The newly developed 1.5 L diesel engine of Maruti Suzuki made its debut in Ciaz and we are pitching it against the Honda City
Maruti Suzuki has updated the Ciaz with newly developed 1.5 L diesel engine replacing the earlier 1.3 L multijet unit sourced from Fiat. The company has focused on refinement with this new engine along with lower NVH levels as Maruti Suzuki has added dual mass flywheel and optimised compression ratio. In this article, we are comparing the diesel version of Ciaz against the Honda City.
The 1.5 L diesel engine on Ciaz produces 95.17 PS of power at 4,000 rpm and 225 Nm of torque between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm. This engine is mated to 6-speed manual gearbox as the earlier model came with a 5-speed unit. Honda City, on the other hand, is powered by a 1.5 L diesel engine with 99 PS of power at 3,600 rpm and 200 Nm at 1,750 rpm.
This engine is also mated to 6-speed manual gearbox. Both manufacturers are currently not offering an automatic transmission with the diesel engine. The diesel engine of City produces more power compared to Ciaz and it comes at slightly lower RPM also but the torque output of Ciaz is higher as it is available between 1,500 – 2,500 rpm while in City max torque comes at 1,750 rpm.
| Model | Maruti Suzuki Ciaz | Honda City |
| Engine | 1.5 L | 1.5 L |
| Power | 95.17 PS at 4,000 rpm | 99 PS at 3,600 rpm |
| Torque | 225 Nm at 1,500 rpm – 2,500 rpm | 200 Nm at 1,750 rpm |
| Gearbox | 6-speed manual | 6-speed manual |
| Mileage | 26.82 Km/l | 25.6 Km/l |
According to ARAI, the claimed efficiency of the City diesel engine is 25.6 Km/l but the Ciaz offers more per litre as it returns 26.82 Km/l. The earlier 1.3 L diesel engine offered more efficiency but the Ciaz has retained the most efficient sedan in its class title. We can expect both models to offer similar performance but the Ciaz might have a small advantage with slightly higher torque output.
Honda is currently offering the City in four variants – SV, V, VX and ZX while the Ciaz is available in three variants – Delta, Zeta and Alpha (The company is not offering the Sigma base variant with Ciaz diesel). The entry-level Delta variant of Ciaz priced at Rs. 9.97 lakh and it compete against the V variant of City, which comes at Rs. 11.75 lakh. In terms of features, both models are almost equal.
| Maruti Suzuki Ciaz Diesel 1.5 | Honda City Diesel 1.5 |
| – | SV – Rs. 11.00 lakh |
| Delta – Rs. 9.97 lakh | V – Rs. 11.75 lakh |
| Zeta – Rs. 11.08 lakh | VX – Rs. 12.86 lakh |
| Alpha – Rs. 11.37 lakh | ZX – Rs. 14.05 lakh |
(All Prices, Ex-Showroom Delhi)
The price difference between both City and Ciaz increases as the Zeta variant is almost Rs. 1.78 lakh cheaper than the VX variant. The top end model of Ciaz is whopping Rs. 2.86 lakh cheaper compared to the ZX variant of City.
Honda is offering some premium features like full LED light system include headlamps, tail lamps and fog lamps along with 6 airbags, but these features don’t justify the massive price gap. When comparing features, engine and efficiency, the Ciaz is the better VFM product compared to City.