Monday, April 7, 2008

Comments on Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire

Ah, finally. After being the focal point of attraction and anticipation for a long time, the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire is here at last! And it’s pig ugly… actually no, it is not all that bad afterall. Not as bad as many thought it would be. Just like what Indigo was for Tata – an Indica with a boot, the Swift Dzire is a Swift hatch with a boot. Or is it?

As for looks, it does look like the boot has been slapped on to the rear without giving the design a due thought. It looks incongruous with the front end. The front does manage to look smart, owing to the Swift’s handsome and bulbous front end. The panel gaps are very pronounced and the shut lines of the rear doors and boot are very distinct.

Maruti Suzuki Swift DzireSimilar to SX4, the boot line of the Dzire is also high-set which might create an issue with rear visibility. The clamor-inducing back side of the Dzire looks like a fat lady’s behind marked by a chrome strip running across the boot. The tail-lamps also shout ‘Swift’ everytime you look at them. The suspension, though similar in geometry, has been worked upon and tweaked to handle the extra weight that Dzire carries on the Swift platform that it sits on.

A choice of two engines is on the plate. Lurking under that ‘Swift’ bonnet to satisfy the ‘performance’ hungry blokes will be a 1.3L petrol engine while the 1.3L DDiS engine from its hatchback sister will be the oil-burning motor. Sharing the Swift platform, the Dzire will perhaps be marginally better on the space front.

Maruti Suzuki Swift DzireStarting at Rs. 4.49 lakh for the Lxi version, the top end version will retail for about 6.70 lakh. The Dzire comes in six variants (three petrol and three diesel), Zxi and Zdi being the top end petrol and diesel variants respectively. The most VFM factor will be with the Vxi and Vdi, we believe.

How is the Dzire on the road and to live with? You will have all the answers soon when we test this car exhaustively. Watch this space!

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