A competent family sedan

Not many may know it but Maruti’s SX4 was originally developed as a crossover by Suzuki in collaboration with Fiat. Indeed we saw a fair few examples of the Sedici, as it has been branded by Fiat, last year during our epic Yeti trail drive around Europe. For India though Maruti made the smart move of launching the SX4 after having added on a boot. This not only added an extra dose of practicality to the car but also enhanced its status quotient since the average Indian buyer equates a sedan as a big car and therefore more desireable. To its credit Maruti also made sure that the styling of the SX4 was not upset when the boot was added; the boot certainly doesn’t look like an afterthought but more like a natural extension of the car.

The car itself is a great family saloon. There’s a decent amount of space inside and there is no need to squeeze people in. Five adults can sit relatively comfortably. There’s very good headroom and good shoulder room as well. The seats are comfortable and they’re decently supportive as well. Having been designed as a tall car the SX4 also offers easy ingress/egress, which is a boon for both tall people as well older members of the family. Meanwhile its boot, which is pretty large, will gobble up all the passengers’ luggage as well. Now that it’ll offer its owners the benefits of diesel economy the SX4 has become even more value for one’s money.

On the downside, while Maruti has indeed given it a good stereo system with a USB port and iPod compatibility, what is missing is Bluetooth connectivity. Now this may not make a huge difference to the ownership experience, but the addition of Bluetooth certainly makes communication a lot safer and more convenient. Given the fact that the SX4’s target audience is the upwardly mobile busy man and that smaller less expensive cars are getting this feature, it’s omission cannot be a good thing.

In the meantime watch out for this space as we keep you updated on life with the SX4 diesel, including how good (or bad) the drivetrain is, service, ownership costs, fuel economy, et al.

We all know that diesel engines are more efficient than petrol ones. A lot of this is because diesel engines offer more torque lower in the rev range than petrol units, which equates to less gear changes and the ability to stay in higher gears for longer durations. We also know that the Fiat sourced 1.3 DDiS engine that Maruti Suzuki uses to power its range of diesel cars offers impressive fuel economy. We have seen so in the past with our previous long term car the Swift Dzire.

Naturally, it follows that the SX4’s diesel variant should offer good fuel efficiency figures. And indeed it does. So far we have not seen a fuel economy figure of less than 14kmpl. The highest figure we have seen this far has been 15.6kmpl. Meanwhile the average fuel efficiency we have been getting is just over 15kmpl. Considering that all the driving has been confined to within city limits and often in heavy traffic with the engine idling for considerable amounts of time, this I think is a commendable figure for a car that uses the same engine but is significantly bigger than the Swift Dzire. Not to mention that during these daily runs the car has not really been driven to optimise fuel consumption. Indeed there have been short bursts of rapid acceleration, trudging through stop-and-go traffic, idling at the city’s countless red lights and so on.

So it would be fair to say that if the car were to be driven carefully, it should be capable of a 700km range on a tankful of diesel, in the city! Expect this figure to be even higher on highways. As it is, a full tank of diesel takes me through around 650-670km of driving.

As we had mentioned last fortnight when we introduced the SX4 Diesel to the AUTO BILD INDIA long term fleet, it’s a great car to own, especially if you’re a family man, courtesy its offer of space, comfort, ease of ingress/egress, and so on. The only problem so far was the absence of a petrol engine variant. And it was a big problem, in view of the fact that petrol prices across the country are now in the 60-plus rupees range. Maruti though has rectified that oversight with the addition of a diesel engine variant to the SX4 line up.

The engine in question is the same Fiat sourced 1.3-litre DDiS unit that does duty in the diesel variants of other Maruti Suzuki cars like the Ritz, the Swift and the Swift Dzire. But in the SX4 this 1248cc mill has been retuned to offer a peak output of 90bhp and mated to a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT).

Now Maruti has christened this Super Turbo and if you look at the television ad for the SX4 Diesel you will automatically assume that the VGT helps the car deliver unmatched performance.

Although this particular bit about better performance may not be totally untrue, what the addition of the VGT actually does is make the power delivery a lot more linear than the other cars that use this 1.3 DDiS engine.

