Maruti Dzire 2018 user experience from an Automobile Engineer and enthusiast driver.

I have a 2018 Maruti Suzuki Dzire. When I was out looking for a car Ford Figo Diesel was on top of my list because of its performance and handling. But then I did some maths and realised that buying a diesel for me was not a good option. So I started looking for petrol cars. My budget was around 8 lakhs and I wanted a city car as I already have a Nissan Terrano which is great on highways. I looked at Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz, Tata Tigor, Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Dzire. I narrowed down on Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Dzire. I wanted to buy Baleno as I was getting Alpha variant for Rs. 8.20 lakhs on road. But my father insisted for Dzire as it has more boot space and sometimes he might use it as well. Also if running cost on petrol get out of our calculations( because running varies a lot, sometimes it shoots 3000 km a month and sometimes it hardly does 1000 km) then we can get CNG fitted and still have boot space left. So I agreed to get the Dzire. I got the Vxi variant as according to me it was value for money. Today I have driven it for 22k kms. My experience with Dzire is as I expected it to be apart from some minor issues which I had with the car or the service. The on the outside looks decent. It is neither eye catching nor it is weird. But definitely much improved from the previous generation. On the inside the car looks very good but when you touch the material you realise that you are sitting in an entry level compact sedan. The plastics used on the dashboard are of very cheap quality, especially on the lower portion of the dashboard and door trims. Quality is the only issue other than that the cabin is very spacious and practical. You get bottle holders and place to keep stuff in all four doors. The centre console also has good space. AC works very well. Even if the car is parked in bright sunlight you can be cool in 5-7 mins. Rear AC vents are also present, though I don't think they are of much use but still I appreciate that it is there. The only feature I miss in Vxi is electronically foldable rearview mirrors. And I also I had a complain from Maruti Suzuki regarding the rear parking sensors. According to new safety norms all new cars should be equipped with rear parking sensors. Alto was getting parking sensors and Dzire L and V variants were not which cost almost double. I had to get them installed after buying the car. Talking about the driving feel of the car, the engine and gear box is the best one can ask for at this price. The 1.2l K-series petrol engine is a gem. You press the accelerator and it is ready to rev. There is always surge of power present. The handling of the car is also decent. If you drive the car regularly you will be happy it but if you drive some other car with good handling then you might realise what you are missing. The steering and clutch is super light. Due to this super light clutch sometimes it gets difficult to get the feel from the clutch pedal and it ends up in stalling the car. But when you get used to it, using this car in city traffic is a effortless. But this is good for city drives only. Talking about city drives I easily get 18-20 kmpl in city with normal traffic and 16-17 kmpl in heavy traffic. On highways you can expect 22 kmpl if you are under 100kmph and driving at constant speed with not much load in the car. If there is load you will hardly get any difference in mileage from city mileage. On highways the car is not stable due to its light weight and thin tyres. Above 100-120kmph you start feeling disconnected from the road. If you overtake a truck on high speed you can feel the car shaking due to the air pressure created. So it is better to stay below 120kmph in this car. Also due to thin tyres the car is not able to get the grip properly under hard braking. About the service part, I have got 4 services done. When I purchased the car I was facing issues with clutch play. The play of the clutch was not optimum which led to jerks when pressing the clutch pedal for shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. I told the service advisor to get it fixed. When I got the car back I didn't feel any difference in the clutch pedal and I was still feeling jerks. But I didn't get time to get back to the service station. At the second service which was at 5k kms I again told them about the same problem. I again I got the car back and was facing the same issue. I went back and complained about it, he adjusted the clutch but the problem was not completely solved. At the third service which was done at 10k kms I was quite frustrated and my anger came out. At 10k kms my problem was solved but at around 16k kms the clutch wire broke. I contacted the Maruti Roadside Assistance and the experience was pathetic. Also the labour charge for servicing at 20k kms was Rs. 2200, which is very expensive for a car of this price and on this they ask if you want to have oiling done on all the joints and hinges of the car for Rs. 300 (not sure of the amount). I don't know for what they are charging so much. Pros:1) Ample amount of space. 2) Very good mileage. 3) Good performance. Cons:1) Poor plastics used. 2) Very thin body sheet metal. Easily get dents.