Plusher interior

The interior of the new DZire also draws heavily from the new Swift. The modern steering wheel design, waterfall design centre console, the auto climate control and the integrated audio system with six speakers are all very familiar. But, these new elements along with the new lighter beige and black dual tone colour theme give the new DZire's cabin a much more upmarket feel. There is also the addition of wood finish inserts on the dash and door panels, silver accents, chrome inserts and leather trim have also been thrown in. The new DZire also gets all of the intuitive storage options that were offered in the new Swift.

Similar to the Swift, again the increased wheelbase and the scooped rear of the front seats manage together to liberate about 20mm more legroom for rear passengers. The rear bench seat in the new DZire feels a bit more upright than the earlier version. Depending on trim level you get all the creature comforts that buyers have come to expect from this brand. Seats are comfy, though I wonder how the softer upholstery might wear over the long term.



Engines and performance

The new DZire continues to be offered with the same K 12M VVT petrol engine and the D13A DDiS diesel engine. To experience the new DZire, I had travelled to the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida at the invitation of Maruti Suzuki. The race track is not the best of places to gauge the performance of the car in real world driving conditions. But it still put the car's prowess in perspective.

The engines feel very similar in the new DZire compared to the new Swift. One of the reasons of course, is the fact that both the cars weigh the same at bout 1,000 kgs. By saving weight after using thinner high-tensile steel for the body of the new DZire, the addition of the boot has effectively been nullified. The result is a power-to-weight ratio that is identical to the new Swift and the co-efficient of drag (aerodynamic co-efficient) has also improved compared to the previous DZire. The effect is the familiar peppy nature of the Swift is immediately evident even in the new DZire and apparently the lower Coe-d has helped improve the fuel efficiency of the new DZire.



The K12 petrol engine delivers a peak power of 87 PS at 6,000 rpm and a peak torque of 114Nm at 4,000 rpm. On the track the manual transmission variant of the DZire petrol is the quietest and there is also enough power in the 3,000 to 6,000 rpm band to push the car. Top speed achievable was in the region of about 145 kmph. The engine gets all the tech from the new Swift too including the variable valve timing for the engine and the detent pin tech for the transmission, to ensure smoother shifting.

The addition in the petrol engine DZire is the new automatic transmission. The new four-speed automatic - a torque converter unit - is being imported from Japan and marks Maruti's re-entry into the auto gearbox category in the lower price segment. Automatics are being accepted in many congested cities in India and this one too should find a few takers. However, being a rather city-focused auto gearbox, with no manual option, the DZire AT wasn't that much fun on the track. But, according to Maruti officials it is only marginally poorer in fuel efficiency (2 kmpl lesser) than the manual gearbox variant.This should be good news for buyers who would otherwise be put off by fuel guzzling automatics.

The DDiS diesel engine felt very similar too in the DZire like in the new Swift. This rev-happy, engine behaves so differently in Maruti cars, though it is found in the bonnets of cars from other brands too. The 1,248cc, intercooled, turbocharged diesel engine offers the same characteristics as in the previous model with a peak torque of 190 Nm at 2,000 rpm and a peak power of 75 PS at 4,000 rpm.

The new DZire behaves a bit more nimbly than the outgoing model. There is again a lot of the new Swift in the sedan's behaviour on the track. Since I didn't get to drive it on normal roads, there is not much I can say about how it would feel in real world conditions, but the suspension felt a bit more rigid and cabin noise levels was lower, though under hard acceleration in both the diesel and the petrol automatic, the noise levels go up. The new DZire's ZXi and ZDi models also get new 15-inch alloys instead of the earlier version's 14-inchers.

Bottomline

The new Swift DZire will clearly be appreciated by many more buyers now. The design has more appeal and the cabin feels more upmarket. The improved power-to-weight ratio also enables the new DZire to offer better fuel efficiency of 19.1 kmpl for the petrol (up 6.7 per cent) and 23.4 kmpl for the diesel (up from 21.7 kmpl earlier).

The current DZire is priced in the range of Rs 4.94 lakh to Rs 6.4 lakh for the petrol models and at Rs 5.95 lakh to Rs 7.30 lakh for the diesel variants. The new DZire's prices are unlikely to be dramatically lower and Maruti officials say that the cost of the new platform and associated technologies will not enable the company to pass on the entire benefit of a lower duty.

Maruti Swift

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