Maruti Swift Diesel Long Term Review – Final Report

Maruti Swift Diesel Long Term Review

Car Tested: Maruti Swift ZDi Plus MT
Kms Done: 14,559 kms
Test Started at: 5638 kms
Test Concluded at: 20,197 kms
Mileage: 16.65 km/l, 19.5 km/l (best), 13.8 km/l (worst)
Fuel Consumed: 874.41-litres
Total Fuel Cost: Rs. 59,460/-
Fuel Cost Per Km: Rs. 4.08/-

Good comfort, efficiency and a fun to drive nature make the 3rd gen Maruti Swift a good daily driver hatchback

As I bid farewell to our Maruti Swift ZDi+, I have been reminiscing all the moments that I spent with it in the last year and a half. The Swift has proven to be a great companion and over this long duration, I got a chance to experience the car over a variety of road and traffic conditions. The Swift has also been my companion throughout the monsoons of 2018 and 2019 and now that I’ve been driving my new daily drive, a bigger sedan, I think I’m already missing the compact and chuckable characteristics of the Swift.

It was in early 2018 when Maruti launched the third-generation Swift in India, at the Auto Expo. The Swift, as we all know, is one of the highest-selling cars in the country right now, despite having so many competent rivals. We cannot really call the Swift cheap because its top variant crosses the one million mark and lurks into sedan territory. But what I really like is how this hatchback has evolved from the time in 2005, when the first generation was launched in a pompous manner.

We’ve discussed the car’s design and styling a lot of times, so let’s dive deep into the finer details of how the car is to live with on a daily basis. For starters, the Swift makes for an easy car to drive around on crowded city roads. All-round visibility is excellent and the driving position is something that I like. The seats are placed a bit low and the dashboard isn’t very large. Once you do get inside the car, you notice that a lot of parts are shared with other Maruti cars. While airbags and ABS are standard on all trims now, the build quality on the car could’ve definitely been better.

The interior has pretty decent fit and finish but there are quite a few plastic parts which kind of feel built to a cost. You get hard plastics all around but thankfully the Swift has a black interior instead of the beige theme that you get on the Dzire. Ergonomics inside the cabin are spot on and Maruti has loaded the car with more than enough storage spaces to keep stuff. All doors get 1-litre bottle holders and the front doors also get generous space to keep other belongings. Driving in Mumbai’s traffic can be very tiring and I used to make sure I’d have a fresh bottle of water and a pack of cashews/almonds in the driver’s side door pocket all the time.

With keyless entry and push button start on offer, you don’t really need to use the remote at all!

Talking about driving in traffic, the front seats are something that I absolutely love in the Swift. These seats hug you from the sides and offer a good amount of comfort. I never really sat in the rear seat for long distances but we did use the boot a lot of times on shoots to stuff all our video equipment and it gobbled up everything with ease. The SmartPlay infotainment system throws out good sound quality but the head unit itself is a bit glitchy. It would randomly shut off and restart on its own while there were times when Apple CarPlay would just not connect. The LED projectors on the Swift offer great illumination and are quite powerful.

Now the Swift diesel comes with the same engine as the first generation Swift. The 1.3-litre engine sourced from Fiat is very noisy and has a fair number of vibrations which are felt while starting and shutting off the ignition. The engine scores high in terms of fuel efficiency but it also scores high on turbo lag which gets on your nerves in the city when you constantly need to upshift and downshift. The mid-range power delivery is super and honestly, the turbo lag is the only issue that I have with this engine. The clutch is thankfully very light and gear shifts are precise too.

The suspension of the Swift can take a lot of abuse and can tackle our roads (or no roads!) with ease but I’ve never been particularly fond of the low-speed ride on broken roads. It is a bit on the stiffer side and causes some vertical movement. However, at high speeds, the suspension does a good job in the keeping the car composed. The hatchback also offers a good driving experience and responds nicely to the driver’s inputs. The steering is also quite direct but some more feedback would have been really appreciated. The car does feel very fun to drive and has excellent body control. There were a couple of instances when I had to drive through slightly water-logged roads and a patch of no roads but thankfully the Swift handled it well and got me out of it.

In these 17 months that we had the car, we didn’t face any major issues with it. We did get it serviced twice and this ensured that the car gave us a trouble-free experience. The Swift was liked by everyone in the team but I used to call dibs on it every time! The other day we got the Swift petrol MT when our diesel car went to another publication for a shoot. I drove the petrol and that was something else! No lag, free-revving engine and sprightly performance made it a fun drive from home to work and back.

After spending all this time with the Swift, I now understand why majority of the buyers in the hatchback segment buy this. It’s a good car which doesn’t disappoint on most fronts. Looks? Check. Features? Check. Efficiency? Check. Reliable? Check. Can bling it up? Check, iCreate! Resale value? Double-check! These are the things that most buyers in India want and with the availability of the AMT with both engines, there’s something for every customer.

What’s Cool

* Elegant styling coupled with compact dimensions
* Feature-loaded interior which scores high on practicality
* Frugal diesel engine with a strong mid-range

What’s Not So Cool

* Steering could have offered more feel
* Infotainment system is a bit glitchy

Further Reading –

2018 Maruti Swift Long Term Review – First Report
2018 Maruti Swift Review
2018 Maruti Swift Video Review
Maruti Swift – Pros & Cons In Hindi [Video]