[Samba]

I still remember the days when the AC button acted as a turbo! On single lane roads for doing a quick overtake, I used to downshift and turn off the AC and the car used get that much needed extra boost!

But then I always say, if you can't buy a 4wd suv, buy an Alto/M800! These cars can literally take you anywhere! The F8D is an ultra reliable motor. It can be driven fast, it can climb steep inclines, it's fuel efficient & it's reliable and cheap to maintain.

I had my own share of fun with this engine too. It never let me down. Be it on the Nilgiris in my Alto or be it on the mighty Himalaya in the Alto/M800/Omni cabs!

But as we say, all good things come to an end. This too had to happen one day!

The first car whose RC book had my name on it!



All my basic experiments and DIYs on cars started from here!

[Carma2017]

The F8D engine will be retired because similar to the diesel, the efforts and investment required to upgrade this engine to the BS6 , 2nd stage norms, is very high. Suzuki's efforts are deemed to be better invested in new series of IC engines or hybrids / EVs.

In any case, in the near to the long term future, i don't think Suzuki has any intention to look beyond fuel efficiency as far as engines are concerned. Power and driveability will always be a distant second at least till EVs arrive.

I saw a few sarcastic posts on the K15C engine in this thread. I agree it deserves all the brickbats it's getting from enthusiasts. Only time will tell if Suzuki's punt on Fuel Efficiency figures will pay off. We will need a few months to be sure.

[electro-monk]

To exaggerate a little, Indian automobile industry got spurred by F8B/F8D similar to how steam engine spurred industrial revolution in Europe.
At my hometown, we have a carburetted M800 going to complete 25 years this week. Engine is a joy and VERY tractable atleast upto 60 - never drove it beyond that because of brakes and bouncy suspension.

It has needed nothing more than regular services.

[BashfulKlutz]

My family's first car was a dark blue Maruti 800 SB308 generation. I believe it was purchased by my grandfather somewhere around 1993-1994. I wasn't even born back then, but we had the car till about 2007, if I remember correctly. It was old and took a lot of effort to start after it reached a certain age from about 2003-04 onwards, and being the immature child that I was back then, I used to think of it as an embarrassment, and my parents jokingly remind me how I dropped stones into its fuel tank once as a 5-6-year-old(!).

With time, though, I realised how special this engine actually is for not just us, but the entire Bharatiya automotive industry, in fact. My grandfather also purchased a Maruti Alto LXi later in 2001 and gave my dad the 800.

I learnt to drive on a 2003 Tata Indigo LS that my grandparents also had, but I spent bulk of my time on the Alto LXi. I initially used to be neutral about the F8D engine in that, and sometimes hated it because switching on the air conditioner would sap a major chunk of power out of the engine, and its bottom-end torque is a bit weak for my liking, but once I took it to the redline on one fine day, I immediately fell in love with it, and has been close to my heart ever since. It sounds awesome as it crosses about 3600-4000 rpm (I don't have a tachometer to measure this; I just took a guess). It is also one of the major reasons why I love engines which have total cylinder numbers in multiples of 3 (3, 6, and 12-cylinder motors), and I often daydream about importing my grandfather's Alto to drive it in Austria where I currently am studying.

Unsurprisingly, this news comes across as a shock to me; albeit I understand that things have to go on at some point, and through this post, I'd like to bid the venerable F8 engine a heartfelt goodbye. I'm close to breaking down in tears as I end this post.

[tirumalavoleti]

Wonderful life time and respect for this engine. Most of the members from Tier2 cities started driving on this engine. My first car, where I experienced first highway driving, all with this engine. Kudo to Maruti for making this available for so long.

For many new drivers, family concern was reliability and this made it easy for convincing families during the buying process. So much loving farewell to this engine.

[Bhalla]

Without any doubt, most reliable Petrol engine ever sold in India. End of an era in Indian automobile industry.
I learnt driving in 2008 on my father’s 2001 Maruti 800. That time, we had 2 cars with same engine (Maruti 800 for personal use and Omni Cargo for transportation of different things at our factory). From 1986-2016, our family always had vehicles with similar engine (from generation 1 Maruti 800 to Alto 800 lxi). During 30 years of ownership of cars with this engine, never had any major issues.
Thank you for your services legend.

[saleem_k]

Family's first car was Alto 2007 model. I wasn't aware of cars much at around that time and budget was the only reason for purchasing this car. Today we have an Ecosport 1.5D as well as an Endeavour 3.2 but the Alto is still in service after renewing the RC after 15 years. The only reason is because it's not used much now and my parents don't really use the car much except for some tasks around city and because the engine has been reliable with no failures. I learnt driving on this car and took it for many runs around within the erstwhile combined state of AP. Surprisingly the engine used to feel normal even at 100-110kmph and without much strain. Of course, on ghat sections we used to switch off AC as the car would lose whatever little power it had.

