Swift Dzire LDi = Sophisticated Indigo LS!

Why the buy?

I had an Indigo LS and wanted a more modern car to replace it. The Indigo had started giving major problems and so I thought it was time to replace it.

Options?

Manza (for the SIZE), Fiesta (for the QUALITY), Verna (for the ENGINE) and the SD (for the PRICE, SERVICE AND SPARES). Only diesel versions were considered.

Manza - No go, did not want to go back to Tata. My Indigo had given great service for 5 years and something new was needed. Fiesta - Too many conflicting reviews esp about the service and spare parts cost. Plus the price was a wee bit too high. Verna - Priced out, poor rear leg room. So the choice became the SD.

First Impression

This car DOES NOT exude an air of high quality unlike the Fiesta. The projected vibes of giving max bang for the buck PLUS the famed MS service network and inexpensive spares are its ONLY USP. So high quality watchers - beware of disappointment.  5/10

Exteriors

The same Swift with a BMWesque boot. The car looks a bit foolish with the stock rims and tyres but fit 10 spoke alloys plus 185/70 Michelins and SUDDENLY, it looks like a 4 wheeled bulldog, a bit tubby and pugnacious, honestly! Its a**e goes a bit in the air like a scorpion with a sting and the whole package starts looking damn smart. Trust me on this, I have seen people look at it with that lips-twisted-downwards-"kya solid dikhti hai ab" look. 4/10 to 8/10 post change

Interiors

A little cramped after the Indigo, but not too much so. I purposely got the LDi to enable me to carry out after market fitment as per my needs.

A grey theme in the plastics and upholstery is sombre and of good quality but nothing to rave about. No rack under the intrument binnacle and there is a general paucity of cubby holes. The LDI has no airbag but the glove box is too small as the same one does duty on the AB SDs, too bad.

Front and rear leg room are just fine for medium sized folks but for 5 feet 11 inches and above, the rear legroom is terrible. The bottle holders in the rear doors are sheer genius - big enough for a large water bottle each.

The parcel shelf is stupid - it has recesses for speakers but these are too close together. Also, one has to cut thru the metal undertray to fit speakers - idiotic design.Resultantly, sound staging goes for a six.

Rear view is bad thru the rear wind screen esp for shorter drivers and it takes time to judge the perspective of the 4 wheels' position while parking - quite an odd feeling.

The A pillar to driver seat relationship is odd - one has to lean to the left and right to take in the perspective on any right turn exceeding about 130 degrees, very disconcerting feeling this...

The AC is a bloody Arctic zone - 2 minutes at 3 and you go to 1 and freeze your b***s off. And the rear seat cools super fast??? And this at 40+ deg C!!! And the eng exhaust warmer will heat YOU up as fast you had cooled down. Full marks.

Overall 7/10

Engine, Txn, Suspension

• What an engine! Purring kitten at tickover and a bloody raging hellcat at full chat! The punch at about 1800 to 2000 RPM is almost sexual in its full bodied plunge into 3 letter speedo figures. And there is a SNARL, so atypical of diesels when one opens her up - heady stuff and casustive factor Numero Uno for my FE figures. A slight sap with the AC enabled but she shrugs it off beyond 60. Get this car ONLY for the engine, if you please. And the torque at 100? She wants to stay at 110-120 on the highway unlike the Indigo which was comfay at 80. S*x bomb of an engine. 15/10
• The txn is good, not too slick a slotting to rob one of feel but neither agricultural aka Indigo. Loosens up after about 1500km but still ok. Vibrates thru the clutch pedal rather than the gear shift lever, whither gear backlash? No slip, just a surge of the torque and abso ZERO vibes thru the gear shift, odd.. 8/10
• Compliant suspension, would have liked it to be a tad firmer. Perhaps with low pro tyres, it will firm up. With the 185/70 Michs, it is super SOFT but NO wallowing and squishing. Tyre roar is zero. It HATES concrete roads and LOVES tarmac😕 The understeer is predictable, again tyre dependant. 7/10

Fuel Economy

Ihad 15 kpl from 29 km on th odo till the first free service and then 15.25 till 3020km. 98% of the time with AC on AND in city crawl mode, so extrapolate to about 18-19 on the hiway w/o AC. For this engine - just great.

Major Grouses

The boot leaks from the on side i.e. driver side and rain water forms a pool in the stepney well. Bone dry on the other side. Some issue with the panel closure under the right tail light, I suspect.

The headlight cluster is lousy. At low as well as high beam, the lateral spread is too less for comfort.

Carpeting is cheap and poorly fitted, plastics in the boot are thin gauge.

The sheet metal is wafer thin - a cyclist's pedal edge will RIP it open, have seen it on a friend's car.

Overall Experience

Total VFM, a much more sophisticated and reliable avatar of the Indigo LS I had for 6 years. Some you win, some you lose so the SD is an overall 8/10.

Great Price, Sexy Engine, Huge Service Network, Low Spares CostsBad Headlights, thin sheet metal, leaky interiors