Maruti Suzuki Ritz (Petrol)

Launched as Suzuki Splash in the rest of the world, Maruti Suzuki had to take the alternate name ‘Ritz’ in India because the ‘Splash’ name was already registered by Ford in India. Today, there are over 2 lakh Ritz on Indian roads today and this hatchback is definitely one of the latest success stories from Maruti Suzuki in recent times.

So now let’s go ahead with a discussion on the tech specs. The petrol variant of Ritz has a smaller engine than the diesel variant and at 1197cc pretty much belongs to the league of Honda Brio that we discussed earlier. The engine can deliver a max power of up to 87PS at 6000 RPM and a torque of 113Nm at 4500 RPM. The car has a 5-gear manual transmission on offer with a kerb weight of close to 1030 kg. In terms of size, the Ritz measures 3715mm x 1680mm x 1620mm with a wheelbase of 2360mm and 170mm ground clearance which is marginally more than what the Brio has to offer. The Ritz Zxi BS-IV model is available at a price of Rs. 5,57,739 ex-Mumbai. That is much higher than the Brio though.

Manufacturer Mileage Claim

A 1200cc car is typically an upper middle class buy, and mileage is a big factor in the purchasing decision. According to Maruti Suzuki, the petrol variants of Ritz (VXi, LXi & ZXi) deliver a fuel economy of around 18.5 kmpl under standard test road conditions. This means, this is the mileage you can expect under good roads with favourable wind conditions etc. So on an everyday city road with traffic and potholes, the mileage is going to be much lower. For a perspective, Honda claimed to deliver 19.4 kmpl on the Brio.

Customer Feedback

Carwale has an honest feedback of their test drive. The test, which was conducted during the monsoons when there is typically heavy traffic returned decent results. The reviewer reports to have seen an FE of between 12-14 kmpl despite him having to drive a lot in the first and second gears.

The test drive from ProdEase throws up a slightly lower fuel efficiency. In their report, the website notes that their test on city roads delivered close to 11.1 kmpl on the Ritz which increased to 15.5 kmpl on the highways. I really don’t think the traffic conditions during this testing was any worse than what Carwale had to experience. The low mileage reported is hence disconcerting.

Ronak from RonakG.com has a pretty good word about the Ritz with regards to the silent engine, sound quality on the music system and steering. With respect to fuel efficiency, Ronak says he was able to extract 14.46 kmpl under typical Bangalore city road conditions with AC turned on and using the premium Shell petrol.

There are a few good reviews of the car on AutoJunction. In terms of mileage though, the customers have reported between 16-19.5 kmpl on city roads. This is much much higher than what we have seen from other reviews and with even the manufacturer claiming only so much on standard test conditions, I have to ask you to take this figure with a pinch of salt.

On AutoCarIndia, the reviewer writes that the legroom on the rear is not exactly great although the same is good on the front along with a very good forward visibility. The reviewer was able to see 11.8 kpl on city roads with 16.7 kmpl on the highways.

There are over 150 reviews for the Maruti Suzuki Ritz on MouthShut and although this is a mix of all petrol and diesel variants, I only looked into what the customers of the petrol variants had to say. On an average, the reported mileage with AC on seems to be around 13.5 kmpl on city roads with the corresponding number for highways hovering over 16kmpl.

To sum up, the Ritz appears to be a great car with good economy on offer in the 1200cc segment. There are some recurrent complaints about the rear visibility and in the general ‘ugliness’ of the rear-side. But if it is not something that bothers you, there is nothing that should stop you from going for the Ritz. Except for the price, of course. What are your thoughts on this?