Maruti Suzuki SS80 DX

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I remember clearly the newer made in India versions which would have the indicator lights turning white because of rainfall as the "Made in India orange color" faded away.
This was the best indication at that time of the "Made in India" 800.

If you notice, that lot of 800s also had their bumpers fade to a whitish grey over the years, being plastic (2nd gen).

[ajay99]

the bumpers of SS80 were steel ones painted black whereas the SB308IN(86<) was made of Bakelite/fiberglass .so the black colour invariably faded unless you regularly polished it / not exposed the car to sunlight .
same was the case of the dashboard. You can notice that in cars with TINTED glass the dash did not fade

[charu85]

We owned one of the original ones for nearly 6 years (1993-1999) when I was not even a teen. I remember that it ran very smoothly, and didn't feel unstable even at high (for its time) speeds (90+ KMPH).

But we had a lot of trouble maintaining that car,
1. its electricals - some wiring problem kept blowing fuses
2. its engine - needed to be tuned repeatedly
3. its wheel bearings - wore out very fast

We eventually sold it and got the 1st gen Indica (talk about troublesome)

But yes, it stirs up nostalgia to read all these posts. I haven't seen even a single one in Hyderabad for last 9 months.

[ajay99]

Originally Posted by charu85

We owned one of the original ones for nearly 6 years (1993-1999) when I was not even a teen. I remember that it ran very smoothly, and didn't feel unstable even at high (for its time) speeds (90+ KMPH).

But we had a lot of trouble maintaining that car,
1. its electricals - some wiring problem kept blowing fuses
2. its engine - needed to be tuned repeatedly
3. its wheel bearings - wore out very fast

We eventually sold it and got the 1st gen Indica (talk about troublesome)

But yes, it stirs up nostalgia to read all these posts. I haven't seen even a single one in Hyderabad for last 9 months.

It is really surprising to hear that HYDERABAD doesnt have much of this model. because even a smaller city like TRIVANDRUM has quite a few cars,especially the standard(NON a/c) ones in daily use.
By the way these cars could do 100kmph and also the reason for wheel bearings getting worn out fast is you must have used repros or MGP stuff, whereas you should have used the SGP parts

[DileepKS]

My friend had one white SS80. It was one of the very first units. IIRC, it was a lottery system to allocate the cars from the bookings. I rode in that a lot as a pax. Being in a position not allowing to have even a bicycle, this really was something!! Didn't know how to drive, and didn't know much about cars either. This was in the late 80s. Great memories!!

They had sold it long time ago. Recently I saw the same car in another part of the city. One day I saw it parked at the side of the road and took a snap.

[ajay99]

are original SGP(japan) parts of SS80 still available in INDIA?

[ajay99]

i would request all TEAM BHPians who owns an SS80 DX to contribute to this thread

[JayD]

Hey! I recently purchased a 1985 SS80 'DX' with almost all original fittings, including the factory fitted leather seats intact!! A very sparingly used car, which has run only 72000(genuine) kms till date!

[skydiver]

Well, this post brought lots of old memories back we used have the sky-blue ss80 (std) from 1985-1994. It was a celebration at home when our number came through lottary..Dad shelled out total of close to 60K (including the seat covers and stereo etc). I drove that car a lot as a kid..car never let us down even once during the 90K kms we covered, including lots of long trips in unruly and non-existant so called "roads" of north india, rural as well as urban..

The only thing which needed replacement from time to time was the silencer or "dholki", as the mechanics used to refer to it. I used to like it when the silencer worn out and the front metal section would melt and come out..the car used to grawl and pickup used to becore better

Interesting thing which I remeber is the usage of the hatch to add to seating space...so many times i used to notice the rear glass open and 2-3 children sitting inside...

it was emotional for the faimly to sell it off, but amazing part was, we sold the car for 90K !!!

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by JayD

Hey! I recently purchased a 1985 SS80 'DX' with almost all original fittings, including the factory fitted leather seats intact!! A very sparingly used car, which has run only 72000(genuine) kms till date!

Congratulations! Jay, start a thread and please do post the pictures of your SS80.

[aaggoswami]

I recently had one experince with this car. The neighbours of my grandfather's residense have one. They are not ready to sell it off. They now have Omni, Accent, but they wont take out this car. Done 80K kms. It has metal bumpers and the rear windsheild opens also.

My father tells me that this car i.e. SS80 had better quality parts than the 800 we have, the 1992 SS308 ( Correct me if I am wrong ) and is one of the best Maruti's ever sold before 2000 ( year ). The car they have is red in color with some strips. I could only say that the engine felt good as ours. The radiator is original Japan made and has not given any trouble ( we recently changed the radiator of our 800 and this is third ). The door handles had a better feel that our 800.

[JayD]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Congratulations! Jay, start a thread and please do post the pictures of your SS80.

Thank you! will do that soon!

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

My father tells me that this car i.e. SS80 had better quality parts than the 800 we have, the 1992 SS308 ( Correct me if I am wrong ) and is one of the best Maruti's ever sold before 2000 ( year ). The car they have is red in color with some strips. I could only say that the engine felt good as ours. The radiator is original Japan made and has not given any trouble ( we recently changed the radiator of our 800 and this is third ). The door handles had a better feel that our 800.

Yes, the parts of these cars (SS80) are of much higher quality than the current ones. Almost all the parts of these cars are made in Japan. The first batches of the SB 308IN, 86-87 also had a great number of japan parts and hence boast great quality levels. But sadly maruti has lost the plot with the currrent 800s!

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by JayD

Yes, the parts of these cars (SS80) are of much higher quality than the current ones. Almost all the parts of these cars are made in Japan. The first batches of the SB 308IN, 86-87 also had a great number of japan parts and hence boast great quality levels. But sadly maruti has lost the plot with the currrent 800s!

Thanks for updating me. I thought that in case of SB308, Maruti has high level of loacl content from day 1. Its certainly the best 800 I ever drove, but it was just 8kms. Respecting this car more.

[ajay99]

SB308IN -Deluxe models 1987 september was the last batch to have the Japanese taillights,etc.Maruti had stopped fitting Japanese parts(except for MIKUNI carb) to their standard cars in early 1987 itself.
The mikuni carb was replaced by Mikuni-UCAL(INDIA) and later by UCAL .The first batch of LUMAX tail lenses was a big flop as the amber lenses became white within 2-3years,itself.So was the case with GABRIELA shock absorbers

[JayD]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Congratulations! Jay, start a thread and please do post the pictures of your SS80.

Thanks a lot man! Will start a new thread for it soon. here is a pic.