Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Hatchbacks (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchbacks/)

-   -   AMT vs Manual for second city beater car (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchbacks/255889-amt-vs-manual-second-city-beater-car.html)

Dear All,

I have been piggy backing on some of the threads in the quest to get inputs for a requirement of mine: a second, city beater hatchback.
I have used cars like Nano, Micra, Polo TSI in the past and would once again like to get a two-car scenario, where the second car is essentially used for congested city errands. The budget is not a huge constraint, but the choices are not wide enough in my opinion. I have narrowed down to S-Presso, Wagon R, Ignis and the Nios (prefer the short name instead of the Grand I10 Nios).

I have tested the following variants:
1) S-Presso AMT
2) Wagon-R 1.0 and 1.2 Manual - I was told that most dealers do not have the 1.2 AMT available for TD.
3) Ignis Manual & AMT
4) Nios 1.2 Manual and AMT

Powertrain Performance
Amongst the AMTs the Nios AMT felt the best, followed by S-Presso. The Ignis AMT somehow felt jerky.

Handling Feel (urban confines)
Again, here I felt the Nios had the edge because of better steering, all-round visibility. Followed by S-Presso, Ignis and Wagon-R.

Suspension
Wagon R had the softest, followed by S-Presso and then Nios, and then Ignis.

Manual Powertrain Performance
Nios felt the best, it has a long clutch travel, but there is a good amount of creep/crawl in the 1st gear, without having to feather the accelerator pedal. The Maruti's did not feel as smooth in this regard. In general, I liked the Nios 1.2 for its linear output in the city confines.

Cabin Ambience
No question, its Nios , followed by Ignis and then S-Presso, and finally Wagon-R. Somehow I felt the S-Presso to be more well-screwed together than the Wagon-R, which just felt very "van" like.

The elephant in the room:-Ingress-Egress
Here I feel the S-Presso and Wagon-R are the best, followed by Ignis and lastly Nios.

I have read various posts on T-Bhp and seen other literature, and felt that somehow the AMT boxes do not really last well, even if you keep the jerkiness aside. Certainly not as bullet proof as a TC/CVT. Hence I am keeping the manual variants in contention. However, I would like inputs from users who have most likely used these cars. My objective is to have this one beater car that can be a fill-it-shut-it-forget-it kind of a vehicle. But it need not be poverty-spec either. From a size perspective, its should be comfortable for 4 adults, and should not be a size approaching the 3.9m length, 1.7m width class. Conventional wisdom says, Maruti but none of their cars really feel worth their price in terms of the look, feel, ambience and some features.
Ironically, its the tiny S-Presso which seems to have fared the best on the GNCAP scores.

Any reason why you have left out Swift. Few months back when I was in a similar situation for a city beater car, started with Tiago and almost booked Swift. But then finally extended the budget and went for i20 IVT. From my drive, I felt Swift AMT better than Nios AMT (not the gearbox), as a whole car.
Since its a city beater, my humble suggestion is stick to automatic - whether AMT, CVT or TC.

I have come across many people say that "it's just city use, i can manage with an AMT". That's the most incorrect perception. AMTs are terrible but they are the worst in city traffic. The confusion that arises in the first 3 gears is annoying and the clutch wear becomes excessive. The actuator assembly costs a bomb. I would trust my own instinct and left foot over a dumb TCU keen on shifting to higher gears. Please get the Ignis MT.

Honestly I won’t choose either for city. Manual is a strict No-No in our insane city traffic and AMTs as you mentioned aren’t as reliable as TC/CVT. So if I were you, would look for a used TC/CVT car for purely city use.

You can have a used Jazz CVT for new Nios AMT’s price and its a way more reliable(gearbox), comfortable and safer car. Or maybe a used baleno/i20 CVT. Do give it a thought. All the best :thumbs up

I have used WagonR MT long back. While the engine was silent, but acceleration from standstill was below expectations. Seats were quite underwhelming, and due to big windows outside noise was creeping in even with windows closed, cabin was a bit noisy, which was not to my liking. I did not like the above aspects even though it was a reliable, fuss free ownership over a decade.

I suggest u go for used Amaze CVT. I got my used Amaze CVT in 2020 (2019 model) for 7.8 lakhs. It's a good car for City use.

Having used the Celerio AMT for over 70000 kms, I can vouch for its trouble free operation and convenience in city traffic. The jerkiness of the AMT unit can be controlled to a large extent by simply releasing the accelerator pedal momentarily at the right speeds to facilitate gearshifts, once this is mastered the drive is quite pleasurable. Do check out the new Celerio as well, its the most fuel efficient hatchback at the moment.

I will say no to manual in this case since it's going to be used in the city.

What to get ? A CVT or a TC.

AMT will be jerky, though i10 Nios is said to be the better one amongst the AMT's. So if you really want an AMT, then the i10.

Of the four choices my suggestion would be S Presso for its easy ingress/egress and peppy nature. But did you check out C3? I would strongly recommend you to atleast have a TD of C3 even to reject it as there are many positives said about it in online reviews.

I havent checked out the C3, primarily because its a bit too large for my needs and closer to 4m, beyond which my Creta is already available. But in a parallel enthusiast universe, the C3 turbo would fit in !

I will suggest you to check the Toyot Glanza, I recently purchased the G AMT variant of the Glanza and after driving for close to 1000 kms within a month I can tell you it’s the perfect city beater car. I have driven all the 1000kms in the city traffic, and it’s perfect for the city traffic. Easy to manoeuvre, great fuel efficiency as compared to the NIOS AMT, the AMT jerkiness can be reduced to great extent by lifting the foot from the accelerator at around 2000 rpm as the gearbox changes gear around the same rpm. It’s suspension is more softer than that of the NIOS which is good for city rides. So will suggest you take the TD of the Glanza AMT.

The reason I have not considered the Baleno because just for a few bucks the Toyota provides better warranty and 24*7 roadside assistance.

Go for the S-Presso in manual guise. Whatever qualms you have about overpaying for a Maruti will get answered once you realise the ease of ownership over a decade or more. :thumbs up

AMTs feel jerky only to those who are used to driving CVT/TC/DCTs. That's because they are not driving an AMT the way it is supposed to be. You have to modulate the accelerator pedal the way you do in a manual car.

If somebody is upgrading from manual or if somebody has always owned AMTs, they can be driven as smoothly as any another automatic car.

In a manual transmission, we obviously know exactly when the gear is being shifted as we are doing it. So we let go the accelerator at that moment.

How will we know when the AMT is shifting? Or we get to know with experience as we drive more?

After a few hundred kms with an AMT, you will "know".

Just the way we can drive any manual car smoothly even if it does not have a tachometer. Your brain will get subliminal inputs from car acceleration/ deceleration, engine noise etc

Yes, read the posts from owners of AMTs on this thread itself: