[SandyX]

We don't know how this person worked the clutch, the angle, throttle etc. Until someone does more proper loaded test drive, let's give it the benefit of the doubt. Else this would be misinformation. I've seen altos struggling super bad on some inclines with even two on board. Comparo with activa? Moving on.

[sprue12]

Mod note: Back to back posts, use Multi Quote [Quote +] instead. Thanks.

Originally Posted by castiel

Wow! . I just recommended this to a family planning an upgrade from Activa.

Was there an issue with the TD car or is this how it is?

How would have an Alto performed in similar situation?

I have driven Alto800 but only on plains and the drive was a pain in traffic. But i have driven K10 (2012 model) extensively over hilly terrain (once with 5 healthy people on board to Kasol) and it was a pleasant experience. Engine responds effectively in every gear. Before Kwid came into picture, i was planning to buy K10 but i waited for Kwid as the looks of the car and GC appealed to me. I was under the impression that there would be 1L engine in any of the variants but that did not happen. Hence, waited for the TD of Kwid and now my mind is clear. I am happy i did not fall for the looks and space. It is engine that matters at the end, at least to me.

And yes, driving Activa was fun after driving a Kwid; Activa zipped off from red lights while Kwid was quite slow with 4 on board

Originally Posted by SandyX

We don't know how this person worked the clutch, the angle, throttle etc. Until someone does more proper loaded test drive, let's give it the benefit of the doubt. Else this would be misinformation. I've seen altos struggling super bad on some inclines with even two on board. Comparo with activa? Moving on.

This is why i am telling everyone to test drive themselves. It may be simply my driving technique that failed the car. Everyone has their own opinion. This in no way is misinformation but apparently I did not like the car.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by Prafful_Rathod

Then the same logic would apply to the other cars in the segment as well, as far as power to weight ratio is concerned. But agree that a TD is required to actually get a feel of how responsive or agile the engine is.

Of course it applies to all cars. Just that the 4 pot 1L + engines do not make you feel it with 4 on board and luggage. But with a 3 pot 800 cc engine, it will keep reminding you that there are 4 on board, whenever you are on an incline or try to overtake on highways. (my comment is all in context of the initial post citing frequent hill station drives)

Me says Kwid will fare the same as an Alto with 4 on board & luggage. Maybe a little better, since Kwid has 4 PS & couple of NM torque more than the Alto.
Nano with a 2 pot 660 cc engine does alright on these mall parking inclines.

Test drive is a must. It all depends on which gear you are in (apart from the gear ratios)

[sun_king]

Had some free time, so read a few Kwid reviews and while there are contrasting statements on the drive performance, there are hints that the engine needs some getting used to.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-rev...-397416,0.aspx
"However, it’s best to use the accelerator gently and smoothly with this engine, as it doesn’t respond well to hasty inputs. Punch down hard and it will stutter and fumble, and the resultant acceleration is not smooth at all."

http://auto.ndtv.com/reviews/renault...review-1216195
"However, it does feel a little defeated when you come up against even the smallest incline."

http://www.carwale.com/renault-cars/...reviews-20049/
"As soon as you let go of the clutch you realise that the engine doesn’t feel very peppy and there are flat spots when accelerating from very low engine speeds, so this motor needs to be revved a bit to gain momentum. But when not in a hurry..."

http://www.autox.in/reviews/car-revi...-drive-review/
" It is defeated slightly, however, when you come up against even the smallest incline. That’s when you feel that the 53bhp and 72Nm of torque aren’t quite adequate."

It could be a case of sacrificing some peppiness for fuel efficiency or gear ratios that demand familiarity to deliver the punch, if any. I would suggest a longer test drive if in doubt. A standard TD of a few kilometers may not suffice. Better yet, wait for the TBHP official review if you are not daunted by the ever increasing waiting periods.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by sun_king

Had some free time, so read a few Kwid reviews and while there are contrasting statements on the drive performance, there are hints that the engine needs some getting used to.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-rev...-397416,0.aspx
"However, it’s best to use the accelerator gently and smoothly with this engine, as it doesn’t respond well to hasty inputs. Punch down hard and it will stutter and fumble, and the resultant acceleration is not smooth at all."

http://auto.ndtv.com/reviews/renault...review-1216195
"However, it does feel a little defeated when you come up against even the smallest incline."

http://www.carwale.com/renault-cars/...reviews-20049/
"As soon as you let go of the clutch you realise that the engine doesn’t feel very peppy and there are flat spots when accelerating from very low engine speeds, so this motor needs to be revved a bit to gain momentum. But when not in a hurry..."

http://www.autox.in/reviews/car-revi...-drive-review/
" It is defeated slightly, however, when you come up against even the smallest incline. That’s when you feel that the 53bhp and 72Nm of torque aren’t quite adequate."

