car would agree that Cassettes and CDs take up most of the space in the dashboard

Boot is also not so generous. I would say it is much similar to Indica. Wagon R has the class leading space in its category. Swift is definitely not in podium in this section

Comfort
Like any other Maruti cars, AC is excellent. The top end ZXi gets an automatic climate control and I was amazed with its performance. VXi and ZXi have tachometer, door open warning, light on warning, key inside warning and driver seatbelt warning. And best of all, VXi and ZXi has rear electric window (many small cars has only front power windows)

But the most important is the space to accommodate 5 passengers. Width of Suzuki swift is similar to Honda City (1690 mm). It can seat 3 passengers decently at the rear seat. The leg room is much better than other Maruti small cars. But Getz has marginally better leg room. Swift was designed to compete with Hyundai Getz and Honda Jazz (Hatch back variant of Honda City) in the European market and hence, seating comfort will be on par with its rivals.

Speakers provisions on doors
Maruti usually has 4 inch speaker provision in the front which means compromise on sound quality. And the rear speakers placement on small car is worst. Usual position is the rear parcel tray which means compromise on boot space. Swift has 6 inch speaker provision on all four doors which means no compromise to be made.

Driving Comfort

Maneuverability
An excellent Electronic power steering with precise control, good road visibility and good turning diameter of 9.4 m has made this car quite maneuverable in the city traffic. The visibility in the rear while taking reverse is not the best in class but still good enough

Power
87 bhp of 1.3L engine is only just sufficient for heavy car like swift. The car is quite heavy and power train is very smooth. Swift is faster than any other small cars with exception of fiat palio 1.6 and corsa sail 1.6. When compared to sedans in similar price range, esteem outperforms swift in acceleration.

Swift has a very flat torque curve which means very less gear shift in city driving. I drove Swift in 3rd gear for speed as low as 15-18 kmph and still the vehicle has sufficient torque to accelerate to 80kmph with out much strain. Only other Maruti vehicle that has such a torque curve is Baleno

Suspensions
Best of Maruti. The suspensions have been tuned for handling and hence little compromise in Ride. Though the rear does not have independent suspension, the overall characteristics are very good. What makes Swift better is the 14inch tyres. All the other compact cars and many sedans like Indigo, Esteem comes with a 13inch tyre. Bigger tyres will do well in avoiding pot holes on Indian road

Fuel efficiency
I cannot comment on this right now. But as per Road test in Overdrive June 2005, the fuel efficiency in City is 12kmpl and in highways 17kmpl both with AC

Safety
The best thing I like about this car is the safety features. Safety features are mostly overlooked in India. But those rare occasions where safety features comes handy might change your life forever. At speeds greater than 60kmph, your safety depends on the other drivers on the road, no matter how good you are.

Built with thick steel, the car looks solid and strong. The only other car which gives me this impression is Skoda Octavia. The car weighs 980 kg (LXi) comparable to Indica and Getz. But Swift engine is All Aluminum (very light when compared to its rivals). This means, most of the kerb weight is contributed by the chassis and the body

ZXi model comes with dual front airbags, ABS, EBD, seat belt pre-tentioners, wider tyres apart from standard features as rear seat belts, side impact beams, etc

ABS and EBD
Most cars are designed for driving on Tarmac. But unfortunately, most Indian roads are very dirty that the tyres do not touch the tarmac directly. During sudden braking, the wheels stop rolling but the car continuous to slide without stopping. ABS with EBD will solve this problem by not allowing the wheels to lock prematurely and hence, stopping the car as expected by the driver. A car with good power train and excellent braking translates to confidence while driving

Price
I must say, MUL has got this right the first time. LXi-3.8, VXi 4.0, VXi(ABS) 4.2, ZXi-4.83. Unbeatable pricing. ZXcomfort and styleno commnets