Maruti Swift Dzire ZXi 2015 Sangria Red Ownership Review

[Suryaputhra]

Chosen Swift Dzire 2015 Sangria Red ZXi
Brief history: After met with fatal accident in Maruti Zen Carb which is great companion for more than 17 years, which is used to give 20kmpl at 100km speeds and never gave any problem. After the accident I would like to buy a car with air bags and abs.

Selection criteria: Being a mechanical engineer and all the tools and the hydraulic jack available at home I used to do my car service, any repairs at home along with a Maruti show room mechanic who comes to home on Sundays. Plus one to that Maruti Suzuki is the only company which gives genuine spares to outside distributors, this particular aspect helped me to do any kind of work at home. I have not given my earlier car to service at MASS even after delivery, everything at home only.
So the selection is simple only Maruti Suzuki, Test driven three cars

1. Ciaz ZXI plus
Felt underpowered, cost cutting interiors and suspension
2. Celero
Want to upgrade from 1L so out of question
3. DZIRE ZXI
Felt excellent interiors, excellent pick up and excellent back seat comfort. Downside rear leg room and touch screen system.
Accidently test-driven Tata Zest not impressed with engine performance, gear box and seats. But interiors are good and well build.

Booking and PDI: I have my loan pre-approved so cash in hand I tried to buy the car immediately I have rejected three cars at stock yard. First one is with lots of scratches on the body, second one is with windshield pit and the third one got bumper damage. I have booked the car in three showrooms and used to roam between stockyards. Where ever I got the perfect car there I finalized and said go further and canceled other two bookings.

Delivery: Took the delivery of the car on 26-05-2015. At stock yard ODO is 6KM, at the time of delivery 16KM. Clearly told no Teflon coating, no under chassis coating and just wash and give the car. Delivery experience is not great at dealer all dumb people out there.

Likes

Newly tuned 2015 K12MN petrol engine feels quite powerful, felt excellent pick and excellent torque. I have driven many cars from yesteryears to present, the car nowhere behind its present rivals.
Even though it is three year old interior design, interiors are excellent and top notch nowhere behind its present rivals including Baleno.
Good seating, good back seat comfort, back leg room limited but it does not affect the back seat comfort.
Excellent suspension, handles big potholes and speed barkers nicely. Good ground clearance, brakes are good in ZXI.
AC performance is very good, With AC is on car is never felt underpowered even in Ghat sections.
Excellent ride and handling, very stable at three digit high speeds and good cornering capability.
Feeling sitting in big car than beleno due to height despite of baleno is wider.
Excellnt fuel economy I am getting 20kmpl on highway at the speeds 100kmph to 110kmph in city 16 with 100% AC.
Being a mechanical engineer I felt Engineer and technology is excellent and well designed in all aspects.

Dislikes

High seating position
Blind spots and poor visibility front and back
Lack of Touch Screen
NVH levels are bad, all surrounding noise creeps in, Bike horns etc. this is absolutely undesirable and cabin insulation is very very poor.
VVT makes continuously changing engine noise, engine noise creeps in at all speeds. It not linear or constantly growing noise when speed increases, but it is different from time to time due to VVT changes engine valve timing based on the real time driving conditions. This noise is irritating.
Rear leg room.
Sheet metal is very thin, 0.7mm thickness of the bonnet, a small fruit falling from a tree can cause dimple.

Did I miss Baleno not at all
Interiors are not premium, full thumbs down for inside feeling of the car
Back seat is not comfortable, bumpy ride for back seat travellers
Advantages are new design , less curb weight good performance due to less weight. But these factors not convinced me.

 

[350Z]

Note: Thread Now Live.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[Ambylovers]

Hi,
This particular color was something different. I haven't seen Dzire in this color so far.
Congratulations on your new Swift Dzire. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues.

 

[ice_wise]

Oh my god, that is one really beautiful colour Suryaputhra. It looks better than all the colours currently on sale, nice decision. Congratulations on the new car, wish you lots of happy miles in it.

One thing, you mentioned high seating position as a negative and also mentioned lack of visibility (blind spots, etc.) as a negative. Why? You can either have good visibility or low seating.

Do post more pictures of this beautiful colour.

 

[Suryaputhra]

@ice_wise
Thank you, high seating position is very good for normal view and above ground driving but same seating position is giving trouble while seeing small potholes and humps while pocking your head from the windows and want to see down. Same issue while pocking your head and reversing.
Suryaputhra.

 

[Suryaputhra]

First 1000Km report
Car was run in city as well as good highway done run-in properly. Not exceeded 2500 to 3000 rpm, occupationally touched 120kmph. I did not understand so called run-in by car owners. For any car first 100km is very important, but in the stock yard, I have seen very rash driving, redlining in the first and reverse gears as well as changing gears with the sound “clung”. In Bangalore lot of stock yards located near Nelamangala, they used to bring cars via nice road, I have seen these drivers driving at three digit speeds when they are bring cars from stock yard to showroom, then what is the point of run-in by owners.
Problems face during 1000km
Engine oil leak at PCV valve grommet and near air filter casing, not consulted MASS, it is due to excessive blow by and low viscosity 0W20 engine oil. Still Pistons are not run-in and not sealing properly. Oil leak slowly reduced and no leak once car reached 1000Km.
Gear release lever rattling
Not consulted MASS, I know it is universal problem for swifts and dzires. If you go to MASS they will spray silicone grease and let you go. It will reappear once grease dries. We have adjusted clutch pedal free travel to 0.6inch and the rattling gone, but as per service manual free travel should be 0.8inch to 1.5inch.
At first service I insisted them engine oil change, MASS brought 15W40, user manual says 0W20. I have outsourced 0W20 with great difficulty in Bangalore. Finally changed Total 0W20 oil. When we compare factory filled oil viscosity it is 0W20 only, where are the MASS people?, I have emailed maruti regarding the same and they confirmed oil should be 0W20 and slammed MASS.
Other things observed
Engine becomes smooth and fuel economy increased by 2kmpl. Suspension becomes stiff to soft handling.

