Finally got the chance to get the car out on an expressway out of the city. The running in period of 600 miles is over as well so the car can be pushed a bit.
As luck would have it, the expressway was more crowded than usual with a long convoy of army trucks. Anyway, managed to get ahead of them after a while.
The Suzuki Ciaz is a stable car till reasonably high speeds and I'm not the one to push the car beyond reasonable speeds. The car doesn't have a problem picking up speed as well.
My biggest grunt with the car was the lack of control over the gear changes. You can be travelling at 70 - 80 km/hr and need to prod the car just a little to overtake someone. In a manual transmission you will most likely not change the gears to do this. But with the Ciaz AT even the slightest prod of the accelerator, even at higher speeds results in the gears shifting down. The more you press, the lower the gear shifts. This change is often a little disconcerting and uncalled for. On the other hand, it makes sure that you are in a power band to do the overtaking manoeuvre.
This is a feature of the CIAZ AT that sometimes I love and other times not so much. The quick and seamless downshifting when I need it, at the prod the throttle is a great feeling. And not so great at all the times when I don't. At time you are happy to be in the 3rd gear and just want to stomp down on the accelerator pedal to get the required move on. But if you try that manoeuvre in the Suzuki Ciaz AT you will have the transmission jump to the 2nd or ever the 1st gear! This causes a sharp rise in the engine RPMs which causes some jerk, is noisy and spoils the smoothness of the drive.
Coming back to the expressway experience, the result of the frequent gear shifting is that the drive doesn't feel as smooth as it would otherwise. Going at a constant speed is not a problem but when driving in a little traffic, this issue comes up. I can hazard a guess as to how much of a problem this will be when driving up the hills. I think using the L2 mode will be the best way to go with the Overdrive definitely switched off.
Acceleration is decent. Do it smoothly and the speedometer climbs up with ease. Suzuki Ciaz petrol is not a blazing fast car like some of it's counterparts, especially the diesel ones. But it's pretty quick and smooth.
The wind noise and tire noise is well contained and within tolerable limits. The exhaust note is sporty when you gun the engine and music to the ears of someone who enjoys a sporty feel to the car.
The steering is stable although it does not stiffen up as much as expected. I am not sure whether it needs constant correction or if the road was such. Some more driving is called for and I will be updating this post shortly. I may have another trip planned in a couple of days.
As luck would have it, the expressway was more crowded than usual with a long convoy of army trucks. Anyway, managed to get ahead of them after a while.
The Suzuki Ciaz is a stable car till reasonably high speeds and I'm not the one to push the car beyond reasonable speeds. The car doesn't have a problem picking up speed as well.
My biggest grunt with the car was the lack of control over the gear changes. You can be travelling at 70 - 80 km/hr and need to prod the car just a little to overtake someone. In a manual transmission you will most likely not change the gears to do this. But with the Ciaz AT even the slightest prod of the accelerator, even at higher speeds results in the gears shifting down. The more you press, the lower the gear shifts. This change is often a little disconcerting and uncalled for. On the other hand, it makes sure that you are in a power band to do the overtaking manoeuvre.
This is a feature of the CIAZ AT that sometimes I love and other times not so much. The quick and seamless downshifting when I need it, at the prod the throttle is a great feeling. And not so great at all the times when I don't. At time you are happy to be in the 3rd gear and just want to stomp down on the accelerator pedal to get the required move on. But if you try that manoeuvre in the Suzuki Ciaz AT you will have the transmission jump to the 2nd or ever the 1st gear! This causes a sharp rise in the engine RPMs which causes some jerk, is noisy and spoils the smoothness of the drive.
Coming back to the expressway experience, the result of the frequent gear shifting is that the drive doesn't feel as smooth as it would otherwise. Going at a constant speed is not a problem but when driving in a little traffic, this issue comes up. I can hazard a guess as to how much of a problem this will be when driving up the hills. I think using the L2 mode will be the best way to go with the Overdrive definitely switched off.
Acceleration is decent. Do it smoothly and the speedometer climbs up with ease. Suzuki Ciaz petrol is not a blazing fast car like some of it's counterparts, especially the diesel ones. But it's pretty quick and smooth.
The wind noise and tire noise is well contained and within tolerable limits. The exhaust note is sporty when you gun the engine and music to the ears of someone who enjoys a sporty feel to the car.
The steering is stable although it does not stiffen up as much as expected. I am not sure whether it needs constant correction or if the road was such. Some more driving is called for and I will be updating this post shortly. I may have another trip planned in a couple of days.
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