Tag: features

Honda Jazz – Owner Interview

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Jazz in Sherbet Blue

This is a short offline(done over email) interview with Mr Girish T.,  one of my close friends who is probably one of the first in Chennai (maybe in India as well) to buy a Honda Jazz. Many thanks to Girish for agreeing to this interview and sending over his answers in a very short time.

Sushil: What was your old car and how long did you have it ?
Girish: Fiat Palio – 7 years

Sushil: Why were you replacing your old car/getting a new one ?
Girish: The Fiat Palio was a Fuel Guzzler, Great car but was not backed by service. Fiat had stopped production as well. Time for change.

Sushil: What were your requirements for your new car?
Girish: Fuel efficient, Hatchback with lots of space and preferred that it be a Japanese this time

Sushil: What options did you evaluate ?
Girish: Jazz, I20 and Punto

Sushil: Why did you pick this car from the options you evaluated?
Girish: Lots of space, Excellent styling, Honda brand and tag of being decent on fuel efficiency

Sushil: Which dealer did you get it from and how was your purchase experience ?
Girish: Sundaram Motors – Nothing great. They have never been known to be great on the purchase experience or service. But went with it because that was the closest to my place. Can’t get a lazier reason 🙂

Sushil: Any freebies received ?
Girish: None – they managed to screw my chance to participate in the Honda festival and possibly get the Jazz free. They didn’t care much about it though. Speak volumes of their customer service. They did give me some money on the Fiat though. I thought that was a great freebie :-).

Sushil: What accessories did you add and what do you feel are must haves for someone buying this vehicle ?
Girish:Didn’t add any. But the rear parcel tray is a definite must. So is a USB port. They have brought in these options with Jazz X

Sushil: How many KM have you covered and how long have you had the vehicle ?
Girish: About a year now and 15K on KM

Sushil: What is the mileage it gives you so far ?
Girish: Gives me nearly 14 in city.

Sushil: What are the good points/features that stand out ?
Girish: Mileage, Drive, Space and Space

Sushil: Any irritants or negatives that stand out ?
Girish: Some more features for the price would have been great.

Sushil: Would you recommend the Honda Jazz to anyone and why ?
Girish: Definitely recommend for those looking for a hatchback to drive in the city with loads of space. The tag of being pricey and Honda has not been able to do anything about It has let the vehicle down.

If you have any further questions on the Jazz please post them here through the comments and will request Girish to answer them here.

Which car is better – the Ritz or the Swift ?

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I test drove the Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXI (Petrol) last weekend.  I am comparing it to the Swift as I think customers will find it tough to decide between these two cars from Maruti. 
 
Exteriors:

  • I like the front and the front 3 quarter view. Looks like a mature grown up  Swift !
  • To get used to the rear I may have to start drinking something stronger than non-alcoholic beverages and quite a bit of it as well till my vision blurs.  The rear doesn’t look too bad when the car has wider tires (like on the ZXI) and also when it is on the move. When stopped and up close it does look a oddish nice kind of  strange.
  • The side view is interesting till the C pillar – then almost like the designers ran out of paper/screen space while making the drawing they stopped with a vertical line and ended the rear !
  • You will tire of hearing about the “boomerang” shaped tail lights from the dealer sales person very quickly. You would wish you had a real boomerang to fling at the sales guy. The tail lamps are pulled inwards and a strange window lineof the side windows is seen when viewed from the full straight rear position.
  • The exterior door handles, ORVMS are the same/very similar as the Swift.  Rear bumper fog lamp looks similar.
  • The bonnet seems higher than the Swift. Good for gently tapping errant pedestrians and accounts for better pedestrian safety for sure.

Here is a side by side comparison of the Swift (my own car) and the Ritz exteriors.
 
Interiors:

