[volkman10]

Iconic Maruti 800cc engine to be discontinued after 40 years.

The venerable Maruti Suzuki 800cc will get the axe by the end of this financial year (March 2023).

The reason for this is two-fold; the first part being the upcoming RDE (Real Driving Emissions) norms that are set to come into effect in 2023, which the ageing engine would have to be upgraded to meet. Following BS6 phase one and CAFE II emission norms already in place, RDE will be the next challenge for all carmakers, and is expected to spell the end for a number of engines besides the F8D – especially smaller-capacity diesels in compact cars.

The reason it won’t be upgraded is because of diminishing demand. This engine exists in only one single model, and one which fewer people are buying.

Link

[Nikhildrao]

The 40 year old F8D engine to be discontinued in FY2023 on account of tighter emission norms

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...0-years-425786

[abhi_tjet]

So this was why Maruti brought back the K10 moniker.

On other note, finally F8D will put to rest. I and almost all Indians who are driving today have experienced this little gem of an engine in either 800 or Alto form. I suppose it has served its purpose, putting Indians on driving seat.

[GForceEnjoyer]

Our carbureted Maruti 800 from way before I was even born had this engine. 40 years is as astonishingly long service time, this engine needs to take a bow! It's what would've been in the garages of so many Indians, truly a legendary motor. While I've only experienced its MPFI avatar in a Maruti 800 (the last time was when I was 12), I do remember its peppy nature and sweet-sounding exhaust. And of course, it was tremendously efficient and reliable.

R.I.P. This one's going into the history books for sure!

[arjab]

Historically speaking, and before this onset of EV wave, internal combustion engines had a long shelf life and usually got axed due to stringent emissions norms.
The Suzuki F8B spawned many a variants which included the F10D, its 4-cylinder avatar, which powered the original ALTO 1.1 VX and the 1st gen Wagon-R
The G13B Suzuki which powered the original Esteem also powered on over several generations and even found its way under the 1st gen Swift's bonnet. It was also rechristened as the "G-12", downsized and oriented "north-south" supporting a rear wheel drive configuration for the Maruti Eeco.

Tata possibly has played around the most with a zillion engine configurations of its original Indica diesel, by adding cylinders, deleting cylinders, adding and deleting turbo's; even commercial vehicle applications!

Everyone in India knows about the Fiat Powertrain's little hero, the 1.3SDE (Small Diesel Engine) It's often said in industry circles that Fiat made so much money from selling powertrians, (and it still does, the 2-L multijet in the Harrier, Safari, Hector, Compass), that FIAT does'nt mind if it does not sell actual vehicles!

Internationally the 1950's GM Buick V8 had a long life powering vehicles across OEM's in multiple geopgraphies.
PSA, (before Stellantis formation that is), engines used to be formidable in terms of affordability, performance and economy. Case in point: our favourite Indian Ford EcoSport 1.5 Diesel is PSA's 1.5DV5 unit. The Peugeot TUD-5 which powered the Zen and Esteem diesels and Peugeot's XDP engine series which powered Mahindra's of yore for decades.

Nowadays the Ford 2-litre and 3.5 litre Ecoboost is finding quite a few takers particularly amongst niche car makers.

All these powertrains succumbed to stringent emission norms which always hung like the proverbial Damocles sword over their "head" (pun intended)

Which makes me wonder. Will we see an "EV motor - controller" OEM superstar guru in the near future?

[Timeline 1967]

M800 was the first car I purchased, way back in the year 2002 when the ex-showroom price was brought down under two lakhs and there was a full page advertisement in the newspaper. I read it in the morning, and purchased it in the evening. It had the multi point fuel injection F8D engine. I did not face any issues, either with the engine or the car, nor had a mechanical breakdown in the eight years I had it. I regretted after selling it; could have retained it. I bought the Ritz VXi ABS in 2010, which is still doing duty as a beater car. Lessons learnt.

[lonetraveller89]

Originally Posted by Nikhildrao

The 40 year old F8D engine

Please note - it's the 40 year old F8B (petrol) engine which was first introduced in India through the SS30/SS40 based Maruti 800. The F8D (diesel) was introduced to us in 2000.

Suzuki started producing their F series in the 70s, which means that these engines have been around for ~50 years internationally. In most Indian households, these engines have probably been driven by three generations of drivers. Quite the feat. Perfect examples of Japanese reliability and "they don't make 'em like they used to".

