Maruti Suzuki has been quite a successful company that left a huge impression in the hearts of millions upon millions of Indians. Their cars have been used by generations and the credibility of the company remains unchanged. With the dawn of the new era comes the need for change. Maruti in collaboration with Suzuki motors have brought new innovations and newer cars to the Indian market. The Swift from Maruti Suzuki has been the leading hatchback for well over a decade and has easily taken over plenty of challengers. The sales figure of the Swift remains on top of the chart every time. There is definitely something about the Maruti Swift that makes it so popular.
The all-new Swift received a few upgrades and came out with the name Face-lift. Albeit several options to choose from, Swift always remained my favorite option. In terms of practicality, the brand and the vehicle has a very different respect. It is desired by plenty of buyers and its service works out to be more economical over the other brands. These reasons were enough to please the impulsiveness within J. Here is my take on the Maruti Suzuki Swift Face lift version that I bought recently. I chose the Fire Red color that seemed quite catchy, peppy and youthful. Maruti has also added a Mysterious Violet Color but that looks pretty much like a black swift.
Engine:
Maruti Suzuki cars offer classy mileage and with the launch of every new car, the mileage manages to put a smile on the buyers face. I chose the Petrol consuming Vxi model that enjoys a few top end features. Maruti Suzuki had tweaked the engine on the new facelift version to add to the efficiency.
The 1.2-litre K-Series mill (1148 cc engine) now produces 2.7 PS less power, thus is outputs 84.3 PS at 6000 RPM while the torque has increased by 1 Nm to 115 Nm at 4000 RPM. The compression ratio has been modified from 10.0:1 to 11.0:1 and this helps churn out a mileage of 20.4 kmpl. The car is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox that is quite comfortable to use.
Exteriors:
In terms of styling, nothing much has changed since the last Swift that rolled out before the Facelift version. That’s a little sad because competitors like Hyundai constantly keep updating the design languages of their hatchbacks. Sadly, Swift has been the same since the beginning.
The New Facelift version has a new grille and bumper are new but again, it’s very similar to the old car while the fog light has silver accent next to them. The accents are available only with the vxi, zxi, vdi and zdi models. Apart from this, the exteriors remain fairly unchanged.
Interiors:
The Swift definitely greets the driver since the driving pleasure of this car cannot be substituted. The seat fabric has been changed since the last model. (P.S. The seat covers cost me extra and do not come as a standard addition with the car) The Dashboard on this car has silver accents, including on the door and steering wheel while the equipment list has been lengthened to get on par with the competition.
The car comes with a new and interesting 60:40 split seat system that comes in handy when the luggage is a tad extra. The vehicle has new and adjustable headrests as well as rear-view mirrors. The Face-lift version also has electronic view mirror system or OVRM that is surely a great feature to have.
These electrically retracting rear-view mirrors on my V trim make it easy for me to adjust and fidget with the joystick. Getting on with the rear space, this car is a little disappointing because Maruti has not been very generous with the rear seating space on this car. It does feel a little claustrophobic especially for those who are a little tall. The Boot space is pretty much the same and lacks space. Carrying a lot of luggage is surely a challenge with this car.
The Audio system is by far the best I’ve ever seen in any other hatchback. The audio system on this car is married to 4 speakers placed on every door in the car. The Bass and overall acoustics are a mood changer. The vehicle has an Aux in and a USB port that play soothing music. There is also a CD player/changer. The new model has a removable Antenna and the Radio support on this vehicle is quite good. The V trims and the Z trims have Audio systems.
Price: The Vxi model is available for Rs. 6.30 lakhs (On-road Price) which is quite aggressive a price I should say.
Service:
I am a big fan of Maruti’s service network. Although i stay in a hill station, there are 2 Maruti service stations in the vicinity. Maruti offers 3 free services after purchasing the car. The First service is due after a month or 1000 kms. The second service is due after 5k kilometers or 6 months. And the Third Service is post 10k kms. The average price of servicing my car comes to around Rs. 2000/-. Compared to others, this is quite a decent amount and it’s quite justified.
Bottom Line: Of course the new Facelift has a few flaws (which car doesn’t?). The rear seating space and the boot space is definitely a turn off. However, I was amused by the split seats, driving is always fun and I cannot miss out on the mileage part too. That said, the music makes my day too 🙂
Hope you find this article interesting? Please feel free to drop in your feedbacks and suggestions.