  • The seating position is a bit higher than in the Swift and seats feel the same. Almost like sitting on a cushion and driving the Swift.
  • The front quarter glass was a nice touch and helps a bit with visibility up front but there is still a huge blind spot at the A-pillar. Otherwise front visibility is good.
  • Visibility from the back will take some getting used to as the rear glass seems a bit small.
  • Rear wash/wipe & defogger only on the ZXI (just like the Swift).
  • The space saved by moving the gear lever in front isn’t used for anything.
  • The outside rear view mirrors are well placed, right sized and useful.
  • Lot of the interior is borrowed/shared with the Swift but still some cost cutting seems to have been there. Indicator/Wiper stalks, steering wheel, door locks & power window switches are all the same. Ashtray is the same. Gear lever knob is almost the same. Interior roof light seems the same.
  • The open glove box in addition to the closed one on the ZXI with the airbags is very useful – something the Swift ZXI doesn’t have and wastes space because of the airbags. The coin holder and storage space on the top of the dashboard is also good. Glove box seems similar in size to the Swift.
  • The front door pockets have storage space for bottles. There is only one central console mounted cup holder.
  • The steering mounted stereo controls are good but a bit annoying till u get used to them since they are in the spot the horn is on my car. Instead of honking I found myself increasing the stereo volume or muting the stereo without wanting to. The buttons seem a bit delicate and fiddly. More video game like than car like.
  • The increased head room allows 3 people to sit a lot more comfortably at the back than in a Swift. Legroom in the back was more than adequate. Feels more spacious than the Swift.
  • Luggage space was almost the same as the swift. If you want to carry a lot of luggage you should look at other vehicles possibly sedans. The 60:40 split is possibly the only saving grace of this car – I really wish the Swift had this.
  • The two tone dashboard was of a slightly vague light blue-grey color. I didn’t care for it too much. Matching colors to the exterior would have made sense but someone at Suzuki likes that weird color of blue.
  • The front under seat storage is a joke. Very small and without a lock. A newspaper and a magazine may just fit into it. If it were metal it could have been used to bake brownies – it was shaped like that.
  • Air conditioning seemed just about adequate (maybe the larger glass areas and lack of tints on the Demo car and the hot summer sun was a factor). I may have been spoilt by driving around with climate control and dark tinted small windows in the Swift. Blower fan gets noisy at “3” position. The side vents close fully and are a design different from the Swift.  The climate control is the only key feature missing on the Ritz that the Swift has.

 

Drive & Handling:

  • It took some time to get used to the gear shifter because it is positioned almost a half a foot ahead of the gear shifter in the Swift/most cars. The gear shifter felt really good and the shifts were very precise – even better than the Swift. For people with multiple cars this gear shift will be a difficult to get used to, especially when you have to switch cars daily. On the move the car is very silent and the engine barely lets you know it is on and running and at idle it was very silent. It did make some minimal noise when pushed but for it to move you have to push it past 3000 RPM. The older Swift engine would be screaming a nice song at 3K RPM.
  • Clutch, brake & accelerator pedals are the same as the Swift. Clutch is light and easy to use.
  • First gear seemed ok enough but the 2nd gear seemed a bit lethargic and the 3rd gear seemed pretty decent. I barely managed to get to 4th before I had to shift down because of traffic. By then the TD was over and we were back at the dealership.
  • The separate tachometer was a bit distracting in my view. Maybe since I am used to a tachometer next to the speedometer.
  • The ride was smooth and handled rough patches of road without too much noise and without losing balance. It didn’t feel top heavy like the Wagon-R does when taking turns at speed. The wider stance has to be thanked for it.
  • Visibility out front is very good and maneuvering the car in traffic is easy. Of course it is not an 800 but easy enough to drive.

 

Dealership/OEM Updates:

There seems to be sufficient interest in the car at the dealership and there was a steady stream of people coming to do test drives. Was almost knocked down by an 80 year old man and his wife who were rushing to TD the Ritz. This couple was doing the TD after finalizing the deal for buying the car !!!!! The people coming to TD the Ritz seem to primarily be ones who are married and have a family.

The dealer also mentioned that Maruti is forecasting long delays on all other vehicles other than the A-Star, Ritz and SX4 to make sure the sales of these continues. They are also trying as much as possible to not take bookings of any vehicle other than the above mentioned 3 cars. Even test drives of other vehicles are not being done ! I think this may backfire and cause people to defect to Hyundai , Tata and other manufacturers. Need to wait and see how well the Ritz is received and also if Hyundai and Tata sales go up because of Maruti.

Which one is better ?
There is no binary answer to this question. The Ritz is better than the Swift because of its fuel efficient, lighter, newer engine, interior space, features. The Swift is better than the Ritz for its looks, sporty responsive drive, slightly better trim level and features. Both seem to have their good features.

  • If you want a new car that does everything well, has seating space for 5  and will offend no one – take the Ritz.
  • If you have dreams of up-sized/wide alloys rims, low profile tires, spoilers, body kits, vinyl stickering and sports tuning then go for the Swift.

Test drive both and then just flip a coin and choose whichever one. You win with either of the two !  

 
PS: Thanks to Senthil for the photos !

What features do you think all manufacturers should copy ?

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The latest Auto Car India has an article on features that manufacturers provide which are not useful in India. Reading that lead me thinking about good features that manufacturers should copy and introduce on all vehicles (since they are anyway copying from each other). This list is primarily from vehicles under 15 lakhs (mostly can be found on vehicles less than 8 lakhs in price).


