Maruti Ciaz SHVS Long Term Review – Second Report

Maruti Ciaz SHVS Long Term Review

Long Term Test No. 103

Car Tested: Maruti Ciaz SHVS
Kms Done: 6482 kms
Test Started at: 4237 kms
Test Concluded at: 10,719 kms
Mileage: 16.15 km/l, 19.8 km/l (best), 12.5 km/l (worst)
Fuel Consumed: 401-litres
Fuel Cost: Rs. 24,060/-
Rs. per km: Rs. 3.71/-

The Ciaz is what I can call a brilliant, no-nonsense, executive sedan!

Maruti has been selling the Ciaz in India since the past couple of years. When it was first launched, we were quick enough to compare it with the Honda City and the latter was the winner. However, the Ciaz did create an impression that it was a good package offered at a VFM price. We really wanted to get to know the car better and what better way than to drive it on a daily basis for 6 months? The Ciaz SHVS entered our long term fleet and I was handed it when my Jazz i-DTEC long termer went back to its automaker. Coming from such a fun-to-drive car like the Jazz, I wasn’t too excited about having the Ciaz but read on to find out how this C-segment sedan has won over my heart.

The Maruti Ciaz is the longest and widest car in the C-segment. What does this mean? It means that there is oodles of space on the inside (more on this later) and even the exterior proportions look really well-balanced and the Ciaz carries the persona of a proper executive sedan. The styling is spot on and while the front fascia does have similar elements as other Maruti cars, the design is still very nice and it appeals to people of all ages, young and old alike. Our test car came in the Pearl Sangria Red colour which is a fancy name for Maroon.

The shade looks elegant when the car is clean and shows the curves of the car properly. On a personal basis, I’m not a fan of this colour and would have preferred a silver or grey shade. Since our car was the top spec ZDI+ trim, it came with 16-inch alloys finished in a gunmetal shade. The car makes its long length felt while parking in tight spaces or taking U-turns on city roads, with the turning radius being a bit on the higher side. I particularly like the projector headlamps which have a good throw which is complimented by the powerful fog lamps.

The Ciaz is very spacious with oodles of space and lots of storage spaces

Step inside the large cabin and you will find familiar bits everywhere. The switches on the door pads are shared with a bunch of other Maruti cars and so are other stalks and switches. The steering wheel feels nice to hold and comes with a discrete chrome strip at the bottom, breaking the all-black monotony. The dashboard has a very nice layout with controls falling in easy reach of the driver as well as the passenger. The dual tone black and beige colour scheme looks very pleasant too. The instrument cluster is easy to read and the MID displays a lot of info like instantaneous and average fuel efficiency, average trip speed, two trip meters, distance to empty, etc. There are also a bunch of other settings for the door locks and power windows which you can toggle through the stalks on the instrument cluster but those are a bit complicated to do and require usage of the owner’s manual.

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.

Turbo lag is annoying but fuel efficiency is impressive, SHVS system is a charm

Once the turbo starts spooling around the 2000 RPM mark, the engine has a strong pull all the way to 4000 RPM and the Ciaz accelerates quickly in this RPM range. The SHVS system is a good feature to have and it switches off the engine whenever you bring the car to a halt and shift to neutral. However, it switches the engine on again in a minute or two. You can switch off this start-stop function using a switch on the console. I must say that the start-stop process is very smooth and quick and hardly takes a second. The green SHVS light comes on when you are coasting or braking. It even comes on when you have depressed the accelerator pedal very lightly at the right RPMs. The Ciaz is a very efficient car for its size but fuel efficiency is largely dependant on the weight of your right foot. I managed to extract 16-17 km/l in the city easily with sedate driving while the worst I got was 12.5 km/l when I gave it the beans throughout the day.

The Ciaz is an absolutely comfortable car with the suspension doing a splendid job on our roads which are nothing less of a joke. The ride feels very plush and the car filters out the bumps and sharp edges in a very nice way. The tyres are decent enough for daily usage but I found the grip to be a bit lacking under hard driving. The steering offers rich feedback but lacks in feel. It doesn’t even self-centre and feels completely dead. Handling is just neutral and the Ciaz is meant for comfortable cruising. In the last couple of days with the car, the front left tyre seemed to be punctured and hence I put the spare wheel, which turned out to be a 15-inch tyre on a steel rim. The spare wheel can be used for speeds up to 120 km/hr but handling dynamics do get affected with it.

Maruti Ciaz Service Costs

1. Service Schedule – 10,000 kms and 1 year (whichever is earlier)
2. Cost of Spares –

* Engine Oil Per Service – Rs. 2000/- (3.2-litres) (D)
* Brake Oil – Rs. 310/- (500 ml) (D)
* Oil Filter – Rs. 375/- (D)
* Fuel Filter – Rs. 1350/- (D)
* Brake Pads (Front) – Rs. 2000/- (est.)
* Front Bumper (without painting) – Rs. 2690/-
* Rear Bumper (without painting) – Rs. 5149/- (est.)
* Headlamp Assembly (Each) – Rs. 4149/- (est.)
* Tail Lamp Assembly (Each) – Rs. 1425/- (est.)

When we take the entire package into consideration, we can easily say that the Ciaz is one of those few cars that grow on you over time and you really start appreciating all the good things that it offers. The sedan has never disappointed us and I can easily say that it offers the best of all worlds – practicality & space, satisfactory performance, good equipment list and nice looks. It is priced very competitively and the results are showing in the monthly sales figures. Without doubt, the Ciaz should be one of the top contenders if you’re looking for a C-segment sedan and Maruti is soon going to introduce a facelift which will come with tweaked looks, maybe some more features and an even better package.

What’s Cool

* Widest and longest car in the segment means lots of space!
* The interiors are nice and comfortable with good storage spaces
* The engine is a reliable performer and is fuel efficient too
* The suspension is nicely set-up for Indian roads

What’s Not So Cool

* Misses out on some features like Apple CarPlay
* Would have liked the steering to offer better feel

Testers’ Note:

Further Reading –

Maruti Ciaz SHVS Long Term Review – Initial Report
Maruti Ciaz SHVS Review
Maruti Ciaz Review
Maruti Ciaz vs Honda City
Maruti Ciaz vs Honda City – Video