And “The Heart Car” finally arrives …

Well finally after a painful wait of “14” long weeks, agonizing & almost endless lack of response from the dealer, pathetic & shameless lack of concern of the dealers sales team, frustrating & horrific supply chain management control revelation on Maruti’s part and my own decision oscillation due to the long wait we have finally got the car that i generally like to say that we decided to buy after a detailed scientific comparative analysis. Not that we’ve got it and driven it I can relax and say that the last part may not exactly be true.

Well it definitely took a while to marry my “Fairy Tale” and “romantic” car likings at personal level and the harsh realities of ability to afford in real (read “salaried”) world. I started the buying decision process with Honda CRV and Safari Dicor 4x4 in my car choice priority list in that order. But as fate had in store, my cruel & very real salary slips corrected my myopic vision of car choice. I must admit that it was painful when I had the cruel realization that the choice of the car you would buy is driven by pocket size and not by heart. That's when I i zeroed in on Honda City, Scorpio, Fiat Linea and Hyundai Accent in that order of course. The shortlist i must say was a the outcome of a rigorous 4-dimensional analysis of (corrected) choice, looks, driving pleasure, fixed costs, running or maintenance cost with an overarching constraint of affordability and pocket size. I did detailed vendor visits, test drives, long comparison exercises on specifications-price-fuel efficiency-maintenance-after sales support-resale price and the most effective meditation exercise of imagining all shortlisted cars in one row and logically picking one. Of course i must thank Bill Gates, Larry Page and Baburao Jadhav for helping me with my comparative analysis. Bill for providing the god send tool of excel (which by the way is running all economies and business across the globe), Larry for Google which was my only source of first hand data for my scientific calculations and of course above all Baburao Jadhav my colony gate watchman / guard who gave me practical insights on which car is technically most sturdy and looks sexy on the road. So aided with the insights from my scientific analysis of Honda City, Scorpio, Fiat Linea and Hyundai Accent i decided on a winner and brought “Swift Dzire (diesel) VDi”. I took some convincing on my part to bring my wife on board, coz she was not a big fan of the shape either. All i had to do was to stress on the money we would be saving on fuel cost and half the battle was won. No more secret revelations here though.

Crazy it may sound, but that's how we brought our first car. On pure instincts driven by just one test drive experience !!! And i seriously do not regret my decision.

To begin on Swift Dzire let me set the records straight. To start with i hated Swift and not just that, in fact I also ridiculed & doubted the mental state&senses of those who brought Swift Dzire when it was launched. The car according to me was nothing but Swift with a boot and the shape according to me was a cross of a bad car design and a oversize frog.

But then somehow on one fateful day I and my dear wife landed at the sai service showroom in Andheri west. And were listening to the emotionless rehearsed monologue of the sales guy giving the regular opening speech on Dzire. He was indeed on of the most boring souls i have come across. His soul-less bragging of car features was followed by a equally drab test drive of the Swift Dzire Petrol version. We came back with a the no-buy decision closed on the non-existing option of Dzire and were parking the car in slot when another family came back from a Test Drive of Dzire Diesel version and god bless the sexy sales lady in that car who looking at our disinterested faces got the que of a lost customer and convinced us to take a test drive of the diesel version to give the dealership on a last shot at a prospective customer walking out.

I was expecting a drive experience similar and if anything a bit inferior on pick up 0-60 zip as compared to the petrol variant. Surprisingly the diesel car’s pick up, cabin noise and engine vibration was not very far from its petrol variant. Was driving in bumper to bumper traffic for quite some distance when we hit an clear highway stretch and i pressed on the accelerator. The speedometer hit 30 kmph, the RPM crossed 2000 mark and “BOOM” – the magic of the heart car happened !!! Out of nowhere the 75 bhp engine gave a sudden torque burst of more than 190 nm at the 1500~2000(+) rpm mark and the result was the magical surge of raw animal power that the car drew from its superbly responsive 1.3 ltrs DDis multijet diesel engine. The outcome was like a tantalizing turning point straight out of a bollywood entertainer. My eyes lit up, a sudden rush of blood happened in my body and i got the frenzy of a child. I had experienced something very different that was about to change my complete view on this winner of a car from Maruti stable. I decreased the speed and accelerated again just to make sure of what i had experienced was not a fluke. But there it was, a normal looking car with below average looks and moderate price tag which otherwise was a no-buy for me, suddenly became exciting for me. I ran through and accelerated my way on the road with the excitement & enthusiasm of a child finding kryptonite !!

