Ritz Automatic – Transmission Car

Ever the underdog, the Swift’s less illustrious cousin gets an automatic gearbox. About time, we say

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As in, when Honda launched the Brio with an automatic transmission a few months ago, it was an extremely safe bet to say its bête noir Maruti would respond sooner or later. And here it is, the Ritz automatic.

Ritz Automatic

The Ritz is available only in the mid-trim VXi version, not the top-end ZXi. Maruti says the ZXi version would have cost more than $13,127, thereby completely negating the idea of an affordable automatic hatch (the popular belief being that a buyer with $13,127 would gravitate towards the diesel versions).

No climate control or stereo but there’s a dead pedal

Anyway, so you get power windows, power steering, AC, ABS with EBD and tilt steering as standard but surprisingly, no stereo or rear wash wipe. Maruti has done well by providing a dead pedal, though.

The gearbox is a four-speed unit. It is flexible enough for city use and feels very well mated to the silky smooth 1.2-liter K series petrol engine. Shifting is jerk-free and effortless. The gearbox ensures the engine stays true to its original zippy personality.

There’s also the option of sticking the shift into D2 and L, to keep the gears in a lower cog and ensure rapid progress when you need that extra surge of power (or when you’re coming downhill for effective engine braking). But you will miss the extra fifth when doing three-digit speeds. We were doing 100kph at around 2,500rpm and the cabin stayed quiet, with the engine calm and hushed, but we’d prefer the rpm gauge to stay at a relatively sedate 2,000 for better fuel economy.

All the info you’ll need, including real-time economy

The suspension does a good job of keeping the thuds and thunks out of the cabin, but Maruti seriously needs to upgrade the skinny 165-section tires to the 185s – they substantially improve ride – fitted on the ZXi/ ZDi versions.

The Ritz’s other virtues, including the roomy cabin, light controls and high set seats remain. The auto gets dual tone red-and-black upholstery from the recent Ritz update. We think the blue grey combination on the earlier ZXi versions looks better, but that’s more a matter of taste.

The Ritz’s other virtues, including the roomy cabin, light controls and high set seats remain.

The dashboard showed an economy figure of 8liters/100km, which translates into a believable 12.5kpl, but we’ll reserve judgment on that until the proper fuel run happens.

Priced at $11,533.5 the Ritz automatic costs around $656.5 more than the similarly specced Brio automatic. For that money, you get a roomier cabin and a more useable boot. If you really need a small but roomy car for the office commute and the odd mall run, we’d go with the Ritz auto.