[GTO]

Originally Posted by Anand123

I think the main reason why diesel hatchbacks are not launched with A/T is that, people who buy diesel hatchbacks are more concerned about running costs.

Disagreed. If anything, the fuel efficiency of diesels is less sensitive to automatics, hard driving and high revvs. E.g. : A Skoda Laura gives 11 - 12 kpl in the city. However I drive my C220, the FE doesn't drop below 10 kpl (from its usual 11.xx figure). On the other hand, I've frequently seen 5 - 6 kpl in my OHC Vtec (after hard driving).

Fact is, diesel AT hatchbacks make a whole lot more sense than petrol ATs. A petrol AT hatch won't give you more than 7 kpl in the city. Diesel AT will easily delivery 10 kpl (if not more).

[ACM]

Agree totally with GTO

My Laura AT gives 11-12 kmpl in city. The Laura At gives a better millage than the Manual

Typically AT gears tend to be 1 less than the manual so if an accord (2003-2007)has 5 gears in the manual form then the AT would have 4, If the cielo manual had 5 gears than the AT had 3 gears, the I10 AT too has less gears than the manual. This impacts the effeciency of AT, but in case of Diesels due to better torque the impact is reduced, and of course the new trend is to have same or even more gears in the AT compared to the Manual resulting in even better effeciency.

[shamanth]

Yes Santro AT is always 4 speed and cars from Maruti stable was 3 speed. My Santro Xing AT gives 10kmpl in bangalore city and upto 15 kmpl in highways. If people driving MT drive AT they might feel pick up is down and mileage is too low, but once you learn how to get maximum torque and maximum mileage in AT vehicles, you wont feel much difference. It all depends on how you floor your accelerator pedals.

[shatrughna]

I have a Santro AT. No LPG or CNG options ever offered, In fact they had stopped selling AT in end 2007 , again sold a batch around March 2008( coinciding with Women's day celebrations) and again stopped.

Overall , its a good car. Yes 4 speed AT. Peace of mind and negligible servicing costs.

Average FE- 10-11 kmpl (mixed city and highway- Navi Mumbai -Mumbai commute that I used it for approx. 6 months). Mumbai -Pune drive- approx 13.5-14kmpl.

Fill it and run it type car- imho.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by GTO

Fact is, diesel AT hatchbacks make a whole lot more sense than petrol ATs. A petrol AT hatch won't give you more than 7 kpl in the city. Diesel AT will easily delivery 10 kpl (if not more).

I guess that's the worst case!
But diesel AT hatches do make more sense as they would result in better FE than their petrol counterparts. But the initial cost might put off customers (diesel preimum + AT premium)

Originally Posted by shamanth

Yes Santro AT is always 4 speed and cars from Maruti stable was 3 speed. My Santro Xing AT gives 10kmpl in bangalore city and upto 15 kmpl in highways. .....

It all depends on how you floor your accelerator pedals.

I get the same type of mileage from my i10 AT - and yes, its heavily dependent on how you drive it.

Originally Posted by shatrughna

I
Overall , its a good car. Yes 4 speed AT. Peace of mind and negligible servicing costs.

Agreed!

[architarora]

the Santro Eco was always available with a manual transmission, it never came with an automatic transmission.