It could be a case of sacrificing some peppiness for fuel efficiency or gear ratios that demand familiarity to deliver the punch, if any. I would suggest a longer test drive if in doubt. A standard TD of a few kilometers may not suffice. Better yet, wait for the TBHP official review if you are not daunted by the ever increasing waiting periods.

Most of us here are comparing the 800cc motor with 1.0L, 1.1 and even 1.2L or higher. Its totally unfair to compare.Its just like comparing the 1.2L unit of i20 with that of say 1.6TDi or 1.2TSi. The place where Kwid failed to pull on incline, I am quite sure with same driver would struggle in an i20 as well.

Kwid fairs better than Alto 800 and miles ahead of Eon. Based on two test drives I have taken, I would call power as adequate and much better than direct competition.

[sprue12]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

The place where Kwid failed to pull on incline, I am quite sure with same driver would struggle in an i20 as well.

I took the Kwid (4 on board) on an incline and it stalled when i intentionally stopped midway and then released the clutch to check the pulling power. I realized it needs revving and i did so, it did not pull smoothly but still managed to go up but with some harsh noise and jolts. Now is this the driver's fault if the car refuses to pull up when he is testing the limits of the engines ? At that same incline, a fully loaded Maruti 800 (2004) old model and K10 were easy to drive as compared to Kwid. I do not have an Alto800 available, so cannot comment on that. After i have owned a Kwid for at least 2-3 days and driven it for say at least 50 kms, I would know how to fair the engine better and where to make extra efforts to extract power from the engine.

When someone buys a vehicle, he needs it to serve his own purpose be it mileage, comfort or power. Yes, we do not have much of a choice in the lower segment but it is not a crime to expect a little extra from our hard earned money. What is the fun of driving an underpowered engine when one does not like it? Anyone who drives knows how to pull up a car on an incline with or without extra effort. It is his decision if he chooses to live with a well-powered or an underpowered motor. Please do not make irrelevant statements about the driving techniques.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by sun_king

It could be a case of sacrificing some peppiness for fuel efficiency or gear ratios that demand familiarity to deliver the punch, if any. I would suggest a longer test drive if in doubt. A standard TD of a few kilometers may not suffice. Better yet, wait for the TBHP official review if you are not daunted by the ever increasing waiting periods.

All these statements indicate that, the Kwid engine struggles on revving hard, and the engine is woefully inadequate. In other words, it is better to buy a Swift, rather than expect something from the Kwid!
Reviews about an engine can't go more one sided about a car. How can we compare an A Segment car with any other segment car? When they review a car like Kwid, don't they already know that the car of this segment will struggle due to its small capacity?

I own an Alto 800, chief competitor of Kwid, and I can confirm the following facts, just to give the perspective:

a) When you floor the A pedal, literally nothing happens. The car takes its own sweet time before it responds with a few kmph increase.
Only in third gear, when I am alone in the car, and the AC is switched off, it seem to move a bit comfortably fast. i.e around 35 - 45 kmph.

b) Typical gearing - after 10kmph - Shift to 2. After 20 kmph - Shift to 3. After 35 kmph - Shift to 4. After 50 kmph - Shift to 5. If we stay in lower gear, engine struggles.

c) Climbing inclines - I can cross my office parking lot in 2nd gear without AC, single person, without riding the clutch. However, my office parking incline is one of the very reasonably built inclines.
If I have to take the worst case mall parking lots, I would have to go in 1st gear.
Once, I had to conquer an incline that was built bumpy, to reduce the speed of declining (entering) vehicles. For this, I had to reverse, build up speed from distance and slip the clutch to reach the top.

d) Overtaking on highways: Best avoided on single carriageways. It is scary if the oncoming vehicle is nearing, and if your vehicle cannot support you to overtake a vehicle comfortably before the bus or truck reaches you.

e) Hill Driving: Ooty is not one of the challenging inclines, but I comfortably took it up and down in 3rd gear.

