Ok so I completed my road trip from Karachi to Galiat and back on my 2022 Swift GLX with 4 passengers ( 2 adults and 2 kids with some luggage that fit in the boot.. nothing excessive) Here are the details.
Before proceeding to the trip, my car was nearly 14.3k kms done. I gave it for a 15k kms service and had additional brake servicing and tuning done along with oil and all filters change.
Started off from Karachi at 7am in the morning with tank full and kept a steady pace at 110-115 km/h with cruise control on. It took me around 1 hr and 45 mins to reach Hyderabad. Had plans to have breakfast there in the city so had to take a detour (Approx 30kms) into the city. Till that time, the car had consumed 1/3rd tank. Had tank refilled and started journey again towards Sukkur. Roads conditions are OKish but traffic is awful. Average speed till Sukkur was 90km/h. Around 3pm I reached Sukkur. The car consumed 3/4th tank this time so filled it at PSO just before motorway interchange. Average mileage till this point was around 17 km/l.
(A word of advice... avoid this PSO pump at all costs. I'll share the reason in a minute.)
Once on motorway, life was a breeze. Endless road with no cars in sight. Cruise set to 115 km/h. Had a couple of stops along the way like for lunch and rest. However, to my surprise, the car consumed 3/4 tank till Bahawalpur with an average of 14.5 km/l which was awful. Had to stop at a PSO again to get fuel. Filled to the brim and started my journey again. Reached Multan around 7:30pm as I was staying there for the night. Around Maghrib time, there was a bug shower which painted my white car awful blackish brown (due to rains). Reached Multan and to my surprise the car averaged around 17km/l again. So the PSO at Sukkur put in bad quality fuel.
Around noon the next day, started my journey again towards Lahore. No issued till Lahore again. Average was around 17 km/l with speed on 115 on cruise.
Spent two days in Lahore and left for Islamabad. Again averaged 16-17km/l. Car struggled a bit at Kalar Kahar which put a dent in the average. Once through, till Islamabad it was breezy.
Next day went to Dino Adventure Land Pir Sohawa. Car had no issues climbing the twisty roads though average came down to 13km/l but compensated on the way down. Brakes performed well. To my surprise, not noisy at all.
Now off to Galiat (Murree + Nathia Gali):
Route till Murree is A+. Just stuck near Bara Kahu due to bridge construction. From there till the top, no issues. Averaged 15km/l due to incline. From there went to Bhurban and the next day to Nathia Gali. No problems even in rain. Never had issues with grip etc. Very nippy around the corners.
Came back from there to Islamabad. Spent a day there and next morning at 7am, left for Karachi. Had plans to spend the night at Sukkur so took M4 via Faisalabad. Stopped at Bhera for breakfast and then at Multan for Lunch. Reached Sukkur at around 7pm. A word of advice, no fuel pumps on M4 so had to get off at ShorKot for refueling. If you find fuel before M4, refill.
From Sukkur to Karachi next morning took around 7 hours as there was a lot of heavy traffic.
Verdict
I drove 12 hours without fatigue so will give full marks to the seats (Atleast to GLX).
Car revs around 2500 at 120 kmph so will put a dent to the average in the long run. Keeping it around 110 is advisable.
No matter what I tried, never got above 18 kmpl through the entirety of the trip. That too with OEM Iridium plugs installed.
Car struggles at steep inclines. Understandable for 1100cc engine.
No issues with grip or braking.
Trip of 3600kms done with fuel cost of 58,000/- (average of approx 16 kmpl which includes city driving).
Overall 9.5/10 to the car.