Overview
Maruti Suzuki is an Indo-Japanese automobile brand that builds small, frugal yet trustworthy
and practical cars. This is the typical image of Maruti Suzuki majority Indians
have in their minds.
Back in 2014 Maruti Suzuki
decided to up their game to shed off its ‘small car maker’ image
and came up with the Ciaz-a mid sized saloon. Now, Maruti was trying to get
into this segment for the fourth time and had a history of failures with its
offerings like the Baleno, Kizashi and the SX4.
But the Ciaz turned fortunes
around for Maruti Suzuki and became an instant hit, almost out-selling its
rivals like the Hyundai Verna and the iconic Honda City in the very first year
after its launch. Moreover, the Ciaz also helped Maruti Suzuki to come up with
an entirely new premium sub-brand, the Nexa.
So what makes the Ciaz such an
attractive package? What has Maruti Suzuki put into it that it shook the ground
of its strong and well settled rivals. Why is it an important car for Maruti
Suzuki and for the Indian market?
Let’s find out.
Driving & Performance.
The Ciaz is offered in two
engine options- a 1.4 litre, 4 cylinder K-series VVT petrol engine and a 1.25
litre, 4 cylinder DDiS diesel engine. The one we have with us is the top of
the line Alpha diesel variant.
The diesel produces a 88.8 bhp@
4000 rpm and produces a strong 200 Nm of torque at just 1750 rpm and can only
be availed with a five speed manual gearbox.
Just looking at the above
engine figures one can say that the diesel is packed with a strong lower end.
As this car is to be sold in
India, no manufacturer can ignore the Indian buyer’s obsession with fuel
efficiency and so the engineers at Maruti Suzuki have smartly tuned the engine smartly and as a result the Ciaz offers excellent fuel efficiency of 26.5 kmpl for its
diesel engine.
While the Ciaz is a little bit
under powered when compared to its rivals, it definitely scores big when it
comes to fuel economy. Good power figures and even better fuel economy figures
is the key to attract Indian buyers and the Ciaz just ticks the right boxes.
Powerful
engines also require you to equip the car with great stopping power. The Ciaz is
equipped with ventilated disc brakes at the front and disc brakes at the rear
and also comes with ABS and EBD. Additionally the Ciaz comes with regenerative
braking system, a first in the segment and Maruti Suzuki calls it smart hybrid
system that converts mechanical energy back to electrical energy.
Being a Desi manufacturer,
Maruti does know a lot about our road conditions. This car has a good ground
clearance of 170 mm and has McPherson strut suspension at the front and
trailing arms at the rear which smoothen out the ride and offer you a plush in
ride experience even when you’re travelling on the bumpiest of the roads.
Interiors.
Hopping on to the inside, the
Ciaz is spacious and can easily seat 5 adults. It is the longest and the widest
car in the segment. This offers you that extra bit of legroom and shoulder
room.
The boot capacity is 510 litres
which is decent and is large enough to carry your luggage when you go on long
road trips.
The cabin is plush and the colour combination makes the car feel more premium.
Maruti Suzuki has offered a lot
of gizmo with this car, most of which are a first–in-segment. Maruti Suzuki
calls its infotainment system ‘Smartplay Infotainment System’ and it indeed is
smart. The infotainment system has a 7 inch WVGA TFT touchscreen that has GPS
navigation maps and can be connected to multiple media devices and can pair up
to 10 smartphones. It also has an integrated phonebook, SMS call back facility,
voice recognition system, route guidance programs, aux and USB inputs and
pre-loaded points of interests.
Exteriors.
The design of the Ciaz is
radical and very un-Maruti Suzuki. The car is an eye-ball grabber and people
are sure to turn their heads around as you drive down the lane. It is 4490 mm
long, 1730 mm wide and 1485 mm tall. These proportionate dimensions give the
car an excellent street presence.
On
the front, the grill is clad with smart looking chrome stripes with a large
Suzuki logo. The wrap around projector head lamps (another segment first) with
the trapezoidal fog lamps on the bumper look striking and the over-all front
facia gives the car a clean yet handsome look. It is a thoughtfully designed
front end and does appeal to a good number of potential buyers.
Moving sideways, there is a
shadow characteristic line that flows down the entire length of the car on its
rather large doors. The 16 inch alloy wheels further add to the upmarket look
of the car. The roofline smoothly runs down meeting the trunk and thereby
completing the sedan.
Looking from the back side,
there are split tail lamps that have sharp geometric design. The two tail lamps
are separated by a chrome ornament that sits on a hunched tailgate.
In a nutshell, the design in
pretty balanced. The Ciaz neither looks over done and nor does it look bland.
It is a stylish and a smart looking car.
Safety.
Most of the Indian buyers tend
to ignore the safety features. The Indian government has plans to make safety
features like ABS and driver and passenger airbags mandatory for all cars from
the year 2019.
On the safety front, Maruti
Suzuki has gone one step further. Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic
brake distribution system (EBD) and driver and passenger airbags come standard
across all the variants of the Ciaz. Now that’s a bold move by Maruti to offer
those advanced and expensive safety features as standard. Additionally it comes
with a door ajar warning system, central locking system and a rear defogger.
All
these elements make the Ciaz just more safe.
Final Verdict.
The Ciaz comes from the house
of Maruti Suzuki-a brand that believes in the philosophy of ‘sense over snob’.
And yes the Ciaz is trademark Maruti. It is a no-nonsense car.
The engine is well tuned
offering enough power and fuel economy for our conditions, the design is
subtle, it happens to be the largest car in the segment, the features on offer
are great, it offers best in segment safety equipment and since the Ciaz is
Maruti’s premium Nexa badged car, the quality levels have also improvised.
Now it is true that there are
better looking cars in the segment but none of them offer comfort, entertainment
and safety equipment like the Ciaz does. Additionally on other company has a
service centre network like Maruti Suzuki does and since all of the parts and
spares are locally manufactured in India, maintaining the Ciaz isn’t going to
be hard on your pocket.
All-in-all,
the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is a great proposition for your money. If you’re
considering of buying a car in this segment then the Ciaz should definitely be
on top of your list.
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Credits:
Writing-
Anish Kulkarni (anishkulkarni247@yahoo.com)
Photos have been taken from the Maruti Suzuki website.
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