We love this car primarily coz of the sentiment attached to the first car but also the engine that never let us down on our many trips, sometimes to some unknown places. Farwell to this wonderful engine. It has done its job and how!

[Romeo_Mike]

Have driven the F8D extensively in the latest gen Alto 800. I must admit I prefered it's everyday drivability to the K10B in the Alto K10. The former only lacks top end steam in comparison.

On a related note, Maruti Suzuki are in for pulling off insane level efficiency with their entire portfolio of cars (12 if we exclude Alto 800) powered just by 3 K series engines (1.0, 1.2 and 1.5) with exactly 3 states of tune

[GreenDay]

This brings back all the sweet memories as a Child. From being the first/primary car in the family to learning how to drive one.

I recently picked up M800 (1989), thanks to my friend and fellow BHPian @funkykar. This mostly serves as an secondary car at the moment, which is anytime a best bet to commute in the City like Bengaluru, also for my sister to practice her driving.

Last weeks Picture of Pista getting a wash. Though the initial plan was to keep the car for a short time, with this news, I wish to keep this M800 for long time.

[Ravi Parwan]

Wow, this thread woke some old memories.
We had one of the first generation chocolate brown M800 circa 1985 model. We had it for nearly 18 years and did 1.3L km in it. Over its life with us, the car played the interstate tourer role very well. Around the turn of the century, that car made two trips to rohtang pass from Manali side. At that time she was around 15 years old.
That car was equally content staying in the garage. Despite being a carburetor version, she used to start without the application of the choke in the first self.
All my childhood memories of travel are associated with that car. I also did a number of DIY attempts on that car. I had tried putting in a air cooler into the non ac interiors of that car using a wiper washer motor and tank, ( that was a failure - increasing the humidity in the car without really cooling it! - in my defense I was 14-15 yr old then and didn't know better)
We had to let her go as she got increasingly passed over for driving owing to being a non-ac car. Still miss that car.

[shancz]

Venerable it was.

Managed to experience it in its F8B and F8D avatars but never knew that I also experienced the F8C in the Matiz !
So I was not wrong in wondering how could Daewoo and Suzuki both manufacture a 796cc 3 cylinder engine!

Matiz's 52bhp over the 45bhp(IIRC) of the M800 5 speed prevented any further investigations of an ignorant mind.

A hard earned and well deserved retirement for an exceptional service and unparalleled achievements.
To the rev-happy, sweet sounding engine(even better with a cracked silencer) I learnt driving on, Thank You, Respect and Goodbye.
Your makers will be proud

[AutoConsultant]

Just a few days ago I got a call from a Service Center in Punjab regarding the servicing of our 2008 Alto (Owner on RC has changed but MS still had my number in their records). I asked him how is the car’s condition and he told me it’s still good 😊

Most of 80’s and 90’s kids learnt driving on this engine, the 800 successfully passed its baton to the Alto and more importantly it made a four-wheeler accessible to a much larger portion of the population. Now that the market has moved towards larger cars and slightly bigger engines, it’s the right time to retire this one!

[dhanushs]

Damn, like someone mentioned, there would be rarely a car owner who hasn't experienced this gem of an engine!

Wondering if any other engine has served for so long, even internationally.

[Aritra]

The first car I drove was a Maruti 800 with the F8B carbureted engine. The refinement and smoothness of the engine, the fuel efficiency and the effortlessness with which it powered the light vehicle left an indelible mark. I do not remember fuel efficiency dropping below 22kmpl in the vehicle under any condition - a feat which very few gasoline cars nowadays will match (excl. hybrids).
We later sold the vehicle and got another Maruti800 this time with the F8D MPFi version. At that point, although the Santro was under consideration, my father (who mainly drove) and my grandfather would have no other vehicle which was not having the Suzuki 800 cc engine!
The engine is a legend in the Indian automotive landscape and while it's production is now being stopped, it will continue to live on in our hearts.

[ram.iyer95]

Adieu to the legend. As many have rightly said, this is the engine that put India on four wheels and showed what it means to be a reliable piece of machinery. I too had the fortune to experience this engine for a brief time, for about 1.5 years. Bought an Alto (2009 model) from a known person to learn and get acquainted with driving before moving on to a better, newer car. In the 1.5 years and 5000 odd kms (very low running thanks to COVID) that I had the car, not even once did this little wonder let me down. Always purred to life on the first crank despite not being started for a few weeks. Truly fill it, shut it, forget it type of car.

Sold the car just last year in exchange for a Hyundai i10 Nios. The peppy, zippy nature of the little engine (with the AC OFF that is!) will be missed.