Swift DZire Test driver

The interiors are exactly like the hatch, with small touches like chrome rings around the speedometer and tachometer with white illumination. MSIL should have seriously given the DZire the beige treatment as the black and grey interiors have become boring. However even after increasing the length of the rear, the rear legroom is less then adequate. Infact its almost similar to the hatch, which is very disappointing indeed. Considering rivals like Indigo, Accent, Ikon & Logan have much better legroom, i dont know how good a idea is to have a chauffer if you own a DZire.

Coming to the engine, the car comes with two engine variants, one the 1.3L G13BB of the Swift Petrol, which is a tad disappointing again. It doesnot want to move on low revvs and needs to be revved hard to extract the best out of the powerplant, i was seriosuly hoping MSIL would give the M Series engine here but i dont know what the guys at Maruti are smoking, i mean common you cant expect a car with 113NM torque to pull a 1100kg car with ease. On the other hand, the diesel DZire is a gem, with 193NM torque, the car pulls like a locomotive on rails. Its slightly slower then the hatch but thats almost negligible. The DZire just weighs 30kgs more then the Swift hatch. The diesel engine will be the one which will be having the most sales and i wont be suprised if Maruti have a long waiting period for the diesel variant. Expect FE to be similar as the hatch, ~14 in City, ~19 on the highway.

The Braking was very good, similar to the hatch but the handling is slightly on the negative side compared to the hatch. I think a prospective buyer will be comparing the DZire not with the Swift hatch but with cars in its segment like the Indigo, etc & thats where the Swift DZire has a slight edge in terms of A.S.S, VFM, Engine, Fuel Efficiency. The quality of the car is yet to be seen, Swift's are prone to rattle earlier on in life and hopefully Maruti should have sorted the rattling issues with the DZire. The car has 440litres of boot space, which is adequate for a car of this class. There are six varaints LXi, VXi, ZXi in petrol and LDi, VDi, ZDi in diesel. The latter two are fantastic value for money with loads of features like ABS, Dual Airbags, Alloys, Climate Control, Music System, Audio Controls on Steering Wheel, etc and priced around 50k more then the Swift hatch.

As a replacement for the Esteem the DZire is fantastic, but would i put my money on it, if i was looking for a car in that segment, certainly not, it looks too ugly for my tastes and ill wait till the look of the car grows on me, then maybe i might convince myself to buy one, but at the moment i wouldnot want myself to be seen in something which looks that out of shape :p

Read more on http://thecarsandmore.blogspot.com/

10 points about DZire on http://thecarsandmore.blogspot.com/2008/03/swift-dzire-pictures.html