Interiors/Comfort/Convenience

  • Flat dashboard with non reflective surface and anti skid surface allowing small items to be placed there without sliding around
  • A/C vents that can be fully closed
  • Coin holders with soft inside lining that doesn’t rattle
  • Sunglasses holder
  • Cell phone holder on central console/dashboard
  • Glove box big enough to hold more than just a few papers with soft lining to prevent rattling
  • Cooled Glove box
  • Central console/dashboard space big enough to hold Cd’s
  • Front passenger under seat storage. Has to be reasonably sized – otherwise don’t bother. If it is lockable even better.
  • Storage space for 1 litre bottles in door pockets.
  • Netting in boot for luggage/straps
  • Clutch foot rest
  • Clutch lock that requires clutch to be pressed before cranking engine
  • Follow home lighting and theatre style dimming of cabin lights.
  • Lighted ignition key slot on the dashboard and easy to see rather than on the steering column (I know the photo does not have it on the dashboard).
  • Keys that have remote lock/unlock built in.
  • Valet keys that do not open the boot or lockable glove box. You can give these to the valet without worry of your valuables.
  • 60:40 split rear seats with adjustable tilt
  • Double/flat folding rear seats for storage
  • Fully flat reclining front seats – dangerous since they do not secure the passenger in case of an accident or sudden stop, but good for pulling over to the side of the road and catching some Zs.
  • Adjustable seat belt height
  • Height adjustable headrests front and rear
  • Steering mounted audio controls that can work with all stereos !
  • Power windows and remote central locking 
  • Lighted power window and other switches  
  • Auto up/down power windows
  • Power windows that close automatically when the vehicle is locked
  • Anti -pinch power windows
  • Stain proof fabric for seats.
  • Height adjust for driver seat
  • Pedal reach adjust – helpful for short drivers
  • Arm rest for drivers seat and for rear passengers. Armrests with storage space are useful to stow small items.
  • Access to boot through rear seat armrest/console
  • Rear seat/Boot hooks for shopping bags
  • Power adapter in luggage bay/ in reach of rear passenger
  • Middle row tray tables for SUVs/MUVs
  • Sliding middle row seats that move back for more legroom in SUVs & MUVs.
  • Flat folding 3rd row seats for SUVs/MUVs
  • Anti glare rear view mirrors

Exterior

  • Blind spot convex mirrors.
  • Parking sensors front and rear. I wish there were side sensors too 🙂  (rear camera optional).
  • Roof Rails: Contrary to what ACI says I think Roof Rails for luggage are needed more for hatchbacks than for sedans or SUVS since they have minimal boot space. Well integrated good looking roof rails like the ones on the Chevy Spark but with additional rails to make it functional would make hatchbacks a really practical option for people on a budget not wanting to spend an extra lakh or so for boot space that is used a few times a year.
  • Under body rust proofing & cavity rust proofing from manufacturer included in warranty. Why nag us with it later for every service
  • Well integrated rubber “rubbing” strips around. Body color or close to it would be best.
  • Grab type exterior door handles
    Tilt steering wheel 
  • Lighted engine bay and luggage areas
  • Rear defogger and wash and wipe
  • Outside rear view mirrors on the driver and passenger side should be made mandatory

Engine /Technology 

  • Distance to empty indicator and rpm and speed ranges for maximum mileage. (“Green” driving performance indicators may be too much to ask for but would be good to have.)
  • Tachometers for all trim levels. Teach people to drive for mileage and performance.
  • Automatic time based switch off of roof lamps and headlamps if engine is off unless a specific override like keeping doors open is present.
  • Micro hybrid technology for all cars. Retrofit kits for existing cars if possible
  • Hands free in-car blue tooth kits.
  • Have ABS standardized on all trims. Lowered cost if it is mass produced.
  • Speedometer linked audio systems (automatically reduces volume at lower speeds by a little bit)
  • Speed sensitive steering
  • Radio antenna integrated into rear windshield glass
  • Cruise control for highways. (ACI believe it or not, 0n some of the highways in India we can actually use cruise control.)
  • Central locking which lets you open the doors and hatch/trunk without requiring you to stop the car and give the key to someone, especially for security checks at offices and hotels.
  • Tire pressure monitoring systems
  • Make tubeless tires standard. 

Dear Readers:
Can you identify the cars whose features I have listed ? (At least the ones in the pictures I have used.)  
Any good features you have come across that I have missed ?
 
Source of images: Maruti, Hyundai,  Mahindra, Skoda &  Ford product websites.