[rajeev k]

I drove one today evening and the difference to the existing Alto was immediately noticeable.

1. The car drives well, the Jerkiness of the old Alto is gone.
2. With four adults on board and the AC on, the engine was not fighting for its life.
3. Gear shifting has vastly improved; the rubbery feel is gone, it slots.
4. Feels more roomy in front.

I liked it compared to the existing one.

1. The following were also immediately visible.
2. There is more space available inside the hood; Maruti need not shoehorn the K10 if needed, it can easily be placed.
3. The air intake pipe opens from atop the grill.
4. The modulator or vaporizer or whatever it is called is located differently.
5. The paint finish is bad, the body color and the bumper painting is of varying shade.
6. The body colour had infiltrated to the lighter shade given inside the bonnet. Definitely not aesthetics. visible in pic 1 and 3

[JustCause]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

1. The modulator or vaporizer or whatever it is called is located differently.

It is still located band between the battery & the fuse box. Any stray spark + canister purge in case of peak summers is a recipe for fire. This location is most vulnerable.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

1. The paint finish is bad, the body color and the bumper painting is of varying shade.

It looks repainted from the get go. The paint (esp blue) looks like if a 1980s Amby was given a spray in a tin shed. An "open-air" garage can produce better finished bumpers than this.

It improves on some of the key pitfalls of the old Alto i.e. space,shudder and gearbox feel, provision of optional Airbags etc.

Though, it appeals to me as an owner of old gen Alto, a voice inside my head says that the matured Indian buyer must NOT accept such a badly designed (and poorly made) vehicle, no matter what the price. I can see cost cutting in areas such as the dickey lock and bonnet latch. Just see the thickness & quality of metal used. Moreover, the plastics are made to just look good. press them and you'll hear creaking sounds. The seats have lesser space for your bottom now.

The wires around the fuse box are taped with insulation tape (just like in old Alto). The wires near the headlamp/coolant area are just naked with no wire loom around them.

Maruti has lost me on the Alto brand itself. It, just recently advised them being good handlers (800 & K10), efficient & agile cars. This new one is none of that(except efficient). Maybe that's why Alto is hidden in favour of 800 branding. I expect it to be later renamed as 800v2 or something.

These are my observations as a long time old gen Alto owner. I've suffered the small but significant omissions & also, savoured the good bits.

[romeomidhun]

IMO, Maruti made a blunder by naming it Alto800. The problem with the name Alto800 is this: many people don't want them to be associated with the 'cheapest' tag - whether it is
1. the cheapest car in the industry (Nano),
2. the cheapest model of a manufacturer (for Maruti, it is 800),
or 3. the cheapest model of a car (base model - for Maruti, the standard or L variants).

By naming it Alto, it is still not the cheapest one, but naming it Alto800 makes it the cheapest of Marutis! They could have named it just Alto itself, or AltoF8 (Alto Fight ? ), IMO.

Or they have to do one thing: introduce the current M800 with the BS IV F8D engine and make it available in all cities across India.

[romeomidhun]

Source: http://www.oncars.in/Car-News-Detail...red-today/3144

"maintaining the grandness of the new small car, a Maruti Suzuki dealer in Kottakkunnu in Malappuram disctric near Calicut today held a mega delivery event wherein 200 Alto 800s were officially delivered to their respective brand new owners."

Sometimes, dealers think differently if not manufacturers do!

[iamahunter]

Visited a Maruti showroom today to get a look and a TD of the Alto800.

Could not get the TD, as the TD car was not yet available. ("registration ke liye gaya hai sirjee")

There was a car for display, noticed a couple of things.

Likes
1. New design dashbord.
2. Interior feels spacious
3. Gear slots in easily, does not feel rubbery (compared to old alto)
4. The driver console looks modern.


Dislikes
1. The exterior looks. (Its not winning any prizes in this department)
2. The plastics feels very very cheap.
3. The panel which houses the gear rod, moves while changing gear.
4. No left ORVM even on the top variant. (but will cost only Rs 500/- to fit.)
5. Very thin steering.
6. No arrangement for fitting the rear parcel tray.

The car in the showroom was in the New Frost Blue color. Tho the lighting in the showroom made it look good from some distance, but looked old and dull when observed closely.
The Superior White looks much better on the car IMHO.

