Maruti Celerio Diesel Test Drive Review
Year 2015 seen every new car in India with mouth-watering mileage claims, whether it was Swift Dzire facelift with 26.6 km/l or Honda Jazz with 27.6 km/l, Maruti Ciaz with 28 km/l or Ford Aspire with 26.8 km/l. However, one car which claims to be India’s most affordable and most fuel-efficient diesel at the time of launch was Celerio Diesel.
The 2-pot 793cc diesel engine is the first in-house developed engine in the history of Maruti Suzuki and it took 4 years of research and development with over Rs.900 crores of investment on the project. We have driven the Celerio Diesel for more than a week to understand the performance and efficiency of this diesel, let’s find out how it performed on our test.
Styling
Visually, Celerio diesel is very much identical from its petrol version except the DDiS badges on either fender. Celerio replaced A-star and Zen Estilo last year and it comes with superior quality of the dashboard, more seating comfort and with the new design. The ‘Curve in Curve Out’ (CICO) designing makes it more aerodynamically capable and also looks good from a styling point of view. Wide window glass all around, 1560mm height, big swept back headlamp and 6-spoke alloy wheels are some of the advantages of Celerio over the competitors.
Maruti Celerio Interior
Dual tone dashboard with the integrated music system, adding more premium-ness to it. Music control and telephonic controls on steering wheel is very identical to the Swift. Celerio offers adequate leg room with excellent headroom and shoulder room. It offers a good 235-litre boot space and also has a 60:40 rear split option. For the driver and passenger, 3 cup holders are given, two in center console and one below gear lever, at the rear, one bottle/cup holder is available in center. On top of the line variant, driver seat height adjustment and tilt steering is also available with all four power windows and dual airbags.
Maruti Celerio Diesel Performance
Celerio Diesel is powered by Maruti first in-house 793cc 2-pot diesel engine generates 47BHP @ 3500 RPM and delivers 125 NM @ 2000 RPM of torque. Turn the engine on and you will experience a very different type of engine sound, the typically 2-cylinder engine sound that we earlier experienced with the Nano, but the Celerio has a diesel engine, despite that, it generates a sound equivalent to a 2-pot petrol motor that is really surprising. Its idle RPM is around 950 RPM that required to set a little higher as it vibrates below 1000 RPM poorly.
Despite Celerio diesel engine having only 800 cubic capacity, the air-conditioning work very well, cooling is very effective without any impact on power. As its engine has only 89 kg of weight, you will feel its steering is very light that makes it easy to drive.
Celerio Diesel comes as an value for money package with stunning on-road fuel efficiency that keeps running cost extremely low
Put Celerio Diesel in first gear and you will experience an all-new Maruti, not much quicker initially, but you have to adopt all new gear ratios, as the car is very tall geared and you have stay in first when in slow moving traffic. Within the city traffic condition, you won’t feel that this diesel is under-powered and it offers great driveability, thanks to the lighter kerb weight of the car.
The initial gears required very quick shifting like second at 15-20 Km/h and third at 30Km/h, As soon as you put the car in fourth gear and it crosses 2200 RPM, the engine noise turns off engine sound. This engine is very refined and silent and responsive in between 40-90 Km/h but you start getting amazing mileage right from 15 Km/h and the amazing-ness remains up to 120 Km/h. In slow-moving traffic at 15km/h in first gear, it delivered a good mileage of 17.8 km/l according to the MID. As the speed increases, on 30 km/l in second gear, it delivered 23.5 km/l of mileage. As soon as car, reached in between 2000 RPM to 2700 RPM, it delivers an unbelievable mileage of 26.6 km/l to 28.8 km/l.
Celerio Diesel is a prefect city diesel car, which will fulfill all the requirements of mileage savvy customer. However, Celerio Diesel isn’t exactly powerful, despite it have higher torque/cc than Swift Diesel. Driving at 60-70km/h and if we need to overtake a vehicle, we have to downshift gears by one or two to make a move. If, 4 passengers onboard, It becomes even more cumbersome to do so.
Celerio Diesel Dynamics
Dynamically, the car is a typical Maruti which means it drives well, ride quality is great, stability is top notch at triple digit speeds. Steering is light so manuvering in town and taking three point turns is a very easy task. Grip levels are OK around corners and tyre are good, but could be better. However there is no denying that the car tyres are designed for fuel efficiency. This segment doesn’t get sporty handling characteristic and neither does the Celerio. Braking is impressive as front has disc brakes and rear continue to be drums.
Celerio Diesel Review Verdict
Maruti Celerio Diesel has to be one of the biggest achievement for the brand. It stays true to its DNA as it offers unparalleled mileage with this car too. The numbers from the ARAI and on-road figures are very close to each other, which says a lot. Overall, the car is a great performer with subtle dynamics, refinement and offers great value to the customer. Sure, the engine is just suited for inter city highways and city runs as it is not a hardcore highway mile muncher, but that’s what its made for and that’s with its target audience demanded. Celerio ticks all the right boxes as it has the tech, the design and the value package card played very well.
Pros –
- Balanced design
- Quality interiors and features options
- Value for money
- Spacious and Fuel efficient
Cons –
- Refinement can be better
- Under tyred