Perfect Diesel hatchback car in india

 

Exterior Really looks great in spring green.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Nice and simple dash board, Decent Audio system, Very good FM Receiver, Nice and improved seats and head rest on rear seat on DCI pure drive model.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Less noise than Indica, Liva and Figo. Smooth gear shift and better millage than Indica. So far I’ve covered 1000 K.Ms both city and Highways. The onboard computer shows 22.3 KM/Litre. In city 19-20 KMs/L and Highways 22+ KMs/L with mix of AC turned on at NH and SH roads when driving at the speed of 80-90 KM/Hour.  It is good to have 80 KM/H at 2000 RPM. This is my second car.

I also own Indica DLS and covered 82,000 KMs and I drove swift for 1000 K.M. The Micra's DCI engine is agile as Swift DDIS.

Ride Quality & Handling Easy to turn. Good at Highways too. Tilt steering allows to easy access of steering. Just keeping a finger on steering enough while driving in Highways.

Deal breaker: What made me to settle with Micra over new Swift

Initially I booked new swift ZDI on July 15 2011, a month before it was introduced in India.  Dealer informed that I was the second customer who booked that model and he promised me that I would be getting it in 30 days.  No one knows the exact cost of the car at that time and I was assuming it would be around 7.1 lakhs on road. I went to show room on the Aug 17 2011 to see it first time and it was priced at 7.48 lakhs. I liked the interiors and exteriors. I just sat on back seat and found that my head was just half inches bellow from the roof. Most of my family members are around 6 feet tall. I was little disappointed because after paying 7.5 lakhs, the rear passenger who is 6 feet tall should take care his head and neck while traveling on bumpy roads. I also felt little discomfort while entering and exiting the car compare to Micra. On the day they informed that I was 15^th in the list of ZDI because who booked older Swift VDI had shifted to new ZDI model. So my waiting period entered into 2 month. Then I started looking for alternate because of starting of rainy days. I did test driving on Figo TDI Titanium, Liva Petrol ( diesel was not available at that time) and Micra. I felt better in Micra because of its space, ambiance, fit and finish in side the car. I can say Micra is best and Liva is worst.  One of my friend who was having Honda Civic informed that Micra’s DCI Engine is much better engine than Swifts DDIS (originally Fiat’s MultiJet). It triggered me to do second test drive on Micra DCI and fell in love with Micra. I was double happy to book Micra because my daughter wanted a green color car which was not available in Swift.

I was little skeptical about missing ABS even in higher version of Micra. I used to drive safe speed of 100 KM/H in my Indica and safe driving always better than safety system in the car. In India 99% of the car( also other vehicles) running without ABS. I’m going to stay in Chennai 95% of the days in a year.

Final Words

 Both engines are same in all aspects. DDIS is slightly quieter engine than DCI. Since Micra have better cabin insulation I hardly find any noise. Compare to Swift VDI it is better VFM. Price difference between Swift VDI and Micra Diesel XV is less than Rs 15k. But you are getting Audio and Driver side SRS in Micra XV. It is worth for it.

Areas of improvement Seat height adjustment missing (I’m 6.1 feet. It would be better if seat height adjustment is in place which will improve comfort level even better). ABS (it will be very helpful during panic breaking on highways especially in wet surface).

 

Milage, Head room, Leg room, fit and finishSeat height adjustment, ABS