Now the SX4 is not the only car in its segment to feature a VGT. The Hyundai Verna diesel also features a common rail diesel engine mated to a VGT. But in the Maruti the mating of the turbocharger to the engine has been done in such a superb manner that one really has to look for any turbo lag.

If you don’t focus hard enough you won’t even notice any lag in your day to day driving. This, in effect, means that the power delivery is totally linear and smooth. There is no sudden surge of extra power at a certain rpm once the turbo has spooled up, which can be scary in traffic until one is totally used to such power delivery patterns. As a result the SX4 Diesel is a very driveable car in the city.

The engine also has a decent torque spread that ensures that requirements for a downshift are reduced. Consequently, you can either potter around in high gears at slow speeds, which, in turn, will aid efficiency and reduce bills. Or you can simply stamp down on the throttle pedal in case you wish to overtake a slow moving vehicle in front of you.

But if you did need a downshift Maruti has given the SX4 a slick and precise gearbox. It's also relatively short throw.

On the downside though the absence of that surge in power, which enhances the Swift's sporty and enthusiastic driving experience, has robbed the SX4 of that same peppiness. It now feels smooth for sure but not as exciting or fun to drive as the peppy little hatchback.

Before I start off on yet another high report for a particular, let me first reiterate the qualities that make a car a good tourer. It must be spacious with comfortable ride quality and seats, should have a decent sized boot, a torquey and frugal engine and should feel planted at high speeds. In the Indian context, it’s a bonus if the car also happens to run on diesel. Last but not the least, it should ideally have ABS, just in case. The SX4 that we have in our garage ticks most of these boxes as I found out when I took the car on a weekend jaunt to Shoghi, a hill station just before Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.

It is quite spacious and can comfortably seat five without feeling cramped. The boot is quite large with a fairly big opening so putting in luggage is not a problem. That said, the loading lip is on the higher side, so you will need some effort to hoist cargo in. The seats are comfortable too; indeed I drove for over four hours at a stretch on the way out of Delhi and not once did I feel uncomfortable.

That the SX4 has a pliant ride also helps on long jaunts. The downside to this is that the car feels slightly wallowy at high speeds. Dynamic abilities too take a beating as I found out on the twisty roads of the Himalayas. The steering feels artificially weighed and returns little feedback.

The engine though has enough grunt to keep cruising at three-digit speeds all day long. Given that the SX4 is more than 150kg heavier but uses the same engine with only 10Nm more than in the Swift, you need to downshift a little more frequently in the hills. To be fair though it’s only the initial acceleration that is a minor issue for once the car gets going then it feels effortless again. It’s a frugal engine too, returning over 16kmpl on a highway run.

Factor in that 50-litre tank that we’d mentioned in the previous report and you’re looking at a range of around 800km.

Add to all these, things like ABS in our ZDI variant, a relatively high seating position and ground clearance and it would seem like the perfect highway cruiser.

And that’s not far from the truth. But if you are headed for the hills then beware of the car’s massive A-pillars. They are wide enough to hide hatchbacks, let alone motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists, and this creates quite a few visibility issues on twisty roads, especially on tight hairpin bends.

This fortnight, with the plains around the national capital reaching scorching levels, we again headed off to the cooler climes of Mussoorie. Now, the distance between Delhi and Mussoorie is 286km but it’s a very crowded road with lots of traffic . As a result I got ample time to mull on the SX4’s music system.

The ZDI variant of the car gets an integrated music system with an aux-in as well as a USB port that is iPod compatible. Now, unlike some other iPd compatible systems that read the device like any other USB storage, the SX4’s system actually reads it like an iPod, so you can scroll through your playlists and select what you want to listen to. Something we like immensely. Meanwhile steering mounted controls will allow you to adjust volume, switch between radio stations, tracks and music source without removing your hands from the wheel. Also, the mute button not only silences the system but also pauses it.

As far as sound quality goes, you will not be disappointed if you aren’t expecting concert hall like acoustics. It’s got a good clear sound reproduction that you will be able to enjoy