Rides Like A Dream !!!!!!!!!!

 

Let me start by saying that I am an army officer that too from the infantry, so be rest assured that when I say something, I have done my homework. I have driven around 25,000 + kms in jus under 1.5 years, if that is any indication of the judgement u wanna make of my review, and I have driven every single KM of these. This is a dream car and I say so bcos considering that as a soldier we push ourselves to the limit and this car was at my receiving end. but boy did it deliver. I AM AWED. dont know how many of u have done it but I have driven this car at 175 kmph-makes a lot of noise on the outside but is this baby stable.

Its jus amazing whether u jus wanna do a chaffeur drive or a drag race, u wont be dissapointed. Even though with a very high grnd clearance(190mm-ZXi) it handles very well at high speeds, thanks to the fat tyres(205mm alloys). have taken this car on so many of my unknown territory x country adventures, but it scoopes them all with ease. suspensions are really note worthy here.

On 3 different occassions, I have driven non stop whole day-night and covered 970 kms nonstop- speed and endurance(military traits) and that too with full load. not once did cit ough up. Be it bad roads-typical of indian backdrop (though NHAI is doing a wonderful job), this is the only vehicle(sedan) which can soak up the potholes with ease.

I always speak the truth whether one likes it or not-the city, verna, and off late the VW are all very competent cars and if I may say better in some aspects too, but as an Indian and if u love to drive all over the country, and u love to zip at high speeds, maybe drag race at times too (not recommended safety wise), this is ur car, a complete package which I can bet no other car can beat overall.

The cost is also an imp factor and it doesnt get over at jus buying the car. after sales burn holes in ur pockets, if my honda n hyundai frns will agree truthfully and that is another place where this car jus zips past its comteporaries.

Talk about ride quality, there is hardly nay difference(I have test driven the city, verna and even linea) In fact linea was the best in handling but a poor powerplant jus killed it (a 800 wud accelerate faster). the new one is much better.

I have done the followinf routes jus for ur info- Ranchi-Katni-Jabalur-Indore.(1350 kms), Indore-Bhopal-Betul-Nagpur-Secunderabad-visakhapatnam-Ranchi(3000+ kms in 3 days), indore-aurangabad-secunderabad-belgaum-goa-pune-shirdi-indore (6000+ kms). Indore-Chittorgarh-jaipur-delhi (850 kms- 12 hrs jus a week back).

Now I know most of u will be thinking that i am lying considering what i wrote jus now, but thats the truth and my poor wife is the only witness who has been a victim to all this madness (even a seasoned driver who was wid me in one of the trips commwnted that @saab u faujis are totally mad, even we dont drive beyond 500 kms in a day), but this is the only reason y i decided to write in this forum cos i know not many people wud have driven this vehicle the way i have. its a petrol veh and the increasing fuel prices does not helpme either.

But this veh has survived this madness and i need to tell this to all true car enthusiasts that if u want a good machine, this is it. mine is a very unbiased report, in fact Verna has a diesel, which can easily beat this machine in the hands of a good driver and i personally love the hyundai diesel anyday better than this, honda again a good overall  but snobbish and very low ground clearance and horrendously expensive aftersales.

The boot space is HUMONGOUS, and trust me i have exploited it to the hilt, I have a JBL sub in my boot and inspite of that, the boot space is unbeatable. tell any of the other brands to match it.

Noise dampning is also very good upto 130-140 kmph, beyond which the outside noise trickles in (tried n tested).

Best feature- ABS with EBD and alloys. let me jus tell u that i wud have been dead abt a year back when the front right tyres lost all air pressure and my car went into a 360 degree spin like the hollywood movies.the ABS and the alloys saved us that day. the tyres had left the rim and the car was eventually brought to a halt (after 6 agonising spins with my family an mother in law) bcos the ABS was working overtime and the alloys jus dug into the highway tarmac to stop the car. also another good feature, during the spin, the car never topples over as that wud have defenitely killed us (thanks to its wt- 1200 kgs).

there have been on and off mechanical problems- like only the front right disc pad wore out way too early at 20000 kms insted of the accepted 30000kms and some more issues but maruti was always forthright and caring in helping me out to the extent that they replaced both my front disc brakes and the pads @ 24000kms as a goodwilll gesture under warranty of course. i now have brand new brakes.

Pls understand that this is neither an Audi nor a Merc, but it is a brilliant sub 8 lakh car which can give a run to many 12 lakh plus cars. have pitted this vehicle against city, verna, fiesta, hyundai terracan, the cruze, civic, toyota corolla, innova amongst others. Only the terracan and the cruze did make me sweat and i actually felt that they cud beat me but for the ongoing traffic and highway conditions.of course bcos of the brilliant machines and a huge powerplant, but all the others were put to rest and this i can say with conviction,(all landed up 160 kmph plus madness- not recommended though).

Am not deliberating on the build quality and plastics and all that, cos it has been discussed at lenght, the only thing i want to highlight to all my felloow car entusiasts is that if ur looking for an overall good package, and money is an issue, then this is the car for you look no further. Tried and tested this car to the hilt and it is a SCORCHER.

fUEL ECONOMY in city with a/c is 12.5 kmpl and in the highway is 13 kmpl. u can increase it to 14 maybe 15 kmpl on the highway if u drive at constant speeds of around 80 kmph. but thats defenitely not what i bought this car for.

A pillar is an issue as many times a whole auto rickshaw or a scootorist vanishes behind the thick front rt A pillar, jus have to get used to it.

Reverse parking- I installed the Black cat 4 sensor kit, very accurate to almost 10 cms for jus Rs 4700/-. reversing is a problem, but then how often do u reverse. Pls install the sensor kit, and reverse in peace.

The tyres are a big plus as the 205/60 R16 on 16 inch ENKIN alloys are fantastic. in fact it is one of the most imp feature in high speed dynamics(ask any car guru) and its doubles up as a safety feature too bcos of the phenomenal grip level these rubber provide, they do make a lot of noise at high speeds and the JKs are not the best to handle this beast. (till date neither maruti nor JK tyres cud explain the sudden loss of tyre pressure in my car leading to the accident ) will suggest if u have the mollah, upgrade to either the YOKOHAMAs or the BRIDGESTONES. they are really good and will last upto 1,00,000 kms as against 40,000 of the JKs.

SO FOLKS WISH U A HAPPY AND A SAFE DRIVING. DO WEAR UR SEAT BELTS(preferably the rear seat ones too). IT SAVES LIVES (it saved my families lives).

Looks, power, acceleration, high speed stablity, boot space, alloys, etcrear parking visibility, A-pillar, center rear seating