A Good Car but Nothing Exceptional

Exterior: The styling is the least appealing aspect of Ritz. Also it is a bit too high than really necessary for either space or comfort.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): Interior is spacious and this is a big plus. Senior citizens can get in and out with ease. The features including instrumentation are bare minimum. Nothing extraordinary. No cup holders. The tachometer doesn't help enhance VFM. On this front Maruti is never known to be generous. The driving comfort is good but nowhere near i20. The JVC music syst I got fitted extra from Maruti (MGA) has a blue tooth capability but one must pay extra to have it activated. In Figo Titanium the music system comes with blue tooth activated.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: Engine performance is good. The engine is very smooth and quiet, so much so that a couple of times I turned the starter on even when the engine was already idling. I got 16.5 km/l on long drive that included a 4 lane highway, turning and twisting ghat section and poor quality narrow road where I could not go beyond 60 kph. For nearly 8 hours out of the 10 hour drive the A/C was on. So, all in all the average was not bad I suppose.

Ride Quality & Handling: The ride quality is ok but due to its tall stance perhaps the handling can be tricky somewhat esp at high speeds on highway.

Final words: I bought this car in October 2009 and I am reasonably happy. However, had there been a k series engine 1200 cc Swift available then or may be a Figo Titanium, I wouldn't have gone for Ritz. I had liked i20 a great deal but regrettably it was out of my budget and Hyundai were not prepared to consider any discount either.

Areas of improvement: Maruti must realise that the competition is heating up in the premium hatch segment and must endeavour to give more features for greater value for money. The 'Maruti' name alone and the sales and ASS associated with it may not be good enough in the times to come.

 

 

Good fuel economy, Comfortable, Esp Good for Senior Citizens, Maruti's ASS.Looks, Handling on highway.