The Black Stallion – My Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi


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Re: The Black Stallion – My Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi

@Sumit;

I also bought the same car except that its a VVT engined one

Recently wrote an ownership review in which i mentioned some serious flaws with the car I wanted to know have you faced any of these issues??

these are the issues i have faced -

1 engine has no power in 2nd gear – yes u read it right the famous K12 feels underpowered in city. Surprised after reading so many gr8 reviews of this engine. Well I was too. The car does not pickup from the lower gears at slow speeds u will have to downshift to first otherwise the car will stall. Hell my 15 year old M800 used to pick up in even 3rd gear at crawling speeds. This single thing is a big negative in city

2 gearbox not slotting well into reverse- yes again I was surprised maruti may have flimsy light cars but they make great engines & gearboxes. Apparently it is not so.The gear does not slot in completely when u r slotting in reverse leading to the grinding sound which is heart wrenching. U have to be very careful while slotting in reverse. The SA during first service told that this is due to the fact that the reverse gear is not synchromesh Don’t know whether this is true or not.

3 AC not affective at all – Well I know Ac of different cars vary in their cooling capacity so I may be wrong. I will better explain this point with a comparison. I have a city ZX ( 1.5lt - 78bhp -idsi engine ).On a hot afternoon with temperatures outside in the range of 40 degrees, I have to run the AC at speed 4 for say 5 minutes initially and then I am comfortable at sped 1 or speed 2.In fact I cannot tolerate any higher speed. I am very comfortable if I follow this procedure
During the exactly same afternoon I mention the AC speed at 4 continuously throughout my drive even after an hour drive I require it to be at speed 4.During this period I may even feel a little hot and wish the AC was better.
Also I think that periodically the AC throws out hotter air even though the temp knob is at maximum. This happens for few seconds and then its back to normal performance
 
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@PH

1. Yes even I feel the same about the 2nd gear and I have seen this with lot of cars by now like Ford figo, swift, Ford new fiesta, Alto, Vista. So felt it is common
2. Gearbox , I never felt any kind of problem while slotting to reverse and feel most of the times it is our fault that not engaging the clutch fully
3. AC, I will put in 4 for I think 2 minutes and bring it back to 2 in a hot summer situation and it works quite well, yes at times even I have seen some hot air in 4. This is mainly because mismatch between the blower fan speed with AC out put like AC out put is not able to catch up with the fan speed, hence you get some hot air for some time
 
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Re: The Black Stallion – My Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi

@PH

1. Yes even I feel the same about the 2nd gear and I have seen this with lot of cars by now like Ford figo, swift, Ford new fiesta, Alto, Vista. So felt it is common
2. Gearbox , I never felt any kind of problem while slotting to reverse and feel most of the times it is our fault that not engaging the clutch fully
3. AC, I will put in 4 for I think 2 minutes and bring it back to 2 in a hot summer situation and it works quite well, yes at times even I have seen some hot air in 4. This is mainly because mismatch between the blower fan speed with AC out put like AC out put is not able to catch up with the fan speed, hence you get some hot air for some time
1 But u have a ddis so there will definitely be some turbo lag in lower gears So i think it is acceptable in your car.There shouldnt be any such problem in a petrol car like mine.
If ritz would have been a bigger car for highway use(such as civic which hassthe same prob), the lack of power in second gear would have been acceptable,but for a small car which spends most of the time in city traffic this issue seriously hampers the driveability.
I will ask a close friend to lend me his car ( for atleast 50 km ),to see if this is common in all small cars.
Another thing I can do is to drive another VVT engined swift/ritz ( probably at the dealer ).I dont know whether the dealer would be willing to provide me a TD to check that's why i am hesitating a bit.
Also there is no such problem in my honda city , in terms of driveability it is much more suited for city driving than the ritz.
Apart from that my father recently drove a brio and found it a much better car to drive.

2 I can tell u for surely that in my car , the reverse gear has a longer throw than other gears.If you shift in reverse with the same force ,the gear slots in a kind of intermediate position ( u tend to think that the gear is engaged ) and as soon as u leave the clutch is that whirring sound.U have to make the throw a little longer.
The SA during first service told me that the reverse gear is non synchromesh unlike the others.Is he right ?

3 I have never seen this hot air problem in any of the cars we have owned.If the AC is not able to catch up with the blower speed that means the AC is weak.
Again this would have been expected in an alto/wagon r not in a car like swift/ritz.
What do u say ?

