RITZ 2012 Excellent horse from the Suzuki stable!!!

I had Maruti 800, WagonR with me for long duration, had Toyota camry outside India for one year, my review is based on these cars as baselines :)

I have driven this new RITZ 2012 for 600 kms, 200 on highway, rest in the crowded city,

Exterior  The 2012 model is simply best looking from the front, the looks are EUROPEAN, gives somewhat lesser resistance to the air. Getting inside is easier than WagonR

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Good internal features, Suzuki Maruti should have had bundled a few simple features in the LDI like central locking and side moldings, which are complex to fit post delivery.

Internal plastics looks improved, the glove box is a great design. The inside space looks huge from the driver's seat, you feel like you are inside a big tank. the dash board is very deep, plus the bonet is also long one, you feel secured from the front side.

Adjusting the mirrors from inside is a cool feature as compared to my earlier cars :)

IMO, the water tank for the windshield is a smaller one though. Also I feel that the driver seat should have been taller by 1 or 2 inches. For speakers there are sockets already available, but these sockets are not for big size speakers, high volumes kill the quality due to the small space behind the speakers.

You may want to add a woofer or an extra big size speaker+amp. The buzz word dual horn means two simple horns in parallel, you may want to add a button operated horn in addition.

There is plenty of space under the hood for extra horns, extra lights. Currently no seat covers are fitted, but with seat covers, I think the rear seating will be a bit crumpy.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Switching from petrol to diesel required me to give a period of 2..3 days to adjust with the gear shift for getting a feel for the turbo kicks. After a week, I can now drive on the city roads tail to tail, take narrow turns in 3rd or 4th gear.

In 2nd gear, the car roars and accelerates ahead in fraction of moments, you feel like you are inside a just shot bullet!

Changing the gears is smooth, it took 2..3 gearshifts for me to differentiate the 4th and reverse gear. Now I can for example change over from the 2nd gear to 5th after a bullet like acceleration.

I got average of 19 kmpl before first servicing on highways with A/C ON for speeds ranging from 60 to 120 kmph. 16.6kmpl after the first servicing in city with A/C partially ON, with faster accelerations and more brakings, low gear drivings, might improve if I patiently drive :). Main point to note as compared to WagonR or Maruti 800, A/C switching on..off for 3..4 people inside makes no difference on the accelerations !!! So might be a true upgrade for WagonR owners.

Ride Quality & Handling Driving at 100kmph on highway turns was no problems, no rolling over like WagonR, the suspension is better but probably will need some minor improvements or tuning from Maruti Suzuki. The steering control is very precise at all speeds, no play like in Maruti 800, no feel of over steering like in WagonR.

Final Words Best upgrade for 800cc or 1000cc car users, once you pay premium for the diesel car (on top of a petrol car). You will drive in city and on highways with no worries for the fuel costs. You will fel much more safer. This car seems better than Swift or any other car in this segment in sense that the 360 degrees visibility is more for the driver.

Areas of improvement 1...2 inch taller driver's seat would have given driver a bit of better view Some extra built in accessories or features in the LDI would have made the life easy. May be the kick over of the turbo should have been button controllable, like for the city driving, just 500rpms should have triggered the turbo, while on a smaller highway, I do not want the turbo to be triggered.

Good fuel eco, and also good pickupLDI should have had some more features as defaults