Maruti Suzuki may be perceived as small car maker but the success of esteem is unquestionable. Esteem was introduced in 1994 to replace the M1000 Maruti’s first ever sedan on Indian roads. Esteem was acknowledged as a car that required low maintenance and managed low running costs. Esteem topped its category in the J D Power Initial Quality Study 2004. Also, Esteem was ranked first in their categories in the J D Power APEAL Study Many buyers willingly chose the esteem for its easy handling and ride quality. Esteem ruled the entry level sedan market for many years and has withstood the onslaught of competition all this while. But the decade old Esteem failed to stand in front of newer,contemporary models like Renault’s Logan. Maruti started planning to replace the esteem and looked for options. But rather than developing an all new car Maruti took the modern yet cost efficient model i.e. stretching a hatchback to build a sedan. In Europe, Renault is making hatchbacks,sedans,pick-ups and MUVs based on logan platform. Swift Dzire is the outcome of the model and it is built on the Maruti Suzuki’s highly successful Swift platform.
When we are given an oppurtunity to test drive the swift Dzire, we wish to find out just two things – whether the dzire sedan lives upto the value of swift brand and whether it can pull the crowds as the esteem did. Let’s check out.
1) Maruti Swift Dzire: After the successful launch of swift hatchback, Maruti started the swift Dzire project in 2005. But unlike the swift in which Indian engineers worked under their Japanese counterparts, Swift dzire is fully designed and developed in India.Indian engineers has conceptualized and designed the swift Dzire at a cost of about of Rs30crores. Swift dzire will be solely in India. Unlike the swift which is more european. Swift Dzire is designed to suit the taste of Indian consumers. Dzire’s chrome boot lid which runs between the two taillamp cluster.
2) Maruti Swift Dzire: Maruti has retained most of the swift components to keep a check on the Dzire’s price. The result is very few differences in styling, the swift dezire is a lookalike of swift barring the stubby boot. At the front, Maruti has given the swift Dzire a new two-slatted grille in the middle with chrome lipping and a slightly different foglamp inserts. But you cannot tell whether the car is swift or swift dzire by looking only at the front.
3) Maruti Swift Dzire: If swift can be chractercised by its love me or loathe me styling the new dzire has increased the factor further. Dzire styling is sure to draw many more debates. To facilate the notchback style boot Maruti has made the C-pillar more chunky and it slopes to merge with the stubby boot. The high deck boot sits on the large muscular rear bumper sourced from SX4. The turn indicators in the boomerang tail lamp blinks horizontally in swift dzire. The chrome boot lid which is easily the largest in any indian car dominates the rear. Overall proportion of the car is good but it dilutes the swift ready for the race appeal.
4) Maruti Swift Dzire: Maruti Suzuki DDIs uses the same swift powertrain for the new swift dzire. Neither the power ratings nor the gear ratios are revised. The brilliant DDiS engine produces maximum power of 75bhp at 4000rpm and 190Nm of peak torque. G13B petrol engine sourced from Esteem develops 87 bhp at 6,000 rpm and 115Nm at 4,500 rpm.
5) Maruti Swift Dzire: We drove Dzire diesel and found that the performance is very similar to the Swift hatch. It manages to reach 60kmph from stand still in just 6 seconds. The refinement is top notch and it excels in mileage section too. Swift Dzire returns 16kmpl in our combined city and highway drive
6) Maruti Swift Dzire: Maruti says the the suspension at the rear is retuned to offer better comfort and to bear the additonal weight. But the fact that swift dzire is heavier than the swift hatch by just 30kgs means there is no discernible change in handling chracteritics. Turning radius remains the same and the addition of boot does not make itself felt even while negotiating tight corners. The steering feels light and accurate and body control is good. Though the alloy wheels in dzire looks different from the swift hatch Maruti has retained the same narrow tyres used in the swift hatchback. The end result is dzire does not have adequate grip on the road similar to its sibling.
7) Maruti Swift Dzire: ABS and Dual Airbags makes the swift dzire one of the safest car in its class. Indigo CS (Compact Sedan) and Ford Ikon with which dzire competes doesn’t have these features. Swift Dzire also features a muscular front and rear bumpers. The rear bumper features two reflectors and a fog lamp. An additional stop lamp offers additional safety.
8) Maruti Swift Dzire: Swift Dzire comes in seven colours – Arctic white, silky silver, clear beige, midnight black, bright red, azure gray and sovereign blue. All the colours are available with beige upholstery.
P.S:Our sincere thanks to M.Jayakumar, ABT Maruti (massales@abtlimited.com), Guindy, Chennai (9994475222).