The Maruti Swift was released by Maruti Suzuki in India in 2005. It's remained steady in the Indian market for 8 years now (with design refreshes). Three years down the line after the Swift's 2005 launch, Maruti Suzuki came up with a new car which took the market by a storm - the Swift Dzire. It was essentially a Swift with an elongated boot or one could say, a cheaper option than the SX4. But it sold, like hot cakes. Now there's been a design refresh and Maruti Suzuki's come up with a much smarter and sturdier looking car. The current Dzire comes in three variants:
1. LXi / LDi (the base model)
2. VXi / VDi ( middle of the range model)
3. ZXi / ZDi (the top of the line model)
Moving on to the interiors:
It can be said with ease that the Swift Dzire's Interiors are the most elegant and classy ones which can be bought at the price point of 5 to 7 lakhs. The interiors have an exuberance of elegance. I personally like them alot. There are visible influences from the Kizashi's interiors too - like the steering wheel, the water fall like centre console and the basic contours of the dashboard. I was never really fond of the previous Dzire's interiors which were similar to those of the previous generation Swift. But these interiors in comparison are out of the world.
There's loads of design and part sharing going on here - the Swift, Swift Dzire and the Ertiga have the same dashboard design with minor changes like changes in the color scheme and different accents in the dashboard.
The gear knob is like a golf ball. The knobby design fits well in the palm and is comfortable to hold. The silver gear indicator backed by beige adds to the elegance in the cabin of the Dzire. Further, the silvery finish breaks the monotony in an otherwise ocean of beige.
This above is the Dzire's automatic gear lever. Note that the automatic transmission is a 4 speed unit and is only available on the Petrol Vxi variant.
This is the driver's door. Everything looks in sync and the basic design of all the door pad components just blends together really well. The presence of a bottle holder in the door is a pleasant sight. Further, the faux wood accent looks very classy.
The faux wood accents in the Dzire are just right. They don't seem overdone and garish like faux wood does in quite a few other cars.
Notice the beige honeycomb grille for the speakers. This looks nice. Interestingly, the Dzire comes with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters on it's top most variants (Zxi/Zdi). So, audio is nice and clear. Audio enthusiasts, look at other speaker options for the Dzire. But, for the average Joe, the Dzire's music quality is appreciable. I liked the quality of music playback from the Dzire's factory fitted music system.
The slide out cup holders near the Air conditioner vents are a clever decision on Maruti Suzuki's part. The cup holders are ergonomically placed too. Ideal for keeping your Red Bull / Coke can cool. Excellent for summer.
Notice the centre console. The water fall type center console is a first for cars in the Dzire's segment. It exudes a luxurious feel (waterfall type consoles are usually found on cars around 15 lakhs and above...).
The steering wheel feels well built, feels good to hold and there's no doubt that it looks stylish. The aluminium like base with the black parts on it looks sporty. Again, this is another example of part sharing between the Swift, the Dzire and the Ertiga. The steering wheel is more or less the same one with slight variations. But, I'm not complaining. I feel that the steering wheel looks awesome. Plus, the steering wheel design is influenced a lot by the design of the Kizashi's steering wheel which is a plus point.
The seats in the Dzire feel well padded and comfy. The beige fabric looks nice. The seats are comfortable for long drives.
The Exteriors:
The Dzire retains most of the handsome and well contoured front of it's cousin, the Swift. However, there are minute tweaks to the bumper design. The contour on the bumper around the fog lamp housing reminds me of a fang. It looks aggressive, and is eye catching. The headlamps being pulled back and elongated make them look much better than those of the previous Dzire. The OVRM's with built in turning indicators are a nice inclusion.
Despite however nice the Swift Dzire looks at the front, it look tiny and disproportionate at the rear. It seems as if there's a sudden stop in the continuity of the design. Actually, it looks like the alot of the boot's been cut off. That's essentially the truth. This has been done to get the Dzire's length under 4 meters. This reduces the amount of tax payable on the Dzire. Another reason seems to be that the previous gen Dzire which had a boot as large as the SX4 and was cheaper than the SX4 was eating into the SX4's sales. So essentially Maruti Suzuki was losing money because if the same number of SX4's had sold, then they would've made alot more.
The rear lamps of the Dzire seem to be inspired from the Kizashi's rear lamps. However, they seem to be a stunted version of the Kizashi's rear lamps. The chrome strip on the boot does help distract one's attention from this otherwise strange looking rear of the Dzire.
Looking at this sideview of the Dzire, you'll notice it's gorky and disproportionate dimensions. A visible difference however is that it's rear glass area has grown in comparison to the Swift.
Under the Hood:
The Dzire is available with both, petrol as well as diesel engines. The petrol is a 1.2 liter K series 4 cylinder engine. It produces 87 bhp @ 6000 rpm and 11.4 kgm of torque @ 4000 rpm. The diesel engine is a DDiS 1.3 liter unit which produces 75 bhp @ 4000 rpm and 19 kgm of torque @ 2000 rpm.
Both engines are mated to a 5 speed manual transmission. However, the Vxi petrol model has an option of a 4 speed automatic transmission.
The engines are the same as those in the Swift.
Final Verdict:
The Swift Dzire is a car which is the best of both worlds - it is compact like a hatchback and easily fits into small parking spaces. On the other hand, because it is a notch back, it has the advantage which sedans have over hatchbacks - it has more boot space than most hatchbacks in it's segment.
If you like the Swift alot, yet don't find it very practical as a family car due to limited boot space, look no where other than the Dzire. The Dzire encompasses the good looks and revvy engines of the Swift in a more elegant and practical form factor.
Hence, if you have around 6 - 7 lakhs to spend on a family car, i'd recommend giving the Dzire a look. You may just like it alot and find it to fit most or all of your requirements.
- Naayl Humza,
14 year old car Enthusiast.