This 800cc car is built for sedate driving, and it is no wonder that the Kwid also delivers the similar engine behaviour. I have not taken TD of Kwid, but when I take it, if the engine dynamics of Kwid is similar to Kwid, I will not be surprised for obvious reasons.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by sprue12

I took the Kwid (4 on board) on an incline and it stalled when i intentionally stopped midway and then released the clutch to check the pulling power. I realized it needs revving and i did so, it did not pull smoothly but still managed to go up but with some harsh noise and jolts. Now is this the driver's fault if the car refuses to pull up when he is testing the limits of the engines ? At that same incline, a fully loaded Maruti 800 (2004) old model and K10 were easy to drive as compared to Kwid. I do not have an Alto800 available, so cannot comment on that. After i have owned a Kwid for at least 2-3 days and driven it for say at least 50 kms, I would know how to fair the engine better and where to make extra efforts to extract power from the engine.

When someone buys a vehicle, he needs it to serve his own purpose be it mileage, comfort or power. Yes, we do not have much of a choice in the lower segment but it is not a crime to expect a little extra from our hard earned money. What is the fun of driving an underpowered engine when one does not like it? Anyone who drives knows how to pull up a car on an incline with or without extra effort. It is his decision if he chooses to live with a well-powered or an underpowered motor. Please do not make irrelevant statements about the driving techniques.

Please donot take personally. All I meant was Kwid is not underpowered in comparison to competition which happens to be Alto800 and Eon. Now if one compares it against a more powerful 1000cc motor it is bound to be underpowered. Again if I compare it with my Vento it is seriously underpowered but the comparison is unfair. Just like everyone here put forth their observations on the car, I found the car to be Peppy enough for the segment and definitely did not find it struggling to pull on slope/inclines in comparison to competition. Again if you are comparing against more powerful engine definitely its a struggle in Kwid.

More than cc and BHP one should also consider power to weight ratio.
Just see below:

Alto K10:91 BHP/Ton
Alto800: 68 BHP/Ton
Eon: 77BHP/Ton
Kwid:85 BHP/Ton
i20:78 BHP/Ton

[asingh1977]

When will the TBHP official review come out for Kwid..?

[sprue12]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Please donot take personally. All I meant was Kwid is not underpowered in comparison to competition which happens to be Alto800 and Eon. Now if one compares it against a more powerful 1000cc motor it is bound to be underpowered. Again if I compare it with my Vento it is seriously underpowered but the comparison is unfair. Just like everyone here put forth their observations on the car, I found the car to be Peppy enough for the segment and definitely did not find it struggling to pull on slope/inclines in comparison to competition. Again if you are comparing against more powerful engine definitely its a struggle in Kwid.

More than cc and BHP one should also consider power to weight ratio.
Just see below:

Alto K10:91 BHP/Ton
Alto800: 68 BHP/Ton
Eon: 77BHP/Ton
Kwid:85 BHP/Ton
i20:78 BHP/Ton

Sir, nothing taken personally. But an old Maruti 800 (2004) which i happen to drive frequently is much more easy and peppy to drive than Kwid. I know its the low end torque that matters but still i wanted the same out of Kwid which it did not happen to have.

[ACM]

This may seem like a taunt, but it isn't.

I have not test driven the Kwid and possibly may not, but have driven the Alto 800, and the Omni which implies the same engine and a lot more weight and have driven it on steep mall parking inclines and had to switch of the AC and did sweat all the way up.

So a thought just occurred to me. The 1 ton wt Fiat 1100 (own the milicento) with anything between 40-48 Bhp power (no AC) did do quite well on our roads just 20 years back and did climb the Lonanvala/khandala ghats. (There were no mall parking lots as yet then.)

Times have changed indeed.

I expect the Kwid practically to be exactly the same as the Alto 800 (maybe be better by 5%) as far as engine performance on inclines is concerned. But we may require to modulate the accelerator a bit differently. Also do remember that new vehicles are in general not yet settled in and we drive them harshly only 1000 kms down the road in normal course of any car purchase.

