With multiple first-in-segment features and new-found safety credentials, new Maruti Suzuki Dzire is an absolute phenomenon
If there is one car company that resonates with majority of Indian car buyers, it has to be Maruti Suzuki. Not only is Maruti Suzuki India’s largest car manufacturer, it is by far the most dominant in almost all segments. Where sedans are concerned, Maruti Suzuki has Ciaz, which seems to be at the fag end of its lifecycle, and the ever-green Dzire.
The company has now launched all-new Dzire in India for a starting price of Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh). We drove the new 4th Gen Dzire in Goa as part of national media drive held by Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki provided Rushlane with top-spec Dzire ZXI+ in both MT and AMT transmission variants, both finished in Gallant Red shade. Here’s what we think about the new 4th Gen Dzire.
New Maruti Suzuki Dzire First Drive Review
Before talking about the radical new design or the price or “De-Swiftification” process or “Kitna Deti Hai” aspect, we have to start with the 5-Star crash safety rating Global NCAP has awarded 4th Gen Dzire. Thus making it Maruti Suzuki’s first-ever car to score a 5-star rating in the company’s history.
Not only did Maruti deliver on the crash safety front, but they have exceeded expectations. Dzire has scored more points in adult crash safety than other premium 5-Star crash-rated sedans like Verna, Slavia and Virtus. Coming from Maruti Suzuki, that is not just impressive, it is quite a statement to make.
The company has taken great strides in safety and it shows. Dzire gets 6 airbags as standard, along with rear defogger, ABS, EBD, ESP, Hill Assist, 360-degree camera and tyre pressure monitoring system. A decade ago, I would have laughed at the idea of a Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh) Maruti car with 6 airbags as standard that scored 5-Star crash rating. But today, it is real and we drove it.
Prices start from Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh) and new Dzire is offered in four trim levels – LXI, VXI, ZXI and ZXI+. The company does not offer any dual-tone colours, but there are 7 exterior monotone shades – Gallant Red, Alluring Blue, Nutmeg Brown, Bluish Black, Arctic White, Magma Grey and Splendid Silver. Gallant Red and Alluring Blue were the launch colours that Maruti is trying to push. There are two accessory packs with Dzire – Chromico and Copperico.
The “Amazing” “Crystalline” Design (Pun Intended)
1st and 2nd Gen models had ‘Swift’ in their names and shared silhouette with Swift except for the rear. Maruti Suzuki started “De-Swiftification” process with 3rd gen model by dropping the Swift name and having a unique side profile, while sharing a few components at the front. With 4th Gen Dzire, the De-Swiftication process is complete and new Dzire sheds all of the Swift-related elements, at least with the exterior design.
Speaking of exterior design, there is a lot of buzz around new Dzire’s appearance. For starters, there are a lot of resemblances with Honda Amaze concerning the car’s side and rear. While front fascia is very similar to that of a Toyota Innova Crysta. While Maruti Suzuki has not exactly nailed the three-box design with 4th Gen Dzire, overall design and appearance lend a positive vibe.
The LED headlights are all new and have LED DRLs integrated. LED fog lights are notable too. The front grille is Crysta-esque and there are muscular creases on the bonnet and across side body panels. 15-inch alloy wheels get a dual-tone finish for an upmarket appeal and there is a striking lip spoiler on tailgate. Rear gets unique LED tail lights with a smoked effect covering. The chrome strip connecting both tail lights housed in a gloss black trim looks tasteful.
Kudos to Maruti Suzuki for offering a request sensor on both front doors for passive entry. Many mainstream carmakers are limiting request sensors to driver’s door only. New Dzire gets a shark-fin antenna, auto-folding ORVMs and a single-pane sunroof. I am in the minority where sunroofs are concerned. But, I wish Maruti Suzuki had offered sunroof as an option, rather than making it standard with ZXI+ trim. We say this because the mechanism for sunroof has eaten into the headroom, which we found was lacking at the rear.
Swift-Like Interiors
On the inside, Dzire feels almost identical to Swift. Except for a few plastic finishes and the gear selector pattern in AMT variants, 4th Gen Dzire shares its interiors with 4th Gen Swift. This is not a bad thing considering the price point Dzire is offered. We get a 3-spoke steering wheel, automatic climate control, a wireless charging pad, a one-touch up/down driver’s window, electrically foldable ORVMs, rear AC vents, adjustable headrests, seat-belt reminders, rear centre armrest and more.
