Sep 23, 2010 03:07 PM
11754 Views
(Updated Jan 19, 2011 02:15 PM)
I am a fairly satisfied owner of Maruthi Ritz Diesel for almost one year now. Before I got my Ritz on 31st Oct 2009, I test drove quite a few cars - Punto(diesel and petrol), Indica Vista Diesel, Indigo Diesel, I20 Diesel, I10 and Santro, Swift Diesel, Ritz Diesel.
Punto was too good but could not make up my mind, due to bad reviews regarding After Sales services. Loved Swift and Ritz next and I safely purchased Ritz diesel, as it had more space for back seat riders and it was also BS 4 compliant and Swift Diesel was BS 3 compliant. Maruthi's servicing made me feel very secure about purchasing Ritz too.
All the other cars I test drove hardly impressed me :-( and they sucked for riding. Months went by and I never got over the ride feeling of Punto I experienced and I could not get used to the ugly looks of Ritz and it body roll while driving.
I began to test drive Punto again since a month ago, (the 1.4 Petrol, 75 BHP diesel, 90 HP diesel). I test drove my friends Ford Figo Petrol too. First thing from my experience of driving all these cars.
1) All petrol cars suck(including Punto's 1.4) compared to the good diesel cars like Punto, Ritz, Swift.
Petrol cars have no pull in the 4th gear and 5th gear, cannot be used for highway and long distance. I have a feeling that this fact is deliberately being hidden by the review magazines. Reviews from magazines are not trustworthy in my view. Petrol cars are out dated in my view!
2)Punto 75 HP is still superb, felt definitely better than my Ritz for driving, initially little sluggish but picks up like a plane from the 3rd gear onwards. Began to wish I had the money to purchase the top end 75 HP.
3) Punto 90 HP is awesome, noiseless engine, no problem with the pick up in the lower gears, noiseless at higher speeds. A masterpiece indeed. On the tolled flyover which goes to Infosys
Bangalore, I went at 150 kms/ hr, having a race with Ford endeavour, who obviously lost. The car handled like a dream ride.
A lot of review magazines are bull shitting about Punto that the 90 HP is not good enough power and there is no space for the back seat rider, and saying Maruthi Swift is still the best in this class and all that. I totally disagree with all that. If one can afford the price (8.2 lakhs), the punto 90 hp is the car to buy for a real car lover. Real good suspensions, with smooth gear movement, and stability.
In my view Fiat in general is heavily under rated and Maruthi & Hyundai are hyped. The Hyundai I20 diesel is a big hype and flop, it is expensive(8.5 lakhs), it has no pull, horrible mileage. Auto car Aug 2009 rated Hyundai I20 diesel as the best diesel in this class, I think the car has already flopped.
Need to test drive Ford Figo Diesel and Polo Diesel, I have my doubts about them matching the Punto 90 HP.
Test drive and feel the cars, do not trust these magazine reviews, they lie, lie and lie!
My Ritz diesel is decent, but I am not getting used to the body roll and instability at higher speeds but I can still go any distance comfortably in it. It gives 16 to 17 kms per litre of diesel with AC on in Bangalore traffic. The engine is also very smooth and pick up is very good. The gears are a little hard, the gear refuses to go to the reverse gear position some times, kind of gets stuck some times.
Sorry I cannot opinionate on Dealer Satisfaction and Fuel Consumption as I do not own the Punto. How ever the Concorde Motors Opposite Christ College in Bangalore gave me the cars meant for delivery for test driving. Which I did not approve. The Mysore Road Concorde gave me only the test cars for testing.
Unable to forget the Punto (75 HP and 90 HP top ends) :-( , some day I hope to buy the 90 HP.
Bye.
Lakshman M P
(19/Jan/2011)
Hi, I noticed one more issue. I feel that Asian cars are more fragile, I feel that way about my Ritz too. Toyota vehicles could be an exception. The European cars are ruggedly built and they do not deteriorate with time unlike the Asian cars. I own a royal enfield bullet classic. I bought it newly 5 years ago. It is very sturdy and
smooth, no deterioration after 5 years. I used to own a hero honda splendour many years back and I hated riding it after 3 years usage. The build quality went down drastically in it. You can read my review - Bullet Standard/Deluxe ’’A Great Bike! ’’
Every one knows Fiat makes sturdy cars!