The petrol variant of the Alto 800 costs Rs 3.63 lac on-road, Mumbai.

The VXi K10 Alto costs Rs 4.05 lac on-road, Mumbai, minus the discount of Rs 28,000. That brings it to somewhere around Rs 3.77 lac

The Alto K10 looks much better than the new Alto800, IMHO.

Conclusion : Would prefer the Alto K10 over the new Alto800.

Disclaimer : All the above mentioned things are my personal observations and are open to any suggestion/correction. Thank you.

[CRtorquefan]

This is just an another step of cost cutting to more attractively price this car(Alto800).
I've also reviewed this car yesterday &
-Personally I came back happily(if considering myself an 2005 Alto LXi owner) and,
-Got disappointed with what Maruti have done with this car and,
-What they've done with the already well reputed 'ALTO' brand here.

(-ves) reported are:
-Car size is small & Overall profile of the car is upright than low-slung & long profile of previous Alto. So the car loses on looks w.r.t Old Alto.
-Body panels are much more light & flimsy now, imparting a highly unsafe feel while sitting in a car. Bonnet is very light & thin now.
-Paint inside the engine bay(as pictured above) is omitted & is only left with coat of a Primer to save the cost.
-Door panels are flimsy & more of a crap now, as compared to the Injection molded units of previous Alto.
-Seats are very small with offering very l'll or no support at all.
-Rear Seat is worst amongst all Maruti Suzuki cars sold till today. Forget about the Backrest, even its Integrated Headrest fails to reach upto the neck of an average sized Indian.

(+ves):
-Car is All-new now, even with Retrogressive changes stated above.
-New Alto800 is more powerful & faster now, thanks to lighter body & reworked engine.
-New Alto800 is clearly more fuel efficient now.
-For the same amount of money as spent on previous Alto LXi, one will be getting Front Power windows, Fabric lined door cardboard pads, 3-spoke steering wheel, full wheel covers, body coloured bumper & door handles, Internally adjustable ORVM, Internally adjustable bootlid & few bits more in New Alto800 LXi.

Another big advantage for Maruti Suzuki, with making this car small & more of the Maruti 800 category, Alto k10 will be having a niche segment of its own to serve & that has to be with far less discount offerings from now.

[aaggoswami]

Its time to revisit the car again.

1) Rear backrest is small. For a person like me who is near to 5'10",the back rest could barely reach my neck.

2) The seats fail to accomodate me in either front or rear. A few settings might change my view but they are certainly not best. Note that i had similar feelings in Eon also.

3) currently, atleast in my city, petrol Wagon r is available with rs.40,000/- discount.
If possible, in my view, a person should stretch budget and buy waggie lxi rather than lxi alto 800 cng. alto 800 cng will cost rs.4.1 otr and waggie lxi would cost approx 10k more.

4) Rather than light doors i think the door opening and closing is very easy. our m800 had those 3 step ipen and close but the newer cars have very easy and low friction open close hinges. this contributes to light door feeling. when i had a look at duster i had similar feeling dud to ultra easy open close. try opening door of ritz or swift and one realises that some resistance of minute intensity has to be there.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Cheap, cheap, ultra cheap !!!

Hyundai should not do such ugly marketing. What they want to prove here? Alto is following them? They are the biggest fools i guess. Initially they followed Maruti by making Eon after seeing sales numbers done by Alto over the years. It may be good in some areas but overall Alto was better. Sales numbers of Eon has proved that. With new Alto, i am sure they are going to face more heat. New Alto is going to be hit for sure. Lets wait for few months & Hyundai will understand what is reality

Agree wholeheartedly.

HMIL will always be No.1 wannabe.What those jokers at Hyundai don't realize is that Maruti doesn't launch cars which have serious faults. On top of that, Hyundai takes an eternity to fix those issues. When someone keeps complaints, they question the customer's mental health!!!!! Grow up Hyundai!!!! Such cheap shots that you take Maruti is uncalled for. I would say that it is Hyundai who should be called the trendsetter - for launching cars with serious steering & A/c issues in the first place!!!!