Infotainment system is now a free-standing 9-inch unit that supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. This display also acts as the monitor for Dzire’s 360-degree camera feature. While Dzire lacks a fully digital instrument cluster, it gets an MID screen with a multitude of menus, including a turn-by-turn navigation feature. Steering gets audio and telephony controls along with cruise control.
Only the front passenger gets a vanity mirror and there are no vanity lights. Rear gets split cabin lamps on either side, which is a nice touch. Maurti Suzuki has been known for space optimization on the inside and 4th Gen Dzire is no different. There is ample room on the inside for both front seat and rear seat occupants. While support and comfort from these seats are nothing to write home about. Par for the segment and price bracket, we would say. Headroom, like we mentioned before, has reduced from 3rd Gen model, which didn’t have a sunroof.
Boot space is good enough. Maruti Suzuki claims 382L worth of luggage carrying capacity. The aperture for boot was decent, but the boot lip height could have been lowered for easy loading and unloading. Maruti has introduced a new feature where the magnetic switch for boot does not work when the key is inside. Owners will need some time to get used to it, but it is a thoughtful safety feature.
Drive and Dynamics
Before getting into drive and dynamics, we have to mention how low the driver’s seat can really get. Since my daily driver SUV has a truck-like seat height, it was a pleasant surprise. The entire drive, I kept it in the lowest seat height for that sporty sedan-like driving position. The same 1.2L Z-Series 3-cylinder engine that debuted on Swift, is seen in Dzire as well.
While fuel efficiency aspect has increased with this engine, there is a significant downgrade when it comes to performance and refinement. Owing to its architecture, this new 3-cyl engine has a lot of vibrations and harshness. These creep into the cabin across the rev range. There was some wind noise creeping into the cabin, while tyre noise was not very intrusive. TPMS sensor on our Manual unit seemed to have had an issue as it flashed all the way along, despite us filling the correct air pressure manually.
Clutch calibration with manual variants needs polishing and the clutch bite was slightly unpredictable. The AMT variant seemed like a better bet than manual variant, a statement which I never thought I would make in my life. In-gear acceleration has also gone down and the car doesn’t feel very peppy like the older 1.2L 4-cylinder K-Series engine did.
Comfort-wise, new Dzire is quite sorted with decent bump absorption capability. It tackled bad roads quite well. It didn’t exactly feel indestructible, but is impressive within this segment. We didn’t face any issues with ground clearance too, as the 163 mm ground clearance is quite sufficient. Braking was quite positive on this vehicle. At higher speeds, we faced significant shuddering on the steering wheel and there was a lot of protest from the car to stay at higher speeds.
But the target demographic of Dzire doesn’t care about performance. They care about the mileage (fuel efficiency) and 4th Gen Dzire claims to provide 24.79 km/l with Petrol Manual, 25.71 km/l with Petrol AMT and 33.73 km/kg with CNG MT. These are the best numbers in the sub 4m sedan space and what matters more for buyers.
Conclusion
No car is perfect and new Maruti Dzire is certainly not one. There are a few misses on this vehicle that we wish Maruti incorporated. For starters, we would have liked a front centre armrest on this vehicle and the IRVM should have been auto-dimming. For context, auto-dimming IRVM has existed in sub 4m sedan segment for a decade and the newest iteration of segment’s best-seller doesn’t offer it.
We wish the rear headroom had not been reduced because of the sunroof. Smaller vehicles in this price bracket have been offering rain-sensing wipers, which new Dzire missed out on. The turn-by-turn navigation feature on MID screen could have been better executed as it primarily says ‘Soon’ instead of showing estimated distance to take a turn. The 3D view of 360-degree camera should have had a selectable view to swipe around rather than the ‘Play’ and ‘Pause’ approach. While Dzire’s design is now upmarket, the horn is just ridiculously low rent.
4th Gen Dzire is a prime example of Maruti’s relentless pursuit to dominate the industry. The company has outdone itself with the new Dzire, making it their safest offering yet. A combination of upmarket design, new-found safety credentials and improved in-cabin features, is highly likely to make the 4th Gen Dzire, a grand success. While Maruti Suzuki calls it a “Statement”, we think 4th Gen Dzire is a Paradigm Shift.
