SX change operation

Pablo Chaterji finds out if diesel is the shot in the arm the SX4 needed

If, for some reason, you woke up one morning and found you had turned into a mid-size diesel sedan (just humour the imagery for a moment, if you will), you would no doubt be fairly taken aback. However, once the initial shock wears off, you would be quickly reassured by the fact that there has never been a better time to be a diesel sedan in India — demand is such that you would be snapped up by an impatient owner even before you had time to reassess your life path. The numbers are there for all to see — Maruti Suzuki can barely keep up with demand for its diesel engines, even after it upgraded its production capacity from 100,000 to 300,000 units a year. The waiting list for a diesel Swift/Dzire still runs into months, with the Ritz having joined the game as well. The competition has a similar story to tell — the top-end Volkswagen Vento diesel is flying off the shelves, and the waiting list for that particular model is also rather long. Helping (quite literally) fuel this demand is the fact that petrol prices are giving unsuspecting buyers heart attacks on a near-monthly basis. At a time like this, the launch of the SX4 diesel seems like a masterstroke. The petrol-powered version does very respectable numbers indeed (about 2,000 a month), numbers that any other manufacturer would be rather pleased with; Maruti Suzuki, however, deals in numbers that others can only dream of, and putting a diesel engine into the SX4 is their way of adding more muscle to the car’s sales potential.

So, when you get to the meat of the matter, what do you see? The now-familiar 1.3-litre DDiS engine, that’s what, coupled to an all-new transmission; it’s a bit of a surprise to open up an SX4’s hood and see a diesel, but there you go — it’s present and it’s called a ‘Super Turbo’ diesel engine. This powerplant puts out 88.7 bhp@4000 rpm and 20.4 kgm@1750 rpm, and it’s massaged by a new variable geometry turbocharger, which varies the angle of the vanes in order to provide the best possible airflow and efficiency. The ECU has been re-mapped, and there is a high pressure pump and fuel injection system (1600 bar), both of which help improve power delivery and efficiency. This car is also the first one in the country to conform to OBD-2 norms which are set to be introduced in India. OBD stands for ‘On Board Diagnostics’, which tell the driver if there is a problem with the car’s emission control system.

“That’s all very well…” I hear you say, so let’s get straight to how all of this comes through in the driving experience. The first thing you’ll notice when you fire up the car is how quiet it is for a diesel; on a cold, foggy morning in Delhi, I was expecting considerable diesel clatter, but what I got was a perfectly acceptable drone. Get inside the car and you’ll be even more impressed; the NVH levels have been very well controlled, and as a snap judgment I’d venture that this is the quietest cabin in its category. Get a move on and you’ll immediately discern the lightness of the clutch, which is a pleasant deviation from the norm of slightly heavy, snappy clutches in diesel cars. I must make special mention of the gearbox here — employing the same 3-pin technology that first made an appearance in the Zen Estilo, the shift action of this box is butter-smooth, and requires no effort to work through. Again, this stands in contrast to the gearboxes in competing cars, which feel heavy and stiff in comparison; as a result, in combination with the light clutch pedal and excellent noise and vibration control, this SX4 is far easier on the body in stop-go traffic since it requires less physical effort to drive. It isn’t quite as refined as a petrol-powered car, but it comes pretty close. Notch one up for the SX4, then.

The steering is a bit heavy at slow speeds, but it starts to feel better in the hands once you build up some momentum — which is all too easy to do, given the nature of the engine. This powerplant is a very relaxed one, and it goes about its business in a quiet, sophisticated manner. There’s none of the rush you experience in other diesel cars when the torque kicks in; here, it’s a smooth surge, with negligible torque steer and little vibes coming through the pedals or steering wheel. The engine is at its best at the low-to-mid section of the rev range, where it’s a boon to use in city traffic conditions. Flog it and it’s happy enough to play along, but it starts to run out of steam in the higher reaches of the rev range; its sweet spot is between 120 and 130 kmph, where it will happily cruise for what seems like days on end. The car will hit about 160 kmph in the top speed stakes, with 100 kmph coming up in a claimed 14.5 seconds — as I’ve said, it’s all about relaxed performance in this car.

With 55 kg having been added, the suspension and brakes have been re-worked to compensate for the heavier engine and changed weight distribution. Where the petrol version is a fairly taut handler, the diesel SX4 is less precise when confronted with a series of corners, with more body roll than its petrol sibling; the ride quality has changed as well, with the suspension having taken on a more plush nature, especially at the rear. It tends a little towards the wallowy side of things, but most buyers will be more than happy with the way it absorbs undulations in the road. The brakes could use some sharpening up, though; they’re adequate, but there’s not much feedback from them.

In a refreshing move, Maruti Suzuki is offering exactly the same features on both the petrol and diesel versions of the car (the diesel comes in VDi, ZDi and ZDi with leather seats). Given that some manufacturers charge you more for a diesel variant yet give you less features, this is commendable — but it’s also a point of contention. Having splashed out more money to buy a diesel variant, a buyer in this part of the food chain is likely to want some distinguishing features that set his car apart; the diesel SX4 has none. Save for the DDiS and VDi/ZDi badging, there’s no way to tell the petrol and diesel siblings apart — some cosmetic differences, at the very least, would have helped matters. Nevertheless, it’s clear that Maruti Suzuki has tried to cover all bases with this car, given the overbearing figure of the all-conquering Honda City looming large over it. The important thing is that it appears to have succeeded in its efforts — let the C-segment games begin anew!