I sincerely hope & pray the that Alto 800 outsells the Eon, that ought to prove who's the "trendsetter" and who's the "follower". It is known that the Eon struggles quite badly on climbs, so much so that if the climbs are bit steep, passengers have to be offloaded!!!! I have seen this happening. Want to see how the new Alto 800 behaves with a full load on a climb.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

It is known that the Eon struggles quite badly on climbs, so much so that if the climbs are bit steep, passengers have to be offloaded!!!! I have seen this happening. Want to see how the new Alto 800 behaves with a full load on a climb.

Is this really the case? was it like an unpaved road - just want to know the details. Because I have never seen a scene like this with any car in the city. Offroading - yes.

[Gansan]

^^ I too have never seen this wrt Eon.

My 800cc Alto Lxi had never struggled anywhere. Neither have I ever seen any Alto struggling in the ghats of Ooty and Kodai. I don't see why the new Alto 800 should be any different!

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Is this really the case? was it like an unpaved road - just want to know the details. Because I have never seen a scene like this with any car in the city. Offroading - yes.

Yes, on a paved road that leads up to their house. Their four year old Maruti 800 with the same load has no issues climbing up, but the car which Hyundai claims "India to be On" struggles like anything. They have to off load a couple of passengers, and it not as if they are heavily built people either.

They are so irritated that they are selling off what they call "a piece of junk" from Hyundai, only an year after purchasing it. They are not the first and won't be the last either.

If the new Alto 800 has no issues "climbing", I wish Maruti pays back Hyundai with the same coin and start taking cheap shots at Hyundai Eon over this. As they say said in one of those Bhagat Singh movies, "Ghosts of kicks, do not understand the language of words"

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

I sincerely hope & pray the that Alto 800 outsells the Eon, that ought to prove who's the "trendsetter" and who's the "follower". It is known that the Eon struggles quite badly on climbs, so much so that if the climbs are bit steep, passengers have to be offloaded!!!! I have seen this happening. Want to see how the new Alto 800 behaves with a full load on a climb.

Well I have had similar experience in M800. The original road to Amber fort is about 45 degree slope, and even in first gear the M800 could climb with two persons only

Please keep in mind that the gear ratios in these small cars are a bit tall, biased to better FE. My Alto K10 had to be slotted in first gear while climbing the ramp to a 5* hotel with 4 persons aboard, as it refused to in second.

[Gurudatta Nayak]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

It is known that the Eon struggles quite badly on climbs, so much so that if the climbs are bit steep, passengers have to be offloaded!!!! I have seen this happening.

This is not true. I own Hyundai Eon and have already done 3k on odo. The performance is adequate for its size and engine capacity. I stay in a mountain area where i have to climb steeps and I can easily drive in 2-3 gear 3/4 people on board without any issue.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Gurudatta Nayak

This is not true.

If that's the case, then how come their old 800, "outclimbs" the new Eon? I have seen this happening with my own eyeball Mk.IIs and I forgot to mention earlier that on a full load, their Eon was struggling to climb in first gear, A/C off!!!! It is not as if its a one-off case for the Eon, there have been similar complaints about it struggling with full load.

I really wish someone takes these two cars(Eon & new Alto 800) and compares their "climb" performance on full load.

I had a test-drive of the Eon model a week ago for one of my friends who sought my opinion on the car. I honestly felt that the engine was struggling on a decent slope and the engine harshness was apparen as it was grunting for a climb on a gradual slope at a speed of 50 km/h even on a third gear! I have driven both Maruti Alto and 800 models before and from my experience, I found the Eon's performance to be not so impressive in terms of its pulling and acceleration compared to it's 800 cc counterparts!

http://www.cardekho.com/road-test/hyundai-eon-43.htm

Hyundai used to make good cars, but ever since they started making those i's & e's, basic requirements of a car being trouble free, reliable have gone to the dogs.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Hyundai used to make good cars, but ever since they started making those i's & e's, basic requirements of a car being trouble free, reliable have gone to the dogs.

Yess! Through late 90s and early 00s, Hyundai with its Santro was ahead of MUL's Wagon R. But somewhere down the road, tables turned. Wagon R is still top selling car after Alto and Swift but Santro is long gone. While MUL continuously improved over the years, Hyundai replaced it with i10. i10 had a good run initially but seems to have faltered, of late. Personally, it still beats me what way i10 is superior to Santro. i10 is smaller, looks more boring than Santro, not faster and not more fuel efficient than Santro. If I had to pick one of the two, I would any day pick Santro.