Ciaz: Maruti's next growth engine is here

A staid, dependable SX4 and stylish, pricy Kizashi made no waves; now Ciaz will look to score.

Who says luxury comes with a hefty price tag? At least, that’s not something that the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), must have thought when they delivered the Ciaz, a perfect blend of comfort, features, space and performance, and many more attributes.

The much-awaited mid-size premium sedan, the Ciaz, hit the roads few weeks ago, after months of speculation and anticipation. And suddenly, the wait seems to have borne fruit and MSI looks to have developed a best-in-class product. The Ciaz might just prove to become the icing on the cake for Maruti Suzuki, especially after the downturn of its other premium sedans, Kizashi and SX4, in the last few years. 

Maruti is betting big on Ciaz, and they have succeeded in giving a best product in this segment, as we find out over the lengthy drive around the city of Bengaluru, across the vast stretch of the New Airport Road and then, upon the meandering hairpins of Nandi Hills.

Just to begin with, as we introduce the car, the first thing that catches our fancy is the name of the car: Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, which resonates style and class. 

Let’s get started: What does CIAZ exactly mean? The car’s name is simply an acronym, and stands for Comfort-Intelligence-Attitude-Zeal, which are nothing but reflections of all those little and great things about the Ciaz that will impress you, as they do us. Each of these attributes show and turn out to be real as we find out when we drive the Ciaz to Nandi Hills.

At first glance

The Ciaz is composed of great looks, and though sleek and delicate in appearance, it packs in a very robust and regal stance. The car is longer than its ‘supposed’ predecessor, the SX4, at 4,490 mm. 

The exterior styling is nothing short of magnificent. Taking a cue from European styling, the Ciaz looks brilliant and the straight lines impart a classy European tinge to the sedan. 

The slanting projector headlamps seem inspired by any of the major European luxury car brands, and is a standard feature across all variants. The car that we get is the top-end ZDI diesel variant, which is feature-packed to the brim. A few elegant elements on the car’s exterior include, a strong shoulder line, running all along the length, which lends dynamism.

With the signature Suzuki logo, ‘S’, offers an elegant look on the front chrome grill and on the sedan’s tail. Ornamental door beltline, chic chrome door handles, front fog lamps, integrated turn indicators on the electrically foldable ORVMs (Outside Rear View Mirrors), split tail lamps and chrome garnished trunk lid make the host of other features.

The beauty of the car is enhanced by the longest wheel base of 2,650 mm, making it stand out in the crowd. The boot size can carry even your neighbour’s luggage with 510 litres. A visual characteristic of the car, which just cannot be ignored, is that the shape of the tail lamps of the Ciaz, most surprisingly, resemble the shape of the tail lamps of the new Honda City.    
    More room anyone?

We sit in the car and feel pampered with the plush premium interiors. The beige leather upholstery on the seats, with the cup-holder integrated armrest in the centre of the rear seat, apart from the front centre armrest, speak of the thoughtfulness that the makers have placed while designing the Ciaz.

Then, there is the uber-cool snazzy centre instrument panel, with the aesthetically designed knobs and switches that attract our attention. The use of a dual-tone colour theme, of beige and black, with dips and garnishes of wood and chrome add further richness to the nicely designed car. The concealed storage space, which also has the USB and AUX sockets, is a brilliant addition. 

Apart from the standard advanced premium features like camera-assisted reverse parking, smart key, push-start, rear AC vents and so on, the most interesting feature, that to an intelligently designed one, is the personal reading lamps, which is a new feather in the cap of the great car.

Besides, before saying anything else, yet another striking and impressive aspect that is a constant while talking of the car’s interiors is the large amount of space that can be found everywhere. If you wish to be driven around, make sure that you take a rear seat. Even a tall gentleman can sit cross-legged comfortably.

The cabin provides enhanced leg room, head room and shoulder room for all occupants. Seated in the rear seat, the fact of more space always being available puts us at peace and we conveniently stretch our legs for the journey. 

Engine on!

Now, in the driver’s seat! We switch the engine on using the push-button start, and the Ciaz comes to life, but without irritable cabin noise. For a diesel car, the Ciaz that we are driving doesn’t seem to have the usual roughness so common on other diesel cars. 

Smooth drive

The smooth manual transmission allows for quick gear-shifting, and we are away. First gear, and the car has already picked up, touching a speed of around 25-30 kmph, which tells us of the car’s impressive acceleration. 

In very less time, the Ciaz, with us in the driver’s and co-driver’s seats, is gathering road quickly, as it passes through the city of Bengaluru, onward towards New Airport Road. The traffic congestion, which is a daily phenomenon in the City, is no match for the Ciaz, whose turn radius of 5.4 metres can comfortably deal with choc-o-block snags. 

The car is powered with a turbo 1,248 cc — DDiS 200 diesel powertrain, with manual transmission, dishing out considerable power of 90 bhp. Once the car has reached the New Airport Road, we put it to the speed test. Gears are shifted and the Ciaz is cruising at over 110 kmph. 

For a 1.3-litre engine, the Ciaz has an impressive top speed of over 140-150 kmph, and can reach 0-100 kmph in less than 12 seconds.

The day is beautiful and perfect for a drive to the welcoming Nandi Hills. 

The Ciaz makes short work of the hilly curves and rocky promontories on this picturesque route. The car performs with agility and finesse as it ascends the road to the hillock’s peak, with the occupants not even feeling a squeak. 

Big wheel base

A turn radius of the car, coupled with the wide wheel base and strong breaking, reiterates the car’s safe driving feel.

To add some more goodies to an already well-designed machine, the Ciaz incorporates a host of safety features such as two SRS airbags, anti-lock braking system (with electronic break-force distribution), anti-theft security system and rear defogger, among others.        The drive is very long and we never feel tired, and with turbo kick, the vehicle roars like a bullet and flies. As per the ARAI, the vehicle delivers a mileage of 26.21 kmpl. 

The Ciaz comes in two variants of petrol and diesel (Note that only the petrol variant has an automatic transmission), across seven colours. 

You can pick up a Ciaz at prices ranging from Rs 7,35,488-Rs 10,21,487 (ex-showroom Bengaluru).  

All-in-all, one can say that, finally, the company has come out with the best design with much effort put in research and development. 

The brain behind the design for the Ciaz is chief designer Hisanori Matsushima and his team, who have done a great job and succeeded in placing the Ciaz a big step forward, and putting Maruti Suzuki India back on top of the competition.