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by lonetraveller89

Please note - it's the 40 year old F8B (petrol) engine which was first introduced in India through the SS30/SS40 based Maruti 800. The F8D (diesel) was introduced to us in 2000.

The F8B and F8D were both petrol engines.

The F8B was the 2 valve per cylinder variant and was available in both carb and MPFI variants in the 800 and Omni. While the F8D was the 4 valve per cylinder variant and was available only in the MPFI variant in 800 5 speed and Alto.

A lesser known variant was the F8C which came in the Daewoo Matiz and was derived from the F8B.

[GTO]

Man, in the late 80s & early 90s, this engine was like the 1.5L Vtec or 1.5L turbo-petrols we see today. It was the benchmark, especially in the lightweight cars (800, Omni) it was offered in. Peppy, great driveability, excellent fuel economy, last forever with timely oil changes...it's the engine that made Maruti the default choice for any Indian car owner. R.I.P. F8D, you have served this country well.

[Shreyfiesta]

Originally Posted by lonetraveller89

Please note - it's the 40 year old F8B (petrol) engine which was first introduced in India through the SS30/SS40 based Maruti 800. The F8D (diesel) was introduced to us in 2000.

The F8D wasn't a diesel. What we had till 2000 inside the Maruti 800 was a carburetted 796cc F8B engine, with two valves for each of its three cylinders. The 5 Speed F8D-powered version of 800 got four valves per cylinder, taking the count up to 12. So from the carburetted F8B engines, you had to literally extract 39.5bhp at 5500rpm and 56Nm of torque at 2500rpm. The F8D generated 45 cool horses at a higher 6000rpm and 62Nm of turning power at 3000rpm. In the Alto, the same F8D engine recieved a different head.

Daewoo Matiz also had a three-cylinder engine (codenamed F8C) based on the F8B. The 796cc cylinder block was similar to that of the Maruti 800's F8B, with an identical bore and stroke of 68.5x72mm. Though it retained a two valves per head layout in the interests of costs and simplicity, this motor came with high-tech hardware like a thermoplastic intake manifold, torque rail shaft engine mounts and clip-type retainers for valve springs. The high performance camshaft and multi-point fuel injection system pushed the power up to 52bhp at 6000rpm.

[Dry Ice]

End of an era! This little gem played a large part in Maruti’s success. MUL cemented their reputation of delivering fuel efficient cars on the back of this small wonder.

I feel such obituaries will become more common in the future with stricter norms, and the EV assault. Sigh!

[searacer932]

High time this dinosaur engine gets retired .

Atrocious if Maruti Suzuki have been selling this outdated engine for 40+ years.

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by searacer932

High time this dinosaur engine gets retired .

Atrocious if Maruti Suzuki have been selling this outdated engine for 40+ years.

Well, this "outdated dinasour" has proven to be more reliable and more refined than its rivals from Renault, Tata and even Hyundai in the past decades. In fact, it also has a far better power band than those "modern" engines.

If one takes your comment into consideration, it is really shameful that all those "modern" and "high-tech" guys at Hyundai or others didn't once manage to make an engine as good as the "outdated" Maruti engine!

Off-Topic-

Originally Posted by searacer932

It's very bad Maruti's own K15C engine which is supposed to be modern is worse than this 40 year old engine going by your argument

As someone who loves his K12 and VTEC, I am definitely very disappointed with performance of the K15C. That said, it is still more reliable and more frugal than its German, British and Korean rivals! Still, even though the K15C's refinement, reliability and frugality is far superior than rivals, I believe Maruti has focused a lil too hard on fuel efficiency with the K15C and I sincerely hope someone puts senses into minds of Maruti engineers and force them to recreate gems like all of their other petrol engines.

Also, I was talking about overall nature of the engines, a case where the Hyundai and Renault 0.8L engines have always failed. Hence, I do not think the K15C comparison is justified since it is still on par and better than rivals in other aspects except performance!

[searacer932]

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Thanks for the support & understanding

[shubham7799]

Sad it is indeed!

This engine was a stalwart and literally put India behind the wheels. One can only dream of creating a marvel that can survive the test of time for 40 long years with players from round the globe entering the market. This little champ never felt the heat from any of its competitors from Hyundai, Daewoo, Renault etc.

The 800 handed over the baton to Alto and probably we may see the Alto doing the same to Celerio or the Wagon R as the entry level car in India.

If only the Alto800 made sense to Maruti financially, we would have seen this gem celebrating a golden jubilee on our roads.

R.I.P. You made your creators proud!