Comparing Swift Dzire VXI and i20 Magna

Hello to all those Indian car lovers who admire Hyundai i20 Magna as well as Swift Dzire VXI. Though for the price, nothing beats Maruti Swift Dzire for value of money, serviceability, overall performance, design, resale value, and sheer joy of driving, and overall it is a better buy than i20 but then also one of our visitor, Mr. Harpreet Singh, requested me to compare a Swift Dzire VXI with i20 Magna which I will do here as requested.

Interiors

Many Hyundai lovers say that i20 has rich interiors and I agree, but friends Hyundai is also charging extra for that. As you may know that it is much more expensive than Swift, so giving better interior at a really high price is no achievement because it is the easiest one and any manufacturer can do that. Point would have been there if Hyundai had been shelling everything better than Maruti at the same price so no comparison of interiors. Also Hyundai i20 is a new design as compared to Swift, which got launched worldwide in 2004, so a 2009 car's interior cannot be compared to a 2004 car. Also Suzuki Swift Next Gen has is coming to India in 2011, so then we can compare the Swift Next Gen and i20 Magna for the interiors.

Performance

It is a true fact that the diesel engine of Swift has been borrowed from Fiat but then Hyundai is also a licensed user of CRDI tech from Mercedes. It did not invent it on its own. Now performance wise, Hyundai i20 has better top speed and Swift has better acceleration, so it is a close call and also rightly depending on the driver, but go through the Overdrive January issue in which they took all the small cars to Rohtang and following is their comment who are experts: “We found that in plains, i20 is a beast with powerful acceleration but as you come to some inclines, Ritz by Maruti (same engine) has no match. The i20 simply refuses to build up rapid momentum and has irritating turbo lag but on the other hand, Ritz simply outshines all others as it has the best gearing and torque spread and less downshifting is required to keep going” so according to me performance wise, they rated the Maruti engine better than others (including the original maker, Fiat) as despite sharing the same engine (Tata Indica, Palio, and Punto), Maruti has tuned this engine the best.

Handling

Now let us come to handling: Here, Swift wins because no Hyundai has ever been able to show good dynamics. It rolls the most and has the least stability on highway, right from Santro to Sonata (that is why it never participates in any kind of rally or racing competition world over). On the other hand, Swift has been one of the most successful car in world rallying (including Raid De Himalaya 2009 of our own and also will be in Raid De Himalaya 2010 from October 8 to October 17, 2009) so here also Swift wins the game.

Resale Value, Maintenance Cost, and Serviceability

When it comes to resale value, cost of maintenance, and serviceability, nothing beats Maruti in its class. Suzuki is world number one in small cars and if people talk about the petrol, the K series petrol from Maruti is more powerful with more fuel efficiency than Kappa. You can look at the figures online to confirm. In fact, only Honda Jazz 1.2 petrol beats it on power and mileage, but then a Honda is a Honda, so no comparison, so according to the above, Swift Dzire VXI is a better option than Hyundai i20, but then also I would say that the decision in your hands. Why not have a test drive of both cars to confirm that. By saying test drive, I not mean checking drivability only but also you can compare, price, boot space, and each and every thing. I think for any car buyer, price and trust are the two main factors when it comes to comparisons like these.