Maruti WagonR : Test Drive & Review

[aaggoswami]

We have K10 CNG waggie and right now in around 18 months of ownership, it has done 30K kms. Not even a single rattle. This car was extensively used going to my native place for construction of house which does not have that good roads, but still not even single rattle.

Suspension is noisy, but manageable. Loss of power is there if one is in wrong gear, but when kilometer gets piled up, things do improve a bit. Still its no old Wagon R. But once 3K rpm, the engine does pull nicely even with full load. Matter is, one has to be in correct gear.

I am not sure if I am lucky as far as the rattles are concerned, but the car is running nicely without any wrong feeling.

key to driving K10 Waggie is driving with a light throttle. This way the, I still wonder, the engine response is better than flooring throttle. Applicable for city driving, but when on highway, give regular amount of throttle. Its only in city where light application of throttle brings out better engine response. Again not sure in this matter and would like to hear from others in this aspect.

[HIGHNOON]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

key to driving K10 Waggie is driving with a light throttle. This way the, I still wonder, the engine response is better than flooring throttle. Applicable for city driving, but when on highway, give regular amount of throttle. Its only in city where light application of throttle brings out better engine response. Again not sure in this matter and would like to hear from others in this aspect.

This is very true, quite like our indica earlier , when you start losing power in 2nd prematuerely , do not give more throttle input, it takes its time to gather its composure. the k series wagon r is quite same. its quite chuckable if u work on it. but despite of its revvy nature it responds best to subtle prodding than outright spurs... I think this is why its as fuel efficient . i dont think this is how the four cylinder k series engine behaves. except for the pronounced vibration at idle.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by HIGHNOON

This is very true, quite like our indica earlier , when you start losing power in 2nd prematuerely , its quite chuckable if u work on it. but despite of its revvy nature it responds best to subtle prodding than outright spurs... I think this is why its as fuel efficient .

Not sure about original NA Indica as it too long since I had drove one. But for sure once given the gun it can run fast. I have never felt lack of power in second. Its just that when you floor it, a bit of lag is there, but once in higher rpm range, it quite fast for a 1.0 ltr unaerodyanmic car. I have driven it on various highways in Gujarat and can confirm its certainly not lack of power. With full load I am able to cruise at 135 kmph on expresshighway ( a speed not recommended for waggie ).

Always have felt slight kick after certain rpm which is really nice.
The fact is, lower rpm is surely weaker range of K10B. 70 to 80 kmph acceleration in 5th is slower than 100 to 110 kmph in 5th. Have faced this on expresshighways multiple times. Maruti should have understood that Wagon R is mainly a city car and some further tuning should have been done IMO. You are correct that it would take sometime to get accustomed to it and once done, it can be quite quick.

And IMO, the fuel efficiency would be lower if more input is being regularly dished out. Wondering why such a thing from Maruti. I can clear bumps in 2nd gear in M800 ( 1.34 lakh kms. old carb, running on CNG ), but cant do the same in Waggie. Maruti infact should offer some ECU update for this IMO for those who are not happy with such low power in initial range of rpm. Otherwise the K series sounds happiest at higher rpm where there is quite good grunt available and engine also sounds smoother.

PS: Mainly our Waggie is driven on CNG. In petrol mode the performance improves specially at higher speeds. Till 100-110 its fair enough, but on petrol mode the acceleration is good till 130 or so.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I have driven it on various highways in Gujarat and can confirm its certainly not lack of power. With full load I am able to cruise at 135 kmph on expresshighway ( a speed not recommended for waggie ).

Hello Aaggoswami,

Thank you for this post. I really feel relieved.
I am taking delivery of my 2010 WagonR K10 on Friday (Gudi Padwa) & was really skeptical after reading fellow members comments here about lack of power in this car.

But now I am almost sure that it does have a little lack of power at lower RPM & speeds, but that can be done aways with adjusting our driving style. At high speeds, as per your opinion & experience, there is no loack or power.

I understand you are driving the Car mostly on CNG, but can you or someone else can throw some light on actual mileage received in Petrol WagonR?

Thanks again,

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Aaggoswami,

Thank you for this post. I really feel relieved.
I am taking delivery of my 2010 WagonR K10 on Friday (Gudi Padwa) & was really skeptical after reading fellow members comments here about lack of power in this car.

But now I am almost sure that it does have a little lack of power at lower RPM & speeds, but that can be done aways with adjusting our driving style. At high speeds, as per your opinion & experience, there is no loack or power.

I understand you are driving the Car mostly on CNG, but can you or someone else can throw some light on actual mileage received in Petrol WagonR?

Thanks again,

From tankful to tankful method, my father managed to extract around 20 and once around 21 kmpl on highways.
And when it comes to me, the best I could manage on highways was 18 kmpl. All measurements were done tankful to tankful method ( mainly as CNG was not available in the particular area ).
At speeds above 90, its very easy to maintain a steady cruise of three digit speeds without engine feeling strained. This is one big advantage over earlier Wagon R. My uncle has first generation Wagon R and in that such an easy cruise is not possible.

[HIGHNOON]

My wife consistently got in mumbai city with always ac on an FE of 13/ 14 kmpl on petrol before we converted it to cng.
On cng it gives anywhere between 20kmpkg to 25 km per kg in city and on express highway gives as high as 30 km per kg to 35 km per kg.
In city however , the inherent sluggishness is highlighted on cng as u can expect.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by HIGHNOON

My wife consistently got in mumbai city with always ac on an FE of 13/ 14 kmpl on petrol before we converted it to cng.
On cng it gives anywhere between 20kmpkg to 25 km per kg in city and on express highway gives as high as 30 km per kg to 35 km per kg.
In city however , the inherent sluggishness is highlighted on cng as u can expect.

