[Viju]

Originally Posted by biggrin

The silver car on the left is pre-facelift version.

Oh! That is embarassing!

I wonder why I could not spot the face-lift even after the big changes that Maruti made to the front-end! *sarcasm unintended*

As far as the Alto800 goes, I was still with MSIL when this model was developed. When I saw the proposals for the new models in the design studio, I knew that the clean lines of the original Alto were lost forever. There is no cohesiveness in the overall design. I find the shapes of the windows and the thick C-pillar weird. I guess it was the Eon effect that influenced the designers at that time.

With the next one supposed to go the Kwid way, let us hope they don't make it even worse in the styling department (difficult, but not impossible if one sets their mind to it).

Although the designers' hands are tied when it comes to these small cars with ultra-low cost targets, I hope they realize that sometimes, less is more. Clean designs as those seen in VWs don't need a large number of curves, cuts, bulges and recesses integrated into a tiny body making it a khichdi of sorts!

[volkman10]

The face lift Alto 800 comes with an enhanced fuel-efficiency by 9%.

The new Alto 800, the company claims, now returns a mileage of 24.77kpl. The car would also be launched in a CNG variant which, the company claims, will return a mileage of 33.44 km per kg.


The new Alto 800 will be available with driver airbag as an option from base variant onwards. The airbag is priced only Rs 6,000.



Other changes include,
--New 6.5-inch brake booster for better braking performance
—Increase in overall length by 35mm, resulting in more cabin space
—New dark grey interior colour, new door trim and seat fabric
—Rear seats with integrated headrests and adjustable ORVMs from base variant onwards
—Front co-passenger gets seat pocket, new utility space
—All variants to get rear child lock (on left door), remote keyless entry only in VXi

http://www.financialexpress.com/auto...-today/258210/

[biggrin]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The face lift Alto 800 comes with an enhanced fuel-efficiency by 9%.

"Kitna deti hai?" is the first question of most car buyers in this segment. Features come second, and safety most probably last. No wonder why Maruti is the segment leader in the budget hatchback category. They know the market very well.

The new Alto 800 will be available with driver airbag as an option from base variant onwards. The airbag is priced only Rs 6,000.

That is sweet! Kudos to Maruti Suzuki for this step at this price.

Now the one who skips airbags to save Rs. 6,000 while buying an Alto 800 is definitely stupid.

Increase in overall length by 35mm, resulting in more cabin space

I really doubt this one. Why will a manufacturer alter overall length of the car for a facelift?

All variants to get rear child lock (on left door)

What about the right door?

It is nice to know that the changes were not merely superficial. Infact, it is great to hear that a manufacturer is infact focussing on braking issues in this segment.

Oh, and it looks like a frog in the green shade!

[RavenAvi]

Maruti-Suzuki India Limited has launched the Alto 800 facelift today with a starting price of Rs 2.49 lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi.

The prices of the entire Alto 800 range (ex-showroom, Delhi) are:

Maruti Alto 800 facelift STD – INR 2.49 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift STD (O) – INR 2.55 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LX – INR 2.83 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LX (O) – INR 2.89 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LXi – INR 3.09 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LXi (O) – INR 3.15 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LXi CNG – INR 3.7 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift LXi CNG (O) – INR 3.76 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift VXi – INR 3.28 lakhs
Maruti Alto 800 facelift VXi (O) – INR 3.34 lakhs

The (O) variants are equipped with a driver-side airbag.

Maruti-Suzuki claims that the Alto 800 facelift sees an increase of 9% in fuel economy over the outgoing version.

The Alto 800 facelift will also be available in 2 new colour shades - Mojito Green and Cerulean Blue.

Inside, the Alto 800 facelift gets a new dark grey interior with new seat and door trim fabrics and an integrated headrest for the rear seat.

On the mechanical front, the Alto 800 facelift continues to be powered by the 0.8L three-cylinder petrol/CNG engine, but engineers have used specially coated piston rings which reduce frictional losses and increase engine life and fuel efficiency aside from which the Alto 800 facelift also gets drive-by-wire technology.

The result is that fuel efficiency has gone up by 9 percent to 24.7 km/l while in CNG mode, the facelift delivers 33.44 km/kg, an improvement of 10 percent over the outgoing model. A new brake booster with claimed improvements in braking performance round up the list of changes.