Anyone used to driving a petrol car and is used to the 0 to 60 kmph surge in about about ~ 20-30 odd seconds has to drive this Swift dzire Diesel to feel the true excitement of 30-100(+) kmph on flat 14 seconds !!!

Trust you me, its exciting, its thrilling, its a great feeling of riding a raw brutal power packed machine and to top it for prospective car buyer rating driving experiance high in the list if deciding factors, its sure enough to tilt the buying decision in favor of my true “Heart Car” – The Swift Dzire VDi.

Here is how I will rate the car on various attributes based on my driving experience of 500 Km. Am starting with the cons and subsequently will rate the cool points of this car:

Description	Spec	Rating (1o)	Remarks
Cons:
Music System	Nippon	4	The biggest & the only true disappointment in the entire package. Seems serious cost cutting has gone only on music system to fit VDi and ZDi in the affordable price tag. Maruti could have easily put a better system and made it an optional feature to choose. The speakers are pure crap @ 40W, paper speaker only there for name sake. The player of nippon too leaves much to be expected. Another expense of about 20K on player and 5K on speaker set. and you can have a audible interior.
Looks	-	6	Maruti could have done better. Its on individual perception though. I have met people who love the shape, my personal opinion however is that it could have been better. No major complains though. Have bought it after all with this very shape !!
Rear seat space	-	7	Rear seat is cramped especially when front seats are pushed all the way back. Dzire due to its slanted back glass has addressed the claustrophobic feeling that one get in Swift’s back seat. The direct competition in its price segment (Accent, Ikon, Manza) are definitely better here. The seat is comfortable though, legroom is what the problem is.
Dashboard	-	7	Maruti could have done better with the quality of plastic they have used. Otherwise simple yet impressive dashboard, easy to reach controls. Spend another 20K on beige interiors and you will have a stunner at your disposal.
Pros
Front seat space	-	8	One of the best front legroom in this segment, the driving position is comfortable and suited for both city driving conditions and long drive. Deducting one point for not giving height adjustment in VDi which i believe have become a necessary inclusion now rather that an optional luxury.
Steering Control	EPS	9	Effortless maneuvering with electronic power steering. Much better than Manza that is looking to overtake Dzire in this segment.
Gears	-	9	Again super smooth gear shift with minimal effort. and very conveniently and accurately positioned to match driving seat. A joy to drive even in city traffic condition which requires continuous gear change. When the city traffic is driving you crazy the gears with gear it down.
Cooling	-	9	The 1.3 lts powerful DDiS engine predictably enough gives instant and effective cooling. Although i guess with December temperature in Mumbai it has yet not been tested to limits. It would be interesting to see how it fares in May-Jun.
Power	1.3 Ltrs 75bhp @ 4K rpm	10	Clearly the most power packed car in the segment. I have driven Manza Diesel which is a 95bhp engine but somehow the magic does not work with Manza. While driving Dzire DDiS you would clearly feel like a king out there. You hit the maximum torque of 190nm@2000RPM and all other on road would become lesser mortals to you. With Dzire you rule the road.
Pick Up	0 to 60 (6 sec) 0 to 100(15sec)	10	The stats are impressive. But number don't tell everything. Even being a diesel engine this car does not give you a delayed zip on 0 to 60. So that's a clear plus. But what does the magic is the power that this car gives
Fuel Consumption	Tank: 43L City: 17 kmpl HighW: 20 kmpl	10	Take it and you would’nt stop smiling when you fellow petrol owned cars are crying about having to drive without AC, to drive within 50-60 kmph range for best fuel efficiency and the numerous theories on what is the best time to leave for work for best fuel efficiency. This car is truly fill it, shut it and forget it. ~Rs.1650 of fiesel (43L @ 38 Rs./L ) would last you for a whole 700 Km approximately. Anyone who knows anything about fuel cost pain would know its a whole lot of kms. And that with AC on full blast all the time. So now just smile past those Fuel pumps. You wont visit them more than once in two month.
Boot Space	460 Ltrs	10	Unless you are are into movers & packers business, you wont need more than this space.

So guys this indeed was an impulsive buy on my part as with is pretty much the case with everything i do. But this is one decision that i definitely wont regret. I have logged just 500 km and i guess the fun driving has only started.

For me, “The Heart Car” has truly delivered. Am off to road !!!