Auto India, Car India

Maruti-Suzuki collaboration has launched another B+ segment hatchback. But it is not a “just another” hatchback. Since its arrival, it has stirred completely the Indian small car market. The car is indeed, engineered beautifully, keeping a perfect balance among the superiority in quality and the price of the car.

The car is available in number of variants including Swift LXi, VXi, VDi and ZXi. The most appealing thing about the car is of course its exterior look. The nicely carved, frontal circular bonnet forms most of the exterior appearance. Undoubtedly, swift is doing well in terms of its market sale and reputation. Here, we have described Swift LXi, which is a comparatively lower variant and missed out few important features. Nevertheless, most of these missing features are included in top end variants.

Highlighting Features :

Swift design is a combination of Japanese technology with European appearance. The exterior is greatly delighting; whereas the interior space and rear seating is little cramped. Other comfort features are standard as per the price tag of the hatchback. Take a bird’s view at Swift LXi through the following specification statistics.

General statistics -

• Name and Model : Maruti Swift LXi
• Ex showroom price (Mumbai) : Rs 4,30,000 (may vary)
• Body type : Hatchback
• Available colors :
  Solid Bright Red,
  Metallic Garnet Orange,
  Pearl Metallic Arctic White,
  Metallic Ozone Blue,
  Metallic Silky Silver,
  Metallic Iridium Gold,
  Metallic Azure Grey,
  Metallic Midnight Black
• Engine type : Petrol
• Maximum power : 88 Bhp @ 6000 rpm
• Maximum torque : 113@4500 (Nm@rpm )
• Acceleration(in sec) 0-100 km/h : 13
• Top speed : 160 km/h
• Steering : Power
• Brakes : Front Disk, Rear Drum
• Gears : 5 Manual
• Alloy wheels? : No
• Fuel tank size : 43L
• Fuel efficiency : 15.6 kmpl (For Highways)
  11.3 kmpl (For City)
• Seating Capacity : 5
• Seat adjustment : Manual
• AC / Non-AC : AC without climate control
• Music system : No

Comments -

Suzuki is admired globally, for making highly performance/price efficient small cars. Now, they have launched a new hatchback with eye-catching stylish look and unbeatable performance figures. The swift, in no doubt, leaves a great impression through its looks. The European shapes of the assemblies, matched proportionately with each other, makes it a pleasant experience, to watch the Swift running at highways or escaping through crowdie city roads. While focusing on stylish appearance of the car, the manufacturers have paid equal attention in making it compact. This greatly reflects through its overall closed body structure.

The next and the most important aspect of Swift is its engine performance. Swift LXi body is mounted on a 1.3L, 1298 CC petrol engine. The engine is capable of producing a max power of 88 Bhp @ 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 113 Nm @ 4500 rpm. This kind of power-torque combination helps swift in delivering the extra ordinary performances in terms of max speed, acceleration and fuel efficiency. Swift is capable of producing acceleration of 0-100 km/h in mere 13 sec. This is almost equal to that of Fiat 500. Also it has a max speed of 160 km/h. Despite of its capability of producing such good acceleration, Swift has surprisingly high mileage. These statistics highlights the exceptional strength of the engine and its awesome power-torque co-ordination.

Needless to say that riding Swift is an uncommonly pleasant experience. The power steering and 5-geared manual transmission moves seamlessly and simply adds up to the driving joy. The suspension system used is standard, with McPherson strut and coil spring as the front end suspension and a strong torsion beam with coil spring as the rear end suspension.

Fortunately, the overall compactness of the car has not hampered its interior space availability. The car interior is quite spacious accommodating total of 5 seats. Only the rear seats seem a little cramped. This is due to the inward flattening of the rear shape. The rear seats are foldable, which creates space dynamically for huge luggage.

Safety and comfort features in Swift are somewhat concealed, considering the pricing limits. It misses ABS and EBD in LXi variant; however these have been included in the higher variants. The car includes AC; however it is without climate control. Major safety features to mention are rear doors with child safety locks and broad, tubeless tyres.

Pros :

• Superb mixture of style and compactness
• 1.3L, 1298 CC, 4-cylinder petrol engine
• Acceleration from 0-100 km/h just in 13 sec with atop speed of 160 km/h
• Highly efficient mileage to accompany the excellent acceleration
• Front Suspension- McPherson strut with coil spring
• Rear Suspension- Torsion beam and coil spring
• 3-spoke power steering
• Air Conditioner is without automatic climate control
• Total of 5 seats with foldable rear seats, assisting in making more luggage space
• Sufficiently broad tubeless tyres
• Remotely controlled fuel-lid
• Rear doors provided with child safety locks

Cons :

• Little cramped rear seats due to the sloppy roof of the car
• Suspension system is not so effective at rough roads
• Missing ABS and EBD

Bottom Line :

The new Maruti Swift is a real innovation among the currently available hatchbacks. The exceptional engine performance defines its distinctness in the market, making it the top choice for most of the buyers. Speaking in terms of comfort level, the high end swifts surely seat aside to some of the eminent brands, but the Swift LXi variant misses out some score here! Also the security level is not emphasized much in LXi, but that again is justifiable with its lower price.

In short, Maruti Swift LXi certainly misses few prominent security and comfort features, however it moves far away in terms of its road performance. If you are thinking about buying a hatchback at an optimum price, the new Maruti Swift LXi definitely deserves higher preference!