IAB

[Rajeevraj]

Good to see Driver Airbag option across all variants. But as it has been extensively discussed in the NCAP thread, meaningless without a stable structure. Hope Maruti actually makes variants with Airbag available to customers who want it. Only a 6K premium for the Airbag version. They should have just made it standard.

Price in tabular form

R S Kalsi, Executive Director Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India said, "The new Alto 800 is technologically advanced with latest convenience and class leading safety features. The new stylish looks, fresh classy interiors and addition of two new colours make it trendy and vibrant. Above all it comes with improved mileage."

Should have at least made the airbag standard before calling it out as 'Class leading safety features'

[9thsphinx]

Is the green color for real? It is so loud I can't even look at the picture

I wonder how are people going to adapt to this on the streets, let alone owning one and looking at the real deal every single day!

Complete fail on the color, Suzuki.

[biggrin]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

Is the green color for real? It is so loud I can't even look at the picture

That pic must have been edited for increased contrast (like my ultra-flashy avatar pic ). The colour would appear a lot more sober in real life. If not, then it is a big fail. Anyone would be able to see the car from 5 km away!

My guess is that the colour would be more like Chevy Beat's green, which is nice to look at. See Post #32.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

Is the green color for real? It is so loud I can't even look at the picture

I wonder how are people going to adapt to this on the streets, let alone owning one and looking at the real deal every single day!

Complete fail on the color, Suzuki.

It looks like the alto is wearing a high visibility jacket.

Anyways, In my opinion, the purpose of this color is mostly to make it eye catching in advertisements and other stuff.

[AJITHAAA]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

It looks like the alto is wearing a high visibility jacket.

Anyways, In my opinion, the purpose of this color is mostly to make it eye catching in advertisements and other stuff.

Or it might be one of the 'Class leading safety features' the Maruti executive has mentioned. Because of the color you will be able to spot it, get out of its way and prevent a collision.

[YashD]

If you can offer consumers Airbags for as less as Rs.6,000 then why can't you make the feature standard across variants instead of providing it as option? I mean then what the base price would be Rs.2,56,000! Just so that these folks can keep a competitive price tag on the paper are ending up killing the vital features.

I highly doubt the increase in 35 mm, how have they done it which has resulted in more space

[Viju]

Originally Posted by biggrin

Now the one who skips airbags to save Rs. 6,000 while buying an Alto 800 is definitely stupid.

As usual, expect dealers to not actually make the optional variants available.

Originally Posted by biggrin

What about the right door?

Even I am flummoxed by the logic applied here! May be Maruti is trying to say that it is safer to seat a child at the rear left side instead of right? What shall I do then? I have two kids!

Originally Posted by biggrin

It is nice to know that the changes were not merely superficial. Infact, it is great to hear that a manufacturer is infact focussing on braking issues in this segment.

Hmmm, would you feel the same if they actually told you that the pre-2009 Altos used to come with 8 inch brake boosters? They don't advertise it when they downgrade the vehicles, do they?

Originally Posted by YashD

I highly doubt the increase in 35 mm, how have they done it which has resulted in more space

Originally Posted by biggrin

I really doubt this one. Why will a manufacturer alter overall length of the car for a facelift?

My guess - the increase in 35mm happened on the outside (most probably at the front bumper). The increase in space inside happened because Maruti did something with reducing the size of the seats. Obviously, the 35mm increase was not in the wheel-base!

Our OEMs have a good sense of humour actually.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by biggrin

What about the right door?

Originally Posted by Viju

Even I am flummoxed by the logic applied here! May be Maruti is trying to say that it is safer to seat a child at the rear left side instead of right?

In a 4 seater car, it is recommended that a Child seat/Children must be in the rear passenger side seat (in a 5-seater, it is the centre rear).

It is because, in this position, you can normally get the child in and out of the car on the pavement side rather than the road side

Also the driver, especially when there is only one parent, can keep an eye on the child more easily if and when needed (care must be taken because the driver can get distracted while doing so)

What shall I do then? I have two kids!

Recommended to have the elder child in the centre in a 5 seater car or behind the driver in a 4 seater car (logic is that elder child would be easier to control).

Now Don't ask me what if I have twins or third baby? Personally I would say "Simply Get a bigger car!"

[Viju]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

It is because, in this position, you can normally get the child in and out of the car on the pavement side rather than the road side.

Recommended to have the elder child in the centre in a 5 seater car or behind the driver in a 4 seater car (logic is that elder child would be easier to control).

