Maruti-Suzuki Dzire
As temperatures plummet in Northern part of the country, inevitably, it has some effect on the functioning of diesel engines. Though, in case of the new Dzire, we were pleasantly surprised and had absolutely no hick ups in cold starting the car.
The motor remains smooth and free revving as always and the engine continues to impress us. There is plenty of power after the 1,800rpm mark. This is where the turbocharger kicks in and the sedan gears up to take on the city roads. Sure, we miss the linear power curve but who does not like a sudden surge of power? The desire used in this Long Term test had an AMT transmission.
And this is a first for us, with this car and needless to say, we are mighty impressed. In city the gearbox shifts through well. As far as the drawbacks are concerned, the box feels a bit snatchy at crawl. This is especially the case when one has to park the car.
Since we have earlier mentioned cold starting cars in the Northern temperature, let’s talk about the Dzire’s heating system. The heating system functions brilliantly and heats up the cabin with relative ease. What makes a big difference is the rear AC vent. A few days back, the outside temperature indicator touched eight degrees. Inside a freezing cabin as we turned up the heat, the temperatures began to rise rather quickly. I also noticed the passengers at the rear seat reach out to the rear AC vent. Bottomline, this is no doubt an excellent feature the company has added. Another good additional feature, is the 12V power socket in the rear console. This means that passengers sitting in the rear seat no long need to disturb the drive to connect a device to the front console or power socket.