When Maruti Suzuki launched the S-Cross, they clearly spoke about how their current phase of existence is all about providing an experience to their customers. Judging by the recent rise in activity at India’s largest car manufacturer it sure seems like they’re on the right path. It hasn’t really been all that long since the company that pretty much put India on four wheels launched the smart hybrid version of the very stylish Ciaz sedan and already there’s a new variant for customers to go ga-ga over. If there’s one thing that car nuts love, it’s a suffix and when that suffix happens to be the letters ‘RS’, it’s bound to grab attention.
Maruti Suzuki Ciaz RS
Ok, so don’t expect to go tearing up the track just yet because the Ciaz RS is no performance-induced version of the regular Ciaz! What the Ciaz RS is, is an attempt to lure in the more sportily inclined buyer especially bang smack in the middle of the festive season. And to fulfil its destiny Maruti-Suzuki has showered the Ciaz with spoilers left, right and centre – quite literally too! The Ciaz RS gets what is being termed as a spoiler pack which includes a ‘front under spoiler, side under spoiler, trunk lid spoiler and rear underbody spoiler’. Essentially that means there’s a chin spoiler, side skirts, spoiler on the boot and a mock diffuser at the back – all mainly styling enhancements. Apart from that the Ciaz RS also gets black interiors (just the way I like it), and a grey chrome finish instrument panel.
The Ciaz RS is built over the existing Z+ variant, so rest assured there’s every bit of gadgetry you’d want from your mid-size sedan in there including a start/stop button, power windows, steering mounted controls, Bluetooth and the list goes on and on. The RS is also available with both engine options – the 1.4-litre petrol as well as the 1.3 Smart Hybrid diesel. Available in a choice of seven colours the Ciaz Zxi+ RS gets a price tag of Rs 9.2 lakh while the Zdi+ SHVS RS gets tagged at Rs 10.28 lakh (ex showroom, Delhi).
Maruti Suzuki Ertiga
The other model from the Maruti Suzuki stable that gets a sprinkling of luxury and style is the Ertiga – this one has a whole lot of changes all around signalling an up in its charm. On the outside, the Ertiga now gets a new stylish chrome grille, chrome fog lamp bezel, a boot garnish with the car’s name etched in and sportier bumpers complemented by new alloy wheels. Step in, and the Ertiga now has new high grade seat and door trim fabric and the third row also gets a 50:50 split for more storage flexibility. Taking the game further in terms of convenience and the bling factor is a whole new SmartPlay infotainment system with a TFT touch screen display, Bluetooth, voice command, navigation and a reverse parking camera display. Smartphone connectivity is enabled through MirrorLink which lets you access a whole bunch of features right of your phone.
Now that the features list is done with, here’s the meat of the Ertiga upgrade – the engine options. As expected, the Ertiga has gone the Ciaz way and now gets the DDiS 200 diesel engine with SHVS smart hybrid technology (in case you’re wondering, here’s how SHVS works). Thanks to that, the Ertiga diesel gets a 24.52 kmpl rated fuel efficiency (about 18 percent higher than the older diesel version) and who doesn’t like more fuel efficiency! Furthermore, the Ertiga now also benefits from the other features that SHVS comes with – idle start/stop, torque assist and brake energy regeneration. In fact, the K14B petrol engine has also been worked upon to deliver 9 percent more efficiency, bringing the number up to 17.5 kmpl. While the diesel SHVS versions of the Ertiga still make do with just the 5-speed manual gearbox, the petrol ones get a choice of either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic.
As customers get more aware about safety measures in their cars, the Ertiga now gets a driver airbag as standard fitment on all variants while dual airbags and ABD with EBD are offered as options even on the base variant. The refreshed Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is priced between Rs 5.99-8.42 lakh while the diesel hybrid variants are between Rs 7.55-9.25 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).