Agreed to everything, Hemanth. I am sure even Maruti did not put as much thought as you did into this when they decide to eliminate the right side child lock!

Ultimately it boils down to, how many rupees would it actually have cost MSIL to retain the right side child lock? Would it have made any difference in the sales numbers or the overall profit figures of MSIL? We both know the answers to these questions. This is just a continuation of the topic we were discussing on FB yesterday.

Of course, we are assuming that the children are actually secured in child-seats, right? In India? Mine are, I am sure your daughter is - but the thousands of children who are not? What if they pull open the right side door while at speed? Of course, we can argue that it is not MSIL's fault, and irresponsible of the parents to not secure them in child seats, but is losing lives in that manner a big enough trade-off for the petty profits MSIL will make out of this?

If you ask me, whatever good-will MSIL had created in my mind by adding a standard LHS mirror to the base variants, they lost it by not providing child locks on both the rear doors.

Like you had commented yesterday, we as customers need to start demanding a few basic safety features for our own good.

1) Both side mirrors
2) Child locks
3) Speed sensitive door locks
4) ISO fix mounts for child seats at the back
5) Usable headrests all around that would actually prevent whiplash injuries
6) ABS
7) At least 2 air bags
8) Rear windshield wiper and defogger

I am not going into structural safety as the Alto does not even deserve that discussion in its current form!

I for one have decided to buy only pre-owned, safe cars from higher segments till good, safe small cars are available new in my budget.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Viju

I am sure even Maruti did not put as much thought as you did into this when they decide to eliminate the right side child lock!

ha ha, thank you!

Ultimately it boils down to, how many rupees would it actually have cost MSIL to retain the right side child lock? Would it have made any difference in the sales numbers or the overall profit figures of MSIL? We both know the answers to these questions. This is just a continuation of the topic we were discussing on FB yesterday.

Yes both of us know the answers.
I even feel some engineer would've got some "engineer of the month" award as well for giving this idea and reducing cost!
Its similar to what Tata did with the Nano by using three wheel bolts for the base variant.

but is losing lives in that manner a big enough trade-off for the petty profits MSIL will make out of this?

They are least bothered about anything other than their profits. Unfortunately this is true.
Else it wouldn't have taken so long for a small yet important thing like the passenger side ORVM to become standard across all variants

Like you had commented yesterday, we as customers need to start demanding a few basic safety features for our own good.

1) Both side mirrors
2) Child locks
3) Speed sensitive door locks
4) ISO fix mounts for child seats at the back
5) Usable headrests all around that would actually prevent whiplash injuries
6) ABS
7) At least 2 air bags
8) Rear windshield wiper and defogger

I for one have decided to buy only pre-owned, safe cars from higher segments till good, safe small cars are available new in my budget.

True. Wish more and more people start thinking like you.

[vsathyap]

The next version of the Alto 800 will feature the following radical new design fear-tures:

• Just one headlight in the front. (like the old auto rickshaws with the lamp on the wheel mud-guard). For safety, we will double the indicator lamps as always on DRLs! Cool feature (which MSIL will advertise) with cost cutting included! Imagine how much they can save with the electricals and wiring!
• Mono suspension at the back - why simply waste an extra shock absorber?
• Plastic Fuel Tank - no one notices the fuel tank, so why waste metal?
• Fiber/Plastic hood and rear hatch panels and acrylic windshields - if scooters can come with plastic panels, why cant cars have them? Sales folks will advertise this as "cheap to replace if damaged" as if it were a feature!
• Foam Seats will be optional - Passengers will need to pay extra 100Rs for seats and this will be listed in the "luxurious interiors" feature with a tiny * mark
• Width of the seatbelts will be reduced by 10mm - imagine the cost savings - anyways 99% of the folks who use the car never use this feature, so why waste money? Lets make more profit na!?!
• Tool kits and Jack optional - afterall, how many times will one use these? Mechanic/ Puncture waala will have his own jack na?! So why distribute these for free with the car? Those who want one will pay 500Rs extra.

Imagine the mileage MSIL will be able to extract! News Paper Ads will say "New Alto - now giving 40kmpl; now at an unbelievable 2.22Lakhs!".

There will be an optional variant which will have "everything" that a regular car has today - but it will have a waiting period of 18 months and SAs will say some bull**** like "why do you want that feature? Ask your child to hold a baloon and sit in the front seat - its the same thing"

I can go on and will probably get a "cost saver of the year" award at MSIL.