[Freespirit27]

It's been high time is all that I can say. Yes, I learnt my driving on a 800 and my Master even told me to try buy a automatic (they were the new tech then!)because, while learning to drive, I could never downshift before a turn and ended up stalling or riding the clutch coming out of it! It felt like, running short of breath even back then.
The 800 matched the car but the car itself was a tight fit for passengers, with poor ergonomics for shorter drivers- most ended up trying to climb on to the wheel in trying to get a view ahead because the seating was to low and much later even my wife refused to go for it!
Considering that it is more of a demise than a planned change management, it is indeed for the good. Cheers to that.

[cl500 di]

Farewell to another legend. I can tell with experience of close to 10 of these, in all possible variants(carb, mpfi, 4spd, 5spd, lpg,etc) that it is the best engine MSIL ever made. It was my dad's,mom's and grand dads first vehicle. It will truly be missed, mainly for its low cost.

[Bismaya]

R.I.P to the most legendary engine India has ever had. I guess we can also consider this as a final nail in the coffin on the chapters of the Maruti 800 and the "original" Alto. To me, the K10 is a separate vehicle entirely.

This engine, even on the toughest of the roads, the engine held it's own in the most toughest of the situations. It wasn't the first car I drove or the car I learnt to drive on, but the engine and it's fun factor made sure that I plonked a Stereo system and drive 14K KMS on a vehicle in less than 10 months, something I have had never done on a vehicle. Great times.

List of Shenanigans that I've had with it over the years:

- Jump started it with a weak the battery for 3 days when I was low on finances and an immediate battery replacement wasn't possible. The engine never complained.
- 2nd gear speedbreaker test was always cleared.
- Even with the 2V variant, the F8B was equally refined, fun and scared the people on local/inner city roads.
- 10,000kms oil change interval without breaking sweat. I am more skeptical of modern cars achieving this.
- "You can't use iridium on an engine that old and dated on tech". Says who?
- Started the car on half a crank at 3'Celcius at 3AM on a hill station. Condensation is a thing but the engine never complained.
- 1,62,797kms later when I handed the car to someone else, the engine had more life than anyone could ever imagine.

How tough is this engine: I remember when our M800 4S MPFi hit this 6" rod on an incomplete road. It made a huge hole in the gearbox and the GB oil was all drained but the car did the job and made sure that my father reached his workplace 32kms away from the incident spot before stalling for good. I ended up sourcing another GB with a slightly worn differential and overhauled it. This has had been doing the duties effortlessly when I last parted with the car.

Endings are hard, be it anything. Any monkey with a keyboard can write but it's impossible to close on some chapters. This is one of them.

People say "Nothing is built to last forever." Maybe this legendary 796cc mill is something that stands a chance.

[Chetan_Rao]

Had this gem of a motor on two of our cars. Our first family car, a Maruti 800 in the early 90s that was our constant companion on innumerable road trips in all sorts of conditions, then a Alto 800 in the mid-noughties for about a year.

We also had an MPFI Zen and a G13B Esteem at some point, and the family currently has Suzuki K10 & K12 equipped cars in the garage, so we've arguably experienced most of Suzuki's excellent small petrol motors in India, only exception being the insane-for-its-time 1.1 liter that was offered in the Alto and WagonR(?) for a short while.

[ryzen7@5800u]

Well, when the world ends, the person turning off the last lights would be driving a car powered by the humble F8B/F8D.

I believe the F8D was also the last engine from the F-series still in production, which, according to Wikipedia was Suzuki's first four-stroke engine series! Shows that a fundamentally well designed product can stand the test of time - even with tightened regulations.

Honestly, I think a F8D with a turbo/supercharger (like they do with small displacement engines in Japan) would still be a potent and economical way of powering smaller hatches like the Celerio/Alto etc.

[supermax]

Originally Posted by GTO

The little 0.8L motor has done duty for 40 years in India, reliably and economically. In the 80s & 90s, it was "fast" by then standards. Everyone thought the 800 was too delicate and will disintegrate on our roads, but the 796cc motor proved that it can take a whole lot of abuse.

Farewell to an iconic engine that so many of us on the forum learned how to drive on . From carb to MPFI, 4-speed to 5-speed and many Bharat Stage emission norm levels...the motor tried its best to keep up with the times. Alas, BS6 RDE Phase 2 meant its death knell and just as well.

The 800 has indeed been the upstart, the king slayer, and so much more for the countless Indians' lives it has touched over the years. Even though my parents never owned a car, my uncle did, and it felt so much more modern than the Premier Padmini that another uncle owned with pride, before ultimately buying a Maruti 800! I feel a bit sad that I never got to drive one of them, and the chances of my ever doing so dwindle lower as each year passes by. I hope to at least get to drive an early generation Zen, as those cars the epitome of coolness when I was a high schooler

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob

Strong low-end grunt for city usage- Check
Clearing speed breaker in 2nd gear- Check
Climbing steep incline with 5 people and luggage- Check
Triple digit speeds- Check
Consistently high fuel economy- Check
No overheating- Check
1-1.5 lac km+ longevity- Check
Cheap to maintain- Check
Easy to repair- Check

What an engine !

*Based on my 25 years of ownership from early 90's to late 2010's.

Despite the modernness of the M800 in comparison with the HM Ambassador or the Premier Padmini, or the flatter-to-deceive Premier 118 NE, the fact that Maruti had a most excellent service network all across the country, and that spares were truly easy to find gave people the confidence to simply go and buy it, even if they'd zero experience with cars before that.

Originally Posted by Newtown

30 years back my aunt and uncle from the US used to visit Mumbai regularly. Being ex Mumbaikars themselves they used to get into the thick of things as soon as they landed. This included borrowing our 800. Each time we'd meet them during their trip the first thing they would say - That car is so nice to drive and so compact in and out of Mumbai traffic. They absolutely loved the little upstart.

I can totally identify with the sentiment. The US has always had a love affair with ginormous vehicles, be it boat like sedans or monstrous SUVs, unlike the smaller and more practical cars in continental Europe, and it explains why they were so fond of the little upstart, as you put it.