Common Sense Common Rail!

I've never owned a diesel car so I really was expecting to be disappointed when I heard that the swift diesel was coming my way when I asked to test drive the Swift Petrol. But boy was I in for a surprise! Superficially, they're identical. Maybe the VDi tag tucked away around the back is the only distinguishing quality. Now I've always been impressed by the Swift but it came as a total surprise when the VDi was sprung at me. Driving the car like a sulking kid who'd got the 'Wrong' toy on his birthday, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the car didn't feel all that bad.

5 mins into the test drive I started feeling peddle happy so I decided to give it a shot. Yes the standard 2 second lag exists but get over the lag and the car will jolt you forward in a manner that will put most petrol cars to shame. The VDi uses the the New CRDi engine that is very celebrated and has won the Swift many accolades. Now only if I knew that earlier! The car zipped through traffic. The 3rd gear seemed to be its running favorite. I pushed the car quite a bit but it just refused to back down. Surprisingly the Sales Rep didn't stop me. I managed a 100 with ease but then the lag started setting in.

In my opinion, this is a great car with some great mileage. You could just squeeze out a good 17-18 kmpl if you behave yourself. Also, the high torque is just amazing. The car kept pulling though it was packed with 5 people. So you just know you'll be able to zip through the masses even if you're car is full. Suspension, great as usual. The new updated looks are rather charming too. The white dials on the speedo really compliment the spirit of the car well.

Contrary to popular belief, this diesel car is NOT noisy or sluggish by any means. The Common Rail engine has made sure that though you're changing the engine of the car, the spirit is very much the same. If you don't mind the price tag which is a lakh higher than its petrol brother, go for it... If you drive over 2000k a month, you can really take advantage of the diesel economy.

A total thumbs up from my end

Good Pickup, Good Power compared to the Petrola lakh higher than the equivalent Petrol variant