Hello Highnoon,

Thank you for your mileage details in Mumbai city. In my opinion, 13 / 14 kmpl with AC is really good considering Mumbai traffic.

So have you converted your WagonR Vxi into CNG? What is the size of CNG Tank (in terms of CNG capacity)?

Yes, I understand that there will be a experience of loss of power in city while driving on CNG.

Thanks,

[HIGHNOON]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Highnoon,

Thank you for your mileage details in Mumbai city. In my opinion, 13 / 14 kmpl with AC is really good considering Mumbai traffic.

So have you converted your WagonR Vxi into CNG? What is the size of CNG Tank (in terms of CNG capacity)?

Yes, I understand that there will be a experience of loss of power in city while driving on CNG.

Thanks,

FE is consistently good. ( her travel time has been with traffic to central mumbai and with traffic back , always on ac , so u can imagine the efficiency of this motor ) .we retrofitted cng ( lovato open loop with TAP sensor only ) after an yr of purchase. Its a 14 kg. capacity tank where the payload is upto 9.5 kg when weather is a bit cool. most times its about 8.5 kg or so.
FE has been excellent on cng. i have done a few mumbai pune mumbai runs, everytime it returned in excess of 30 km per kg. ( and doind speeds of 100kmph and more..... ) It touches 115kmph on cng but struggles to accelerate after that.
I suspect on default setting on petrol this vehicle would do 20kmpl on petrol for sure.

[Jignesh]

Hello All,

Thank you once for the suggestions & opinions on WagonR K10

I finally took delivery of my WagonR K10 & drove it approx 50 kms over the weekend.

Initially I did found the engine less responsive on first & second gears, but eventually I got adjusted to Clutch & Accelator setting & enjoyed the ride. May be everyone has experienced it, but I did not find any diffuculty in crossing the speed breaker bumpers in second gear. Also once the car reaches speeds of 50 kmph per hour, you do not feel you are driving three cylinder engine. At high speeds the engine is quite responsive.

Also the ride & suspension quality is much better than previour WagonR. The biggest plus point is gear shifting, moment you put the car in first gear you experience a clear improvement over gearshift in previous WagonR.

Thanks,

[ani_meher]

I saw some WagonR Vxi have the nice thick body color mirrors (the ones shown in review pics), while come Vxis have the thin black shaped rectangular mirror. Are the body color ones fitted by the owners/added as accessory, or is WagonR coming nowadays with the thin side mirrors only?

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

I saw some WagonR Vxi have the nice thick body color mirrors (the ones shown in review pics), while come Vxis have the thin black shaped rectangular mirror. Are the body color ones fitted by the owners/added as accessory, or is WagonR coming nowadays with the thin side mirrors only?

Hello Ani Meher,

WagonR Vxi comes with factory fitted Body Color rear view mirrors. When it comes to Lxi & Lx versions you get then black shaped rectangular rear view mirrors.

These thin black rear view mirrors are same which used to come with earlier (Type 3) WagonR's (Lxi & Lx versions).

Also, yes you are correct, in WagonR Vxi version the Body Color rear view mirrors look very good & also also offer good view on both sides.

Thanks,

[DCEite]

have a 2004 WagonR LXi, and was in the market seaching for a replacement. Tried many cars including i10, Santro and even Ritz.

The only car that provided me the kind of comfort i was looking for (I am 5,11 with long legs) was the new WagonR !


So finally booked a blue WagonR LXi today.
Will be taking delivery coming week.

Scheme=22k cash+20k exchange+stereo worth 8k (or accessories in leiu of)+1k dealer discount

Deal:
On-road=4.29 UP
Less cash discount=23000
Less exchange bonus=20000
Less old WagonR (2004) value=120000

Accessories in leiu of offer Maruti Stereo (worth 8k):
Remote Locking/Keyless entry
Full wheel covers
Gear Lock
Sun visors

Does the deal sound OK ?
Anything more that should be taken care of while taking delivery ?

[Vid6639]

Wow. After so many months of searching and decided you went and got another WagonR. You must really like the WagonR.

Deal sounds good.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Wow. After so many months of searching and decided you went and got another WagonR. You must really like the WagonR.

Deal sounds good.

Yes Vid, i would put up a brief review and the process of elimination once i get the delivery, but to put it short, the major factor for me was driving ergononics - the knee room, the under thigh support, the positioning of pedals, the view from the front etc. And no other car that i have driven - except for Estilo and WagonR provide the optimum level of comfort to me. Estilo was rejected because of outdated platform though, that left me with only the WagonR

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by DCEite

have a 2004 WagonR LXi, and was in the market seaching for a replacement. Tried many cars including i10, Santro and even Ritz.

Congratulations DCEite.

Is it the normal LXi or CNGfied LXi? If not then are you planning a aftermarket kit?

The offer + package looks very good.

I too own a 2007 WagonR and I must say that I am still unable to find it's replacement. It's such a wonderful car, I have decided to keep it for couple of more years. Only a Brio diesel can break the relationship provided Honda prices it well.

Please do put an owner ship report of your WagonR ASAP.