New Maruti Suzuki Dzire first drive review

With several industry-first features and new safety certifications, the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire is definitely a phenomenon

If there’s one car company that resonates with most Indian car buyers, it’s Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki is not only India’s largest carmaker but by far the most dominant in almost every segment. As far as sedans are concerned, Maruti Suzuki has the Ciaz, which seems to be at the end of its life cycle, and the evergreen Dzire.

The company has now launched the new Dzire in India with prices starting at Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh). We drove the new fourth generation Dzire in Goa as part of a nationwide media event hosted by Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki offers the Rushlane in the top-spec Dzire ZXI+ in MT and AMT gearbox variants, both in Gallant Red hue. Here are our thoughts on the new fourth-generation Dzire.

New Maruti Suzuki Dzire first drive review

Before talking about the new design, price, ‘De-Swiftification’ process or the ‘Kitna Deti Hai’ aspect, we must start with the 5-star crash safety rating awarded to the fourth-generation Dzire by Global NCAP. This makes it the first car in the history of Maruti Suzuki to receive a five-star rating.

Maruti not only excels in crash safety but also exceeds expectations. The Dzire scores higher in adult crash safety than other premium five-star crash rated sedans like Verna, Slavia and Virtus. This quote from Maruti Suzuki is not only impressive but also a pretty significant statement.

This shows that the company has made great strides in security. The Dzire comes standard with 6 airbags, as well as rear defogger, ABS, EBD, ESP, hill hold assist, 360-degree camera and tire pressure monitoring system. Ten years ago, I would have scoffed at a Maruti car worth Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh) that comes with 6 airbags as standard and gets a 5-star crash rating. But today, it’s real and we push for it.

Priced starting from Rs 6.79 lakh (Ex-sh), the new Dzire is available in four trim levels – LXI, VXI, ZXI and ZXI+. The company doesn’t offer any dual-tones, but there are 7 exterior monotone shades – Dashing Red, Seductive Blue, Nutmeg Brown, Blue Black, Arctic White, Lava Gray and Brilliant Silver. Brave Red and Seductive Blue are the colors that Maruti is trying to introduce. Dzire comes in two accessory packs – Chromico and Copperico.

“Stunning” and “crystalline” design (pun intended)

The 1st and 2nd generation models had “Swift” in their names and had the same silhouette as the Swift except for the rear. Maruti Suzuki started the process of ‘de-Swiftisation’ with the third-generation model, dropping the Swift name and getting a unique side profile while sharing some components at the front. By the fourth generation of Dzire, the De-Swiftication process has been completed. The new Dzire has given up all elements related to Swift, at least in terms of appearance design.

Talking about exterior design, the appearance of the new Dzire has created a lot of buzz. Firstly, the side and rear of the car share a lot of similarities with the Honda Amaze. The front fascia is very similar to the Toyota Innova Crysta. Although Maruti Suzuki is yet to fully finalize the three-box design of the fourth-generation Dzire, the overall design and appearance create a positive vibe.

The LED headlights are new and have integrated LED DRLs. LED fog lights are also eye-catching. The front grille is crystalline, with muscular creases on the hood and side panels. The 15-inch alloy wheels have a dual-tone finish for a premium appeal, and there’s a bold lip spoiler on the tailgate. The rear features unique LED taillights with smoked effect coverings. The chrome strip connecting the two taillights is finished in gloss black and looks classy.

Kudos to Maruti Suzuki for providing request sensors for passive entry on both front doors. Many mainstream automakers limit request sensors to the driver’s door. The new Dzire comes with shark fin antenna, auto-folding ORVM and single-pane sunroof. I’m in the minority when it comes to skylights. However, I wish Maruti Suzuki would offer a sunroof as an option instead of making it standard on the ZXI+ trim. We say this because the sunroof mechanism already eats into headroom, and we found headroom lacking in the rear.

Swift-like interior

Internally, the Dzire feels almost identical to the Swift. The interiors of the fourth-gen Dzire are identical to the fourth-gen Swift, except for some plastic finishes and a gear selector pattern in the AMT variant. That’s not a bad thing considering the price point the Dzire offers. We are equipped with a three-spoke steering wheel, automatic air conditioning, wireless charging pad, one-touch driver’s window, electric folding ORVM, rear air conditioning vents, adjustable headrests, seat belt reminders, rear center armrest, etc.