PS: i know each car has problems but the 1st and 3rd problem are somehow not acceptable to me ( in comparison to tons of cars i have experienced )These things were totally unexpected ?
 
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@Petroholic- First of all congratulations for your new car. For your issues-
Issue no.1- I dont think the engine is underpowered. Sometimes it feels little sluggish but it becomes great after 2000 rpm. My car pulls effortlessly on 2nd and 3rd gear.

Issue no.2- Yes the reverse gear sometimes does not slot easily. If it does not slot, first put it in first gear, move the car little bit forward and then try to slot it.

Issue no.3- Regarding the A/C problem, if the outside temprature is above 40 degree, any A/C will not cool the car as effectively as it should. As soon as you get into the car, switch on the A/C and fan on 4 and roll your windows down for 5 mins, then roll it up, It helps the hot air to go out and will thus give you better cooling.

If your problem still persists please take it to a good MASS, they will suerly rectify the problem.
 
Thread Starter #25
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@ Peetroholic- Regarding the hot air flow from the vents when A/C is on, if it occurs while the car is pulling up, i think that the ECU cuts off the A/C to give more power. Once the required power is obtained it automatically switches it on.
 
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Re: The Black Stallion – My Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi

@Petroholic- First of all congratulations for your new car. For your issues-
Issue no.1- I dont think the engine is underpowered. Sometimes it feels little sluggish but it becomes great after 2000 rpm. My car pulls effortlessly on 2nd and 3rd gear.

Issue no.2- Yes the reverse gear sometimes does not slot easily. If it does not slot, first put it in first gear, move the car little bit forward and then try to slot it.

Issue no.3- Regarding the A/C problem, if the outside temprature is above 40 degree, any A/C will not cool the car as effectively as it should. As soon as you get into the car, switch on the A/C and fan on 4 and roll your windows down for 5 mins, then roll it up, It helps the hot air to go out and will thus give you better cooling.

If your problem still persists please take it to a good MASS, they will suerly rectify the problem.
1 3rd gear has no such prob its only in the 2nd gear. U are right about the rpm.Mine is an lxi i surely need to source a vxi tacho and fit in lxi.........should cost me less than 2k but i will have to find a person who can do it without sleeving/cutting any wire or i will have to arrange for the connectors and perform a DIY.
A tacho will definitely make me understand this problem better.
Also i read this in a review for swift petrol VVT..........

Maruti's 1.2L K-series has always been considered a jewel. With variable valve tech on the intake (Maruti says this was necessary to improve fuel efficiency), the power output has been bumped up to 86 BHP (@ 6,000 rpm) and 114 Nm of torque (@ 4,000 rpm). That's 2 BHP more than in the older Swift, and about the same torque made at 500 rpm less. Should make the motor even better, right? Wrong. Maruti insists that the engine has been tuned for fuel-efficiency, and the tamer nature is immediately evident at the bottom end. The engine feels weaker at lower rpms, where the older car felt distinctly sprightlier. The low rpm behaviour of the engine is completely different from what the specs sheet would have you believe. And yes, you will need to downshift more often than in the Ritz / outgoing Swift, or a car like the i10 Kappa2.

2 Yup there's a problem with reverse.But if it is not specific to my car only i think i can live with it

3 I always follow this procedure and i know AC cooling can be very subjective.That is the reason i gave a comparison of AC with my city under the same conditions.To put it in short If city's AC scores 10/10 Ritz's will score 4/10 IMO .I know city is a car from a higher segment but should there be so much of a difference.

Regarding hot air , your explanation seems to explain it. Are you sure this is the reason?? Have never experienced this on any other car
 
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@Petroholic- I think you can get a tacho from any MGP store, and any good electrician will be able to fit it easily. Ask the electrician only to arrange the connectors and fit it without cutting or joining any wire.
As you said above, your car has longer reverse gear throw, take it to a good MASS and get it checked.
Regarding the hot air from the vents, yes that's the reason.
 
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Re: The Black Stallion – My Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi

@Petroholic- I think you can get a tacho from any MGP store, and any good electrician will be able to fit it easily. Ask the electrician only to arrange the connectors and fit it without cutting or joining any wire.
As you said above, your car has longer reverse gear throw, take it to a good MASS and get it checked.
Regarding the hot air from the vents, yes that's the reason.
Thanks for the reply .I will get the tacho soon . But i think it will take some time to find the right guy to do this stuff.By electrician u mean the ones which fit ice etc in automobile accessories shops right? Or r u talking about somone else.
 

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