Maruti Suzuki Ritz

The hatchback market in India has evolved by leaps and bounds recently. The sheer number of options available as of now is a perfect example of this. It can be said that Maruti Suzuki is the definitive leader of this trend in our market and giants like Hyundai and Tata, trying to emulate its success. But when you look at it, it is pretty obvious why it is so. Economy of fuel and of the overall cost of ownership is very vital to most of the customers and Maruti Suzuki products fulfil these criteria rather well, along with smart engineering and good built quality. So for an average person, who wishes to spend around 5-6 lac on his first car, among the myriad of alternatives the Ritz stands tall (quite literally) as one of the strongest contenders.

The Look

The Ritz styling can be best defined as ‘Radical’; though the front looks contemporary, it’s the profile and the rear end that causes stirs. The nose has been styled pretty well and it actually manages to pull off the Audi grill, I doubt many laymen have noticed this. The headlamps have a nice curve, which gives the front end a fine balanced and well weighed look. Ritz follows the ‘tall-boy’ design like its older brother the Wagon-R. The side of the car is simple with almost no kinks in the doors or shoulder lines running from the front lamps to the rear ones, but the prominent and chunky wheel arches break the monotony of the design. Looking at the car from this view one will notice that there is a smooth integration of the flowing curves of the bonnet, windshield and the roof. But this synergy comes to an abrupt end with and edge at the rear along with the ‘Boomerang’ tail lights. But it’s been long since this car has been launched in our market and by now the masses have come to terms with its redefined styling and overall look of the car.

Interiors

The high roof gives the cabin a very airy feel and not at all claustrophobic like some other hatchbacks out there. The driving position is high, not very sporty and doesn’t give the confidence while attacking the corners. A new driver will find this position useful as he will get a good view point all around. The dashboard sports, again, a ‘Radical’ instrument cluster. I doubt if I can call it a cluster as there is just one huge retro looking speedometer, with the odometer and other warning lights set inside the periphery of the dial. The tachometer has been placed separately on the dashboard like the aftermarket ones, some do find this nice but I rather find it a bit tacky (pun intended). This being the Zxi version the dash was blue in colour at some places and with a surface finish which I think is trying to mimic carbon-fibre. The air vents are appealing and have a nice feel, they are not like the other Maruti circular ones which is a pleasant change. Storage space is just average, it has just one cubbyhole and that too has the ash-box placed in it...so no decent place to keep those cans while driving. The centre console looks good but again shares all the knobs and the music system from other Marutis. Another different thing that one will notice is the placing of the gear lever. It’s mounted on the centre console; this was brought to us first by Hyundai in its i10. The fabric on the seats and the door cards, too are blue in colour and this is not at all soft on the eyes. Back seats are decent with more legroom and headroom than its closest rival the Swift. So the final word on the interiors would be decent space with moderate quality of plastics.

Power train

Ritz diesel

Ritz petrol

The Ritz has the Maruti K series engine, which in this avatar develops a healthy 85ps@6000rpm and the diesel engine offers 75ps@4000rpm. Traditionally Maruti hatches are not heavyweights and the Ritz follows the same philosophy, as a result the car has a nice power to weight ratio when compared to the competition. The K series engine has won many accolades and it is not difficult to see why. It is very refined and smooth, develops healthy power and torque while giving the trademark fuel efficiency. The diesel engine is the one sourced from Fiat and it powers 7 cars in our market as of now. This number says it all, and I don’t think I need to elaborate much on it; but it does suffer from a pretty evident turbo-lag. These engines have been mated to a regular 5-speed gearbox. But here is where the car really disappoints. The gear stick, though mounted ergonomically, is not amusing to use. It feels like as though you are trying to pull a rag cloth from the mouth of a rabid Great Dane. It just doesn’t fall in the correct place and one really has to wrestle to get it right. It really lets down the amazing engine. And to make the gear shift worse, the positioning of the clutch lever isn’t perfect either and after just a few kilometres the left ankle starts to feel the strain. But all said and done, once the job of selecting a gear is done, the car cruses pretty well.

Handling and Ride

Now being the monsoon season, it wasn’t difficult at all to judge the suspension of the car. I wasn’t expecting much out of this car in terms of ride and handling as I had or shall I say have a prejudice toward Japanese and Korean hatches. But the Ritz actually made me think twice. The ride over the horrendous potholes was very good and well composed, and it managed to give a very comfortable ride. So after this I assumed that the corners will definitely show the flaws of the suspension setup. But as I approached the turn, I was very surprised as the car held its calm and was unwavering. Throwing the car around corners would be definite fun, but it won’t be for the faint hearted. I say so because the high roof-line means the car is top heavy and this induces massive body roll. Though I was very impressed by the composure of the car under all circumstances, I still feel the Japanese are behind their European counterparts when it comes to sheer ride quality and driver oriented handling.

Running costs

When it comes to cost of ownership Maruti heads the field from most of its rivals. Company claims mileage of 17.7 km/l for petrol and 21.1 km/l for diesel variants. Running costs vary around Rs 6/km for diesel and Rs 7/km for petrol (all inclusive, based on our calculations) in addition Maruti cars have always had a good re-sale value. Company is offering a discount of Rs 15000 across all variants, any additional discounts are negotiable. It is more advisable to take a 3yr loan instead of 5yr as you can save upto Rs 50000 on interest. A very promising deals overall.

Final Word

The Ritz did impress me on many counts, and disappointed me on a few. Whatever one may say, the brilliant engine under the hood of this car just can’t be ignored and what the car is offering can easily overshadow its flaws. It’s spacious, powerful, efficient and reliable; and most importantly doesn’t burn a hole through the pocket. For the average Joe out there, it’s got the perfect combination of all the good stuff a car requires and makes for a very sensible purchase. And that is the bottom line

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I would not recommend this for you. Yes you may say on paper the car has better figures, but what it lacks cannot be put in numbers. And this is where I feel the Ritz falls short; it simply can’t manage to get the poise, dynamics and pure pleasure of the Fiat Punto or VW Polo, or for that matter even its sibling Swift. Connecting emotionally with this car on a driver level doesn’t seem possible, and in the end, isn’t it the connection between Man and Machine that matters?

For more details, pricing and specs; go to

http://www.marutisuzukiritz.com/

-Written by- Gaurav Singh

-Editing & Inputs- Grease Monkey Blog team

-Photography – Tejas Kudtarkar