[extreme_torque]

Alto was launched almost a decade back and it was outdated even then. With the new engine and resulting performance, it has now become dangerous.

[asdon]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Alto was launched almost a decade back and it was outdated even then. With the new engine and resulting performance, it has now become dangerous.

Please elaborate the statement.
Other than interiors I don't find anything in alto as outdated, yes power with ac on was the issue but that is solved, now think of Cold Air intake with Performance Exhaust and alloys, what will be the on road BHP of the new alto? Calculation anyone? I am not familiar with ECU mapping so not mentioning it.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by asdon

Please elaborate the statement.
Other than interiors I don't find anything in alto as outdated, yes power with ac on was the issue but that is solved, now think of Cold Air intake with Performance Exhaust and alloys, what will be the on road BHP of the new alto? Calculation anyone? I am not familiar with ECU mapping so not mentioning it.

Outdated chassis and engineering or in a nut shell Structural Integrity in a crash.

[WindRide]

@extreme_torque, agreed and about time your signature is updated to "Cheap and Fast is not SAFE"

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by WindRide

@extreme_torque, agreed and about time your signature is updated to "Cheap and Fast is not SAFE"

Or maybe, his/her signature should be "Cheap and fast is never an Alto". Extreme_torque appears to have a great dislike towards the Alto, given his/her views that the Alto is outdated, dangerous, etc. Any specific reason for this? Please 'torque' about this.

[Latheesh]

If they have done some refreshing interior work (read crazy beige), Alto will set the sales chart on fire (or fire square :-)))). <25K per month.

[YaeJay]

Alto for me and neph. Mileage, cheap to maintain etc. women would really have to prefer Spark. And ofcourse, they are strictly city cars.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Outdated chassis and engineering or in a nut shell Structural Integrity in a crash.

The Alto was launched in 1997 & was anything but outdated at that time, even today I dont think its as bad as you are making out to be.

Any practical reference would be helpful.

[Mi10]

Want a Testimonial for Alto ?

Here you are;

i am willing to trade my i10 1.2 Kappa with the Alto K10. I am willing to forgo motor assisted PS, 4 power windows, superior 'Begie' interiors, 4 door power windows, a bigger car, a bigger engine (79 PS), New car (1 year old) with the K10.

Not becasue i am gaga over the hype surrounding it. But because i ve already owned an Alto (800 cc) in the Past. and Trust me the Alto is a no-nonsense practical (and now fast too) hatch that strikes the sweet spot between performance, Mileage and handling.

How many cars in that segment could do this ?

0-100 in under 13.5 Secs
EPS that offers better feedback than the motor assisted PS
real world Mileage of minimum of 14-15 km in city

[asdon]

Originally Posted by Mi10

Want a Testimonial for Alto ?

Here you are;

i am willing to trade my i10 1.2 Kappa with the Alto K10. I am willing to forgo motor assisted PS, 4 power windows, superior 'Begie' interiors, 4 door power windows, a bigger car, a bigger engine (79 PS), New car (1 year old) with the K10.

Not becasue i am gaga over the hype surrounding it. But because i ve already owned an Alto (800 cc) in the Past. and Trust me the Alto is a no-nonsense practical (and now fast too) hatch that strikes the sweet spot between performance, Mileage and handling.

How many cars in that segment could do this ?

0-100 in under 13.5 Secs
EPS that offers better feedback than the motor assisted PS
real world Mileage of minimum of 14-15 km in city

+1 to that... and some times the real worl milage is more than the figure you have quoted. And those who says it is a strictly city car, I can't agree with them. Alto's highway behave is very responsive, I have driven my Alto continue till 750kms(I am novis) no engine heat up, the car does very well within 80-90kmph, on the contrary I find Spark might have a balance issue on high speed.

[sumeethaldankar]

There has been some apprehensions about the Alto’s safety regarding the power output it is receiving (67 ps or so).Now when the alto was launched in India with 2 variants it had a 60+ bhp engine at that time as well. So I wonder why some people go around saying that it won’t be safe etc. I am sure the Alto’s chasis can take the extra muscle under the hood as it’s not something new to the Alto.

[asdon]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

There has been some apprehensions about the Alto’s safety regarding the power output it is receiving (67 ps or so).Now when the alto was launched in India with 2 variants it had a 60+ bhp engine at that time as well. So I wonder why some people go around saying that it won’t be safe etc. I am sure the Alto’s chasis can take the extra muscle under the hood as it’s not something new to the Alto.

The chasis is changed a little now, and the vehicle is bit more longer and with 13" stock tyre, doesn't that make it little more stable?

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by asdon

The chasis is changed a little now, and the vehicle is bit more longer and with 13" stock tyre, doesn't that make it little more stable?

Excatly what i am saying,it was pretty stable when it was in the 1.1 avatar and i am sure with the lengthened chasis it will be better.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Or maybe, his/her signature should be "Cheap and fast is never an Alto". Extreme_torque appears to have a great dislike towards the Alto, given his/her views that the Alto is outdated, dangerous, etc. Any specific reason for this? Please 'torque' about this.

Well I dont hate the Alto, its just that there are better cars available. Its a nice city car with good A/C and feels surprisingly solid for its weight but with 0-100 kph coming up in 13.3 kph, I feel Maruti should atleast offer air bags and ABS atleast as an option because it just wont be restricted to city drives.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

The Alto was launched in 1997 & was anything but outdated at that time, even today I dont think its as bad as you are making out to be.

Any practical reference would be helpful.

Techno, you are yourselves saying 1997 and its 2010 now!
Remember the erstwhile Jelly Bean Zen, the Alto was a follow up model to that and Maruti was selling all the three generations at the same time - the 800, Zen and the Alto. For all practical purposes the car has been taken out from all the overseas markets that it was sold in and the new A-Star is the new Alto and what do we get? We are Suzuki's biggest market by far.
Less bad doesnt makes it good. The point is with the additional power I would have liked Maruti to work on the safety aspect as well and I doubt they have done that.

Originally Posted by asdon

The chasis is changed a little now, and the vehicle is bit more longer and with 13" stock tyre, doesn't that make it little more stable?

I doubt they have elongated the chassis although some of the blogs mention that because it requires major re-engineering and tooling which is very expensive. The wheel are definitely 13 inch which would improve the ride and handling slightly.
The official commercial for the new Alto K10 itself does not mention the longer chassis.

YouTube - Maruti-Suzuki-Alto-K10-Official-Commercial.mp4

[Dud_Dodo]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Wow 70% for spark and 30% for Alto. My personal Fav after driving both these babies for about 1.4 lac kms in total ( 90 K Alto and 47 K Spark ) is Alto.

Although Spark has atleast a ton of xtra features than Alto but somehow ( excluding the FE) Alto takes the cake for reliability , maintenance and a personal attachment ( it saved my life multiple times )

I would have looked at this from a different perspective.

It's great that you got away safe due to the Alto multiple times, but how about thinking of it in terms of, that the reliability (drive-ability, stability, power delivery etc) of the Spark ensured that you never got into a situation from which you felt you had a narrow escape. This, assuming that you may have got into similar situations (or the chain of events leading to it) with both cars.

I have myself driven both the cars, not the Spark but the Matiz with an engine size that is the same as the Alto, and would vouch for the stability of the Matiz. Except for the problem the Matiz used to have with slotting into the 2nd Gear, it's an amazing car. Also as a few others have mentioned, the Matiz always felt like a big car unlike the Alto which feels claustrophobic.