Requirements:
i have been researching cars for a long time and was following mouthshut and other reviews for a year before i decided to buy the ritz vxi. My requirements were primarily:
a small car comfortable to drive around on pune city's narrow roads and hazardous traffic (friendly gear ratios was a must)
a car that had a powerful heart to zoom on the highways without compromising on mileage/economy
a car compact from the outside with good space and comfort inside
a car that had good future resale value and a great after sales service network around the country
finally a car that was recent in terms of technology and design, one with a smooth economical engine
choice:
no guesses that none of the other cars barring Hyundai's i10 could come close to the ritz.
The i10 still looked small to me and secondly didn't have comfortable seats like the ritz. Hence, the choice of the car was made easily. However, I've heard that Hyundai gives good freebies with the car like seat covers, mud flaps, etc. I managed only a steering cover, reverse horn, a ganesha and floor mats with the ritz.
Swift which is ritz's own competition was around 35k more and had a wait period of around a month for petrol and 3 months for the diesel variant. Since, swift's are more common and now share the same engines, i ruled the swift out.
Some folks don't like the flattened backside of the ritz but its an all fresh design running successfully in the uk as splash. It looks awesome from the sides and front and i'm really glad people don't like it though its great. It wouldn't be seen so much like the swift on the road for sometime at least. ;-)
the ritz will be accepted widely in a year from now in india since the santro and swift have been too.
Ritz vxi/vdi comes with most features desirable to us including rear and front fog lamps. The major features one misses from the top variant zxi are abs and air bags which is apersonal safety choice bartered with your spending capacity.
Diesel vs petrol variants:
the toughest choice after that for me was choosing between the k series petrol (vxi) and diesel (vdi) variants of the ritz. Both have great engines and the diesel ddis engine is so well known now for its power and economy mix. Since my driving was 60% city and 40% highways (drives to hometown), i was looking at the diesel variant.
However, the diesel variant was 90k more than the other.
March 4th 2011-update: if you ask me today (11.5 months of driving and 19500 km later), if you are doing anything above 750 km per month, please choose the diesel version. The petrol prices are being hiked almost every other month and even if diesel is deregularized and costs closer to petrol, the additional mileage the ddis engine will give adds more value to your buy.
Its not that the petrol mileage is bad... Its in fact amongst the best, its the difference in fuel prices and the # of kms i clock every month that's pinching me currently.
Performance and interiors:
ritz scores on the interiors with a fresh water fall design on the dashboard, good tight transmission and space combined with the tall boy design. The front spacing on the dashboard gives a big car feel. The gear ratios took some time for me to get used to (with the ac you don't even hear the engine crying to shift gears) but once the engine settles and you know the ratios, they are very friendly for city driving.
On the highways, the ritz though lower on the pickup than the old swift cruizes effortlessly at 120 - 140 kms though braking is reduced and shaky at that speed. At around 100 kms, you are in good control and i hope mileage can be assured. I didn't check the mileage but once did a calculation, it was giving me around 14 kms in the city with ac on within the first 1000 kms.
The ac is very powerful unless you've parked the car in direct sunlight for a long time and then expect it to freeze you suddenly, that's unrealistic of any car. Comfort wise, its great for all passengers though slightly bumpy for the rear passengers sometimes. Boot space is adequate for small trips. The 60:40 seat splits on the rear side are a big boon to carry all the stuff you want and still seat passengers. Overall, a great buy, i'm enjoying the car so far.
At 6600 kms and 2nd service done:
with around 400 kms of highway driving and 120 kms of bad patched road on 3, 4 and 5th gear... Ac on mostly... The ritz gave me around 17.5 kms/litre... Pretty decent mileage considering i still had some minor fuel left. In the city, its giving me around 13 - 14 kms/litre with ac on and 3, 4th gear mostly.
About accessories at the showroom:
i had all my accessories done at the showroom itself for about 30k. When i enquired at a large accessories outlet outside later, i found that i had paid around 6 - 8 k more for the accessories. Do not buy accessories at the showroom, i learnt it the hard way though i had heard it from many folks.
Suzuki folks will say that warranty gets voided when you fit a music system outside the showroom since wires may be cut. The suzuki showroom guys attempt to scare customers with this talk. All accessories showrooms are wise enough these days to use couplers while connecting equipment, hence the warranty won't be voided since wires wouldn't be cut.
At 13500 kms and 3rd service done:
i have now made several lengthy trips with this car at full capacity (5 adults and baggage). It has delivered well. I hit many bad patches(pits) and somehow managed to navigate the roads left among the pits. The windows on either side when fully shut have after then started making a 'ticking' sound as though something's loose inside. The wonder car's service personnel didn't fix this in spite of pointing it out. Also, after navigating so many bad roads, the ride suspension now seems a bit non compact/wobbly (summary: ride doesn't feel like a all out recent car that it was). Need to fix it in the next service. Mileage on 5th gear mostly is excellent guys: with a/c, around 17.8 km per l and without it around 19 - 20 km per l. In the city, on 3rd and 4th gears mostly, i get 13.5 with ac on. On 1 - 2 gears during extreme traffic, i get 9 - 10 km only.
At 19500 kms and close to 4th service:
i can say that now, the engine is ultra smooth and its a sheer pleasure driving the petrol ritz. The pickup is excellent now (premium fuel also makes a noticable difference in pick up and performance) and i recently clocked 155 km/hour on the express highway. It had the juice to go further but i didn't dare to with the smaller tires (vxi doesn't have the 185 size tires that the zxi has). You have to hold the steering tight however and be watchful since the brakes will not give you the response to stop immediately. I don't have accurate mileage figures but i think it should have given around 16+ with constant 120+ km speeds.
