SX4- Unbiased Review

Well the wait is over I now own the ZXi Variant of Maruti SX4. I've been waiting for this launch for over 3-4 months if not more. I had a Baleno earlier and I enjoyed driving the car for almost 3 years. I am a car buff and I enjoy driving, I was one of the AUTOCAR DRAG race winners in Hyderabad (2005). I have spent my first 3 days understanding the car and its response and then I shifted my attention to its performance and other factors that would be of great interest to the Indian customers. I have mixed feelings about this car and in my review I’ll not compare SX4 with another car in this segment simply because I am not here to prove anything. ? Lets talk about the good things first…most interesting…Fuel Economy. I drove this on a variety of roads and traffic conditions in and around Hyderabad. It gave me an average of about 12.8 – 13.6 Kmpl, which was very impressive considering the size of the car. Now this might also mean that the car is not all that heavy and possibly as sturdy as it looks (didn’t really test this aspect? ). I didn’t trust the mileage for the first 7 days so made it a point to test it again and again. As mentioned earlier I drove it on highways too and touched 160 KMPH and SX4 was perfect no noise and no vibrations, I didn’t speed it up further for my own safety reasons (this being a new car I didn’t want to take a chance). But will certainly beat this in my next run on the highway. SX4 height gives the driver an edge in terms of vision and control over the car, breaks & ABS has been very responsive and comfortable. One can pretty confidently drive this car and touch new speeds very easily. Interiors are decent and are comfortable, AC/ Auto Climate Control is impressive, I liked the front seating; however rear seating and the music system could have been better. The adjustable head lamps are advantageous on the city roads where we don’t use high beams. Now there are certainly some points that I didn’t like especially the front pillar of the car which interferes with the driver’s road vision during steep turns or U turns. I didn’t know if anyone observed this. I feel uncomfortable. Rear leg room for this spacious SX4 could have been certainly better even the rear seat height is uncomfortable since the rare passengers can almost see everything on the road. (Which they need not) Well to conclude I personally liked this car and finally bought it with almost no second thoughts. I am certainly not promoting it for it would add no bonus points to me from Maruti Suzuki ? Good luck to all those who are in the look out for a new car!Power, Fuel, Looks, WheelsRear Seating, Front Pillar & Outside Rear View Mirror