As they say you cannot keep the Superstar away for long. Sooner than later he is bound to come back at you with even greater force. For the friendly readers of my blog, mark my words.
This Car is going to be a mass hit for the reigning King Maruthi in India. I had TDed multiple cars for my wifey who was graduating from scooter to her first car.
What I was looking for
No frills entry/value priced car for wifey.(2nd car for family)
Primarily city driving. For Highways I have my Sedan.
Hassle free driving and maintenance
Following were the Cars that were TDed
Hyundai Eon.
Maruthi Alto K10
Chevy Spark New
Nissan Micra
Tata Nano
The Maruthi Alto K10 and the old Alto were ruled out straightaway the moment I sat inside the car. The low clearance and cramped space made it impossible for me to drive the car or sit as a passenger without serious risk to my hefty 95kg 6ft+ body. The Eon was actually the cutest of the lot inside out with excellent interior and a boot to rival some sedans.
However once I started the throttle the vague drumstick like gear shift and the diesel motor like noise were the only things that stared back at me. The Chevy Spark was good refined and spacious except for the hefty price difference with Alto. The Nanos image as a poors mans car to go along with the safety incidents and the fact that the in your back motor makes your bottoms burning from the heat within no time.The Nissan Micra base version came at 4.5Laks post fabulous discounts. A proper B+ segment that was super refined and cute if not uber responsive like the Swift. However the maintenance/spare parts related feedback for the Nissan Micra were a major downer. I was about to book the Spark in spite of the price but for the sore thumb being the Dealer network. To explain it simpler there were these 2 maruthi showrooms on the way to my wifeys office(OMR Chennai) within few kms to the left or right. This car being well for the better half, I know it will fall on the head of yours truly of driving 25-30kms to the City based service center for every little thing that needs to be checked out in the car. So here I was sandwiched with the known devil Spark and its assorted maintenance drive pains or else testing out the unknown Angel in the NEW Maruthi Alto 800. With all the skeptical notions of tiny matchbox sized Avatars of the older Altos/800’s I decided to visit the Maruthi Showroom for a TD of the NEW Alto. And what a ride it turned out to be in the end!!!
I was floored by the ease with which myself a hefty 6ft 1in tall person can fit in comfortably as compared to the older Alto was Amazing. Full marks to the interior space management team.
The older Alto was a strict NO NO for tall hefty people and the revised modifications in the new Alto makes it a proper people carrier.
The refinement of the engine, the powerful AC and the gearshifts makes it a dream to drive in our traffic. I did not have to downshift even in Fourth gear at 30kmph traffic conditions. The AC was so powerful that I could comfortably switch it off within minutes(with 1-2 adults) or when I needed to do a zip drive.
The Spark was good but the new Alto matches the Spark in space and gives a fantastic ride to boot all at a 30-40K discount to the New Spark. Given all these and the price to value quotient I do not see any other car from the Competition that can give the King any scare in the near future.
The new Alto 800 does have its negatives in terms of
Reduced thigh support and wafer thin seats that makes long drives a pain.
No Side Mirror at the left even on the top end variant ? Come on Maruthi this is Year 2013 and not the 1990’s.
Power is not adequate if the car is fully loaded with 4-5 adults. You need to switch off AC and/or try not to be adventurous with your drive. I am sure Maruthi would plonk the K10 into the new Alto in future. The sooner the better. The 1.2L K series engine of the Ritz would make this the hottest hatch in the country ?
On reverse driving the car tends to get switched off at the slightest pretext. Hence driving on the reverse in an incline or in typical apartment parking spaces would be a tricky thing and one needs to practice/reverse carefully to avoid incidents.
But considering the fact that I bought the new 800 as a second car primarily for in-metro rides, there is more value in this purchase than I had hoped for...Way to go Maruthi the king!!!
Post Purchase Note : The mileage is another huge plus and I am getting close to 18 in actual driving conditions with plenty of city ride traffic. So that’s another huge plus for the King!!!