Hearty Performance

Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava has gone on record saying that sometime next year the company will stop making diesel engines of capacity less than 1.5 litre.

- P. Tharyan

Bye, bye diesel, we shall always miss your high torque capabilities. But thank god for small mercies, as the company has introduced a new 1.5 litre diesel engine that has been strapped on to its popular sedan, the Ciaz.

The premium sedan Ciaz has emerged as the best seller in its segment for the third consecutive year. The Ciaz has sold over 2.56 lakh units cumulatively since its launch in 2014. The Ciaz already has a 1.5 litre petrol engine which is doing pretty well in the country. It’s also there in the new Ertiga. Now the Ciaz will have a new 1.5-litre DDiS 225 diesel engine and it comes mated to a new 6-speed manual transmission.

PERFORMANCE

Since all the interior and exterior features remain untouched, we shall only be delving upon the performance of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz with its new 1.5 litre diesel engine. The new engine delivers a peak torque of 225Nm@1500-2500rpm and maximum power of 94hp@4000rpm.

The first thing I noticed missing in the new 1.5 litre diesel engine was the fact that it does not have smart or mild hybrid technology feature that was there in the 1.3 litre diesel engine mated to a 5-speed gearbox. The technology is handy when it comes to idle start stop function which helps conserve fuel. But that’s no big deal and no one who buys this car will miss this feature.

Before I get into explaining my drive experience, let me point out that this new engine has an improved low end torque. In fact, when you step on the accelerator you really do not realise the turbo kicking in and this in turn generates good solid torque at the low-end which makes city driving simply awesome. Those of us who are living and driving in cities know that our driving exhilaration lasts from one traffic light to another. It’s in such a drive pattern that a low end torque is so fulfilling, offering instant bursts of power.