The Engine

What powers the Suzuki Ciaz petrol variant is the K-14 Suzuki engine that produces 68 KW (91 PS) of power and 130 NM of torque at 6000 and 4000 RPM respectively.
Many will tell you that this is underpowered for a car of this size. Not many will tell you that this car is big but lighter than the Honda Jazz which has a similar powered engine.

Engine Performance

Lets forget about the number on the paper for a moment. Let's look at how the engine performs. I have driven this car for over 1k now. And the impression I have is.. "Not bad at all". I am coming from the ownership of the Suzuki SWIFT VDI, which, with its turbo diesel engine is a very peppy car, albeit the turbo lag till the 2000 RPM mark. So that observation is quiet generous. I was worried that coming from that engine to a naturally aspirated 1.4, not even a 1.6 or a 1.8, will make me sorely miss the power. But that hasn't quiet happened.

Power Delivery

I think this is where this car shines. I drive an automatic transmission. So whenever I need the power, I press the throttle and car upshifts for me right away to give me that immediate thrust, regardless of what speed I was cruising on. A manual transmission will not do this for you, but downshifting to the 2nd or 3rd gear will put you in a very good place surge ahead with urgency.

Because of its smaller engine capacity what does make a difference to it it the load that the car is carrying. Fill the car with passengers and luggage in the boot and you will find a difference in power delivery. I also get the impression that when loaded the car seems to upshift more frequently. Can the MCU sense the load of the car? I will comment more on this later.

Torque

The automatic cars variant uses a torque converter therefore there is plenty of power available at low rpm, and for city driving.  There are other petrol sedans in this segment that have more powerful engines. The Honda city as the 1.5 L engine, the Volkswagen has a 1.6 and Toyota has a 1.8. So the Suzuki 1.4 K-series is definitely not as powerful but then it is also more frugal. It is a good balance. 

0 - 100

This is not a slow car by any standard. It does 0 to 100 in about 11 seconds which is almost as fast as the Honda City.

Fuel Economy / Mileage

I have run this car for all 1000 km and it has given me a fuel economy of slightly more than 13 km per litre, which for a car of this size is pretty decent.

I would like to make a small mention here about getting the best fuel economy out of your car.  All a lot of people tend to complain about bad fuel economy for certain cars. I want  everyone to know that there are a few things that completely decimate the good fuel economy of any car of any size and engine capacity.

Nothing comes close to ruining the fuel efficiency of a car like standing still in traffic or sitting at a red light with the engine running.  Being stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic, and crawling forward is just as bad. In these circumstances do not expect any petrol car to give you good mileage.

The next thing that adversely affects the mileage of a car is hard exploration and frequent breaking. I realise that you cannot help the traffic conditions but you can switch off your car engine whenever possible. Ideally, you should turn off your car engine whenever you have to wait for more than a minute. But the harsh summer conditions of our country often do not permit this.

However, I have noticed that even in moderate and good weather, people are simply not used to turning off their engines even when they are waiting at a red light. Accelerate easy when you can, maintain a constant speed when you can and turn off your engine as opposed to idling it when you can.

Noise Levels

The engine is smooth. You cannot hear in on idle and cruising speeds. It gets throaty the second you punch the throttle but subsides the moment you ease on it. So if you are gunning it, even 2500 RPM gives out a snarl. But if you are cruising at the same RPM, the engine is fairly silent. I think the explanation for this might lie in the VVT (variable valve timing) technology. The valve inlets open more and more depending on how much more you are demanding of the engine. I really don’t find any difference between the NVH levels between the Honda City and this one. And I like the raspy note of the exhaust when you rev the engine up. The sporty note came as quiet a surprise.

Engine Running In Period

The Suzuki manual says that you should best run in the engine for the first 600 miles or 960 km. During this period you are supposed to drive the car in an easy fashion without taking the rpm too high and avoid sudden braking and acceleration.  The manual does not mention any specific numbers as to what constitutes high rpm, but I am guessing that anywhere in the vicinity of 2000 - 2500  RPM should be safe.

Under The Hood 

The one thing that I did get disappointed with was when I opened the hood to have a peep at the engine bay. Now when I did the same thing with my Suzuki SWIFT or with a City or Ecosport, I am greeted with a fine looking bay that seems to be full of well made and well parts. The Suzuki Ciaz was not the same. The hoses and the fittings seem to be of poor finish. Even the washer rings arounds the bolts are not perfectly round, but un-even. I don’t ever remember seeing uneven washer rings even if I purchase them from my local hardware store.

A dusty K-14 Ciaz Petrol Engine. Spacious and roomy engine bay with no engine protection cover at the bottom.

Can you make out the un-even washer rings?

Please understand that I am not talking about the durability of the parts. The rubber hose might be durable but the finish is poor. This engine is small. The Suzuki SWIFT VDI hardly had any extra room in the engine bay. The Ecosport is the same. But here the engine bay is roomy and lots of empty spaces around.

There is no bottom cover for the engine which leave it open to flying stones and pebbles from a bad road as well as small animals that might want to come roosting in a warm engine on a cold winter night. I remember some animal used to sleep in the engine bay of my SWIFT practically every night. I never discovered exactly what it was but thankfully it did not do any damage except leave it's mess behind.

All in all, I find the petrol 1.4 K Series in the Suzuki Ciaz to be peppy enough for comfortable driving. I haven’t good too much underway with the way of highway driving, so I will add on that aspect later. However, I drive gently on the highways as well so there shouldn’t be a problem. The car has no problem getting up to speed and seems to be stable there.