The infotainment system is now a separate 9-inch unit with support for wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The display also acts as a monitor for the Dzire 360-degree camera functionality. While the Dzire lacks a fully digital instrument cluster, it does have a MID screen with extensive menus, including turn-by-turn navigation. The steering system comes with audio and phone controls as well as cruise control.

Only the front passenger has a vanity mirror and no vanity lights. There are split cabin lights on both sides of the rear row, which is a nice touch. Maurti Suzuki is known for optimizing interior space and the fourth generation Dzire is no exception. The interior is spacious for both front and rear seat passengers. The support and comfort of these seats isn’t anything to write home about though. Comparable to the segment and price range, we’d say. As we mentioned before, headroom is reduced compared to the third-generation model without a sunroof.

Boot space is good enough. Maruti Suzuki claims a luggage carrying capacity of 382 litres. The aperture of the boot is decent, but the height of the boot lip could be lowered for easier loading and unloading. Maruti has introduced a new feature where the magnetic starter switch does not work when the key is inside. It will take some getting used to by owners, but it’s a thoughtful safety feature.

drive and power

Before we talk about ride and power, we have to mention the true height of the driver’s seat. Since my daily driver SUV has a truck-like seat height, this was a pleasant surprise. I kept it at the lowest seat height throughout the drive for a sport sedan-like driving position. The same 1.2LZ series 3-cylinder engine that debuted in the Swift is also present in the Dzire.

While this engine’s fuel efficiency has improved, there’s been a significant drop in performance and refinement. Due to its structure, the new three-cylinder engine has a high level of vibration and harshness. They creep into the cabin throughout the rev range. Some wind noise creeps into the cabin, while tire noise isn’t too harsh. There seems to be a problem with the TPMS sensor on our manual unit as it keeps flashing even though we manually fill it with the correct air pressure.

The clutch calibration on the manual variant needs polishing, and the clutch bite is a bit unpredictable. The AMT variant seems to be better than the manual variant, which is a statement I never thought I would make in my life. In-gear acceleration is also down, and the car doesn’t feel as peppy as the old 1.2-liter 4-cylinder K-Series engine.

In terms of comfort, the new Dzire performs quite well and has good shock absorption capabilities. It handles bad roads very well. It doesn’t exactly feel indestructible, but it’s impressive in this area. We didn’t face any issues with ground clearance either as the 163 mm ground clearance is more than adequate. The braking effect of this car is very good. At higher speeds, we encountered noticeable shudder in the steering wheel, and the car protested strongly to maintain higher speeds.

But Dzire’s target audience doesn’t care about performance. They care about mileage (fuel efficiency) and the fourth generation Dzire claims to deliver 24.79 km/litre for the petrol manual, 25.71 km/litre for the petrol AMT and 33.73 km/kg for the CNG MT. These are the best figures in the sub-4m sedan segment and will matter more to buyers.

in conclusion

No car is perfect, and the new Maruti Dzire certainly isn’t. We hope Maruti will include this car in its lineup. First, we wish the car had a front center armrest and the IRVM should be able to auto-dimming. For context, auto-dimming IRVM has been present in the sub-4m sedan market for a decade, and the latest version of the market’s best-selling product does not offer this feature.

We hope rear headroom isn’t reduced by the sunroof. Small vehicles in this price range have always offered rain-sensing wipers, but the new Dzire misses out on this. The turn-by-turn navigation function on the MID screen could have been better executed, as it mainly shows “soon” instead of showing the estimated distance of the turn. The 3D view of the 360 ​​camera should have a selectable view to slide left and right instead of a “play” and “pause” method. While Dzire’s designs are now upscale, the Horn’s rentals are ridiculously low.

The fourth generation Dzire exemplifies Maruti’s relentless pursuit of industry dominance. The company has outdone itself with the new Dzire, making it its most secure product yet. The combination of premium design, newfound safety credentials and improved in-cabin features are likely to make the fourth generation Dzire a huge success. While Maruti Suzuki calls it a “statement”, we think the fourth-generation Dzire is a paradigm shift.