Maruti Ciaz SHVS Long Term Review – Second Report

The driver’s seat is large and comfortable and comes with seat height adjustment too. Even at the lowest position, the seat remains pretty high to provide a good view of the surroundings. The seat has pretty good support for the lower back and under thighs and the centre armrest is a nice touch. However, the armrest isn’t adjustable and it would be highly appreciated if Maruti adds an adjustable one on the upcoming facelift. I sat at the rear just a couple of times and I must say that space is extremely brilliant. Apart from that, the Ciaz also offers quite a lot of cubby holes and storage spaces, upping the practicality quotient of the car.

Equipment list is long enough but auto-unlock doors are sorely missed!

I’ve been driving the Ciaz way too much and I’ve spent 95% of the time in the driver’s seat. This car has a lot of features to keep you entertained. The touchscreen infotainment system comes with GPS, Bluetooth connectivity, SD card slot, Aux-IN, USB port and the likes. It is the same unit as the Ertiga, Baleno and Vitara Brezza but since the firmware on the Ciaz’s head unit is a bit older, it misses out on Apple CarPlay, something which our Ertiga ZDI test car had. You also get automatic climate control, though I personally prefer keeping the AC on manual mode.

Talking about the AC, it has performed flawlessly all the time and it chills the cabin very quickly. Only on really hot days when the sun is out, you need to increase the blower speed to 3 or 4 to keep things cool. My favourite feature is definitely the keyless go system which has really spoilt me with the convenience that it offers. The audio system has nice sound quality too and the steering mounted controls are another convenient feature to have. You even get speed-sensing door locks but you need to unlock them manually every time and they don’t unlock automatically when you switch off the car. Another feature worth mentioning is the auto dimming IRVM which is really useful.

The Ciaz gets the very familiar 1.3-litre DDiS engine under the hood. It produces 90 horses and 200 Nm of twist. The very first thing you notice is that the oil-burner is pretty noisy on the outside. However, vibrations are very less and the cabin is well insulated. The clutch is extremely light and is a boon for someone who’s just had a ligament repair surgery in the knee. Even the gear shifts are very short and precise, though there is a slight feeling of notchiness. The engine has way too much turbo lag and due to this, frequent gear shifts are required while driving around in the city. This becomes a bit irritating and takes time getting used to.