 

[Suryaputhra]

Low tension piston rings, resin coated pistons and low viscosity engine oils.

Now a days every car manufacturer using low tension piston rings, resin coated pistons and low viscosity engine oils.

Low tension piston rings promote fuel economy, frictional losses and total thermal efficiency, downside is they promote and allow Blow by, due to this in the long run sludge is formed in the intake manifold, pistons, piston rings and cylinder walls. This causes engine oil consumption and fuel economy drop.

Below is the extract from the BG auto.

“So, what causes oil consumption?
Perhaps not surprisingly, today’s recommended extended oil change intervals top the list for causing oil consumption. Extending service far beyond the oil’s ability to protect, enables sludge, varnish and carbon deposits to form. Early tell-tale signs of oil consumption used to be a blue smoke haze leaving the exhaust. But today’s catalytic systems remove this evidence.

Today’s low viscosity oils naturally lead to greater oil volume loss than previous generation oils. The current API category standards allow up to 15 percent oil volume loss. Lower viscosity oils allow emissions to enter into the PCV system causing sticky deposits to form in the intake and on the valve stems and obstruct the incoming air.

Another new engine design innovation used today is Low Tension Piston Rings. Reduction in piston drag elasticity allows for easier engine rotation, but is also prone to allow a large volume of cylinder compression to escape. This contributes to higher than normal crankcase pressure carrying oil droplets (again via the PCV) to the intake and on toward the combustion chamber to burn.

The process of combustion carbonises oil deposits on piston tops and combustion chamber surfaces. The hard deposits can lead to misfire, poor fuel economy and a noticeable drop in performance.

A consequence of oil burning is that it will pass through the exhaust and deposit onto the catalytic converter. This also affects the ECU’s ability to control driveability and operational function.”

Low viscosity and synthetic engine oils

These low viscosity synthetic engine oils will not burn instead they vaporize, So what you see in the extended oil change interval is contaminants and moisture.

See the extract from AG auto

“Myth: Using synthetic oil allows a vehicle to be driven much further between oil changes.

Truth: Synthetic oil is much tougher than conventional oil. Because of enhanced cleaning properties it actually gets dirty faster as well. One reason to use synthetic oil is their ability to clean the engine. Contaminants must be removed once the cleaning is done. A very good clothes detergent may clean clothes very well. This does not mean the same batch of detergent can be used over and again to clean subsequent batches.”


So if you want to keep your car in shape change the engine oil based on your driving pattern and style and before manufacturer specified interval.
-suryaputhra

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Those having shorter trips ,must change oil at 5 k interval itself, in this case synthetic as well as mineral have same deterioration property of oil.

Mine clocked 8 k , still the oil is viscous enough except colour change from golden brown to bit dark brown ,not black.

 

[Suryaputhra]

Those having shorter trips ,must change oil at 5 k interval itself, in this case synthetic as well as mineral have same deterioration property of oil.

Mine clocked 8 k , still the oil is viscous enough except colour change from golden brown to bit dark brown ,not black.

You are right, synthetic or mineral deterioration property is the same. So short drives change the oil frequently.

 

[manish12345]

Congratulations suryaputhra, Dzire looks best in this colour. Add a Cold air intake to your car that will change engine sound. It sounds sporty after cold air intake. Don't know about warranty and I'm planning to do on my upcoming baleno too ;)

 

[Suryaputhra]

Congratulations suryaputhra, Dzire looks best in this colour. Add a Cold air intake to your car that will change engine sound. It sounds sporty after cold air intake. Don't know about warranty and I'm planning to do on my upcoming baleno too ;)

Thanks, congrats on new baleno, how to add cold air intake, can you brief the details, I am not worried about warranty, in case of warranty I will switch back to OEM set-up and show the car to MASS.

 

[Suryaputhra]

Windshield pits and unknown truth

We all noticed our windshields pitted without significant stone hit, these pits are very small and like pin head size, we wonder where they are come with proper care we have taken and keeping distance from the front vehicles

These pits are due to manufacturing defects of the windshied, windshield is made of two float glasses and a laminated layer sandwiched between them. During the float glass manufacturing one specific manufacturing defect called Nickel Sulfide Inclusions, over the time they cause this imperfection and can also cause spontaneous glass breakage. Now a days all manufacturers cost cutting and giving us inferior quality parts, A new car with six months of usage you can observe these imperfections. See the pictures below.

-suryaputhra

 

[krishnavamshi24]

20Kmpl for a petrol amazing buddy that too in speeds in excess of 100kmpl. Congrats on your purchase.

 

[Suryaputhra]

20Kmpl for a petrol amazing buddy that too in speeds in excess of 100kmpl. Congrats on your purchase.

Thanks, there is no exaggeration, in a total trip of 1500km tank to tank method dzire gave consistent 20kmpl at the speeds of 100kmph to 110kmph. All roads are six and four lines, very deserted roads, less traffic and there are no towns in between, if there also all got bypass roads. Just cruising only.

-suryaputhra

 

[Suryaputhra]

How do you protect your car from Rats, Mice and Rodents.

I tried Naphthalene balls, Raw tobacco, Diesel nothing worked then I tried chilli powder, it worked like charm no Rats.

-suryaputhra