The differentiator is possibly the looks and interiors and space rather than the engine, and hey it will likely bring a smile to your face as well as that of someone watching he vehicle unlike today in the case of the Alto 800. Lets give the vehicle a chance, it is up against big odds and lets leave the comparo with the 1000 cc engines for when they introduce that variant.

[chandra1]

Originally Posted by ACM

The differentiator is possibly the looks and interiors and space rather than the engine, and hey it will likely bring a smile to your face as well as that of someone watching he vehicle unlike today in the case of the Alto 800.

I considered swift, celerio and wagon r before booking Kwid. Just for the looks! I didn't care about a little more powerful engine. I didn't want to look like a 50+ sarkari clerk uncle ji in a Maruti. No offence. just my personal opinion

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by chandra1

I considered swift, celerio and wagon r before booking Kwid. Just for the looks! I didn't care about a little more powerful engine. I didn't want to look like a 50+ sarkari clerk uncle ji in a Maruti. No offence. just my personal opinion

The typical 50+ sarkari uncle ji is unlikely to be driving Swift or Celerio, though he might be seen driving WagonR or the previous gen Alto.
Many people just book their cars just based on looks or low cost or any other one single parameter, and not based on the typical elaborate test drives.
To share my own experience - I was looking for a used car, and got some terrifying experiences seeing some lemons. So, I wanted a car, and I wanted it soon! I called up a friend who worked as a manager in Maruti, and asked him to bring Alto for TD on a Saturday. Me and Wife took it around on some free roads, and immediately paid the booking advance of Rs.1000, selected the trim, colour etc and finalized on the amount to be paid, after some negotiations in the showroom the same day.
Two days later, verified the car in person before it went to RTO. Next day, which was our marriage anniversary, took delivery of the car!
I made the full payment in cash, which was collected from our home by our friend.

My criteria about the car was - one that costs cheap and would be useful to carry around some luggage and four people at the same time.

Till now, the car has been immensely useful and it satisfies me because:
a) It is EMI free from day 1.
b) Majority of the time, I use it alone, within city. Bigger car means extra $$ per km travel.
c) I drive sedately. So some of the highway drives also have been enjoyable to me.
d) Some of my routes include very narrow winding stretches, which would have been much difficult with a bigger B2 or higher segment car.

So booking a lower segment car has its own advantages at a fraction of the cost. Since you love the looks of the car, you will like its behaviour from day 1.
Keep us updated about the proceedings and the delivery.

[chandra1]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

The typical 50+ sarkari uncle ji is unlikely to be driving Swift or Celerio, though he might be seen driving WagonR or the previous gen Alto.
...

Till now, the car has been immensely useful and it satisfies me because:
a) It is EMI free from day 1.
b) Majority of the time, I use it alone, within city. Bigger car means extra $$ per km travel.
c) I drive sedately. So some of the highway drives also have been enjoyable to me.
d) Some of my routes include very narrow winding stretches, which would have been much difficult with a bigger B2 or higher segment car.

So booking a lower segment car has its own advantages at a fraction of the cost. Since you love the looks of the car, you will like its behaviour from day 1.
Keep us updated about the proceedings and the delivery.

Everyone in my family is rooting for a Maruti. They have earned this unshaken trust. I am afraid I am going to be facing the taunts from family and friends in case the Kwid is not up to the expectation.

Regarding the all cash payment, aren't any income tax issues involved? I heard that if the payment is more than the annual taxable income mentioned in your latest return you might be under scanner. I have just started my business and my last 2 years ITS were just for record purposes and were income tax slab. I prefer arranging money from family and friends and paying in cash than paying EMIs but the income tax issue is bothering me. Will appreciate any opinion.

[sam003]

I did small test drive for kwid, after driving bigger cars for many years now it failed to impress me other than just looks. Driving I felt like similar to Nano as well as breaking part. It takes substantial amount of time to before comes to halt. Seats are just close to bench type, and noise inside cabin is more than expected. Lastly clutch play was like after after 30-40% release you will get the motion. Overall didn't like that much. I guess have to cancel the booking, thought will keep this as spare care, but it doesn't deserve to get that space either.

@chandra1, go for loan from SBI etc for 5 yrs. It will have lower EMI impact and you can prepay or part pay as and when you have some extra bucks.

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