May 22, 2009 11:05 AM
14290 Views
(Updated May 22, 2009 03:07 PM)
I currently own Maruti Suzuki Swift VDi and I am very much satisfied with the car. I was looking for a Petrol car for my wife. Before the launch of Ritz, I was planning to go for Hyundai i10. Although first love is i20 because of its style but i20 does not fit in my budget.
Today, I took the test drive of Ritz ZXi in Ghaziabad and I am very much pleased with the car. Although car is good but Swift is still Swift.
Exteriors: From front, car looks like mixture of Swift and new Wagon R. From back, it looks like mixture of i10 and A-star. Overall, car looks good but if you compare it with Swift or i20, those falls in same price segment, Ritz does not stand anywhere. If price of Ritz would have been in range of i10 or A-star, it would have won my heart.
Ritz is launched in following colors: Fire Brick Red(New), Bakers Chocolate(New), Blue Blaze(New), Silky Silver(Old), Racing Green(New), Glistening Grey(New and looks like grey in i10), Midnight Black(Old) and Superior White(Old). I think white and grey color will become popular.
One good thing is even lowest model comes with internally adjustable ORVM. No model comes with electronically controlled ORVM.
Interiors:Dashboard *– Car comes in two colors dashboard. As per sales person, LXi comes in grey colored dashboard and top models in both variants come in Blue color dashboard. If this is true, Racing Green body color with Blue dashboard will look awkward. I saw Superior White ZXi with blue dashboard and liked the dashboard. Grey dashboard is as good as blue dashboard. Grey gives sober look and blue gives sporty look.
One of the best features is the style of dashboard. Dashboard and gear lever are combined and give the waterfall look. There is just one dial/meter in console and that is given in front of driver seat. Fuel meter is digital in all variants and given within the speedometer. Tachometer is placed at the top of dashboard and at the left hand side. Ritz is the second car in which Tachometer is separated from other meters. A-star was the first car to introduce this concept. In A-star, it is positioned at the right hand side while in Ritz, it is placed at the left hand side of driver. Personally, I am fan of large meter console with lots of displays. Ritz disappointed me here but few may like it.
Another good feature is back seat is divided in ratio of 60:40. If you want to bring your room AC to service center, you can fold 60% your back seat and someone can also sit on 40% of seat. Good!
Adjustable steering and alloy wheels are only available in ZXi.
Anti-glare rear view mirror is available in all models while it comes only in VXi or VDi or above in Swift.
Space:Ritz has better space than any other car in this segment. It has better space and space management than Swift, not sure about i20.
Experience while driving:Car is comfortable. I did not find any discomfort while sitting, entering or driving. I felt that air conditioning is not as good as it should be. Sales person said it is because of outside temperature and car is parked in open area for long time. I wish he is right. I found car is lacing in pick up, might be because I drive Swift VDi which has superb pickup.
Discounts and Waiting:I have tried with dealers in Meerut and Ghaziabad. No one is giving discount of even a single cent. Wait time is around 25-30 days. Ghaziabad dealer was ready to give free matts, perfume, mud flaps, etc.
In price list, I found dealer was taking Rs. 3500 as Handling Charges. Dealer was unable to give appropriate reason of these non-sense charges.
Conclusion:I would prefer buying Ritz over i10 but not over i20. As I said earlier, i20 is my first love. If I will have to compare between Swift and Ritz, I will have to think twice and probably I will once again go with Swift. Swift stands out different from all similar looking cars. Although Ritz Petrol has better fuel efficiency and space than Swift Petrol but still Swift is swift.
