5 months / 10000kms update:
It has been a while since my last update and to start with the car has crossed 10000kms and completed its 3rd free service recently. The last 5000kms was exciting with few interstate drives and lots of in city driving. The car has gained a bit of fan following among my friends, colleagues and even complete strangers for its looks, especially the combination of bright blue color, alloys, small dimensions and peppy drive. The car is my primary daily office driver covering 60kms a day both ways. For me the Alto K10+AMT is a perfect combo for any kind of city conditions, be it crawling traffic, narrow streets, tight parking spaces, reverse parking and quick overtaking. The engine has settled well with refined idle, linear power delivery under acceleration and ability to cruise at speeds over 100kmph for hours. I still find people surprised to hear that my Alto K10 is an automatic and they comment that automatic cars have poor fuel efficiency. Well, I have been proving them wrong all this time.
I highly recommend the Alto K10 AMT to anyone who loves to drive and does a lot of city driving and occasional highway stints without spending much from their pocket.
The AMT:
The Auto Gear Shift system is performing flawlessly with precise and quick upshifts and downshifts consistently. Almost 98% of my driving was in D mode because of the ease and convenience it offers in city as well as in the highway. The D mode is very well suited for the highway and the M mode is not really required to hold the engine in a gear or downshifting. Understanding the engine speed and engine sound is all that is necessary to predict the gear changes and accordingly work on the accelerator pedal to get a smooth gear shift. I would say, under normal driving in D mode the gear shifts are smooth and feels slightly quicker than a manual gear box. My daily office route has five large flyovers and two of them always tends to have stop and go traffic and the car does not roll back more than an inch even in the steepest condition and the best part is the engine cannot be stalled!.
Engine performance:
I have done couple of Chennai Bangalore trips and one Chennai Pondicherry trip. A special mention about the worst patch work done on a toll road between Chennai and Ranipet covering almost 80kms. This stretch of bad road is there to test your patience when you are coming from a smooth wide road all the way from Bangalore. During the Bangalore trips I safely maintained 110 to 120kmph whenever possible and the engine performance was impressive. The engine accelerates cleanly from low rpms. Only let down was the intruding road noise inside the cabin but the wind noise is controlled effectively.
Built quality:
Even though the body panels are made from thin sheet metal, the overall body shell and plastic parts are holding good. There was one squeak coming from the front left interior panel, it was eliminated after did a DIY of removing and refitting the panel. There is no rattling issue which is usually related to light weight Maruti cars at least for now. The body paint gives an excellent sheen even after a good wash with cloth and water. All the plastic interior parts including the indicator stalks, AC knobs, power window switches, dashboard and door panels has good feel and easy to operate. The stock headlight set up is doing an excellent job in illuminating the road ahead.
3rd free/10000kms service: The car completed 10,000kms in 5 months and 15 days. The service was done at Vishnu cars in Medavakkam on Sept 26. I reached the service centre at 9:00am and there were couple of cars before me. The service manager was able to quickly identify me and my car since I had the 1st service done with them and quickly assigned a service advisor. I did not have any complaints and the service advisor went ahead with the usual 3rd service routine. Overall service cost was Rs4182. Next service is at 20000kms.
1. Mobil1 0W40 synthetic engine oil
2. Oil filter
3. AC filter
The service advisor promised to deliver the car by 12:00 noon and I waited in their lounge. The car was ready for delivery at 12:30pm. There was lot of dirt between the door frame and body in all four doors and a cleaning guy was called and cleaned in the delivery area. Before giving the car for service I noticed tar like dirt on the lower body, splashed from the front wheels. The cleaning guy in the service centre said only diesel can remove the dirt and they don’t have it. I was not convinced with their lazy answer and took delivery of the car. Overall the service experience was good except for the washing/cleaning.
Went for a drive after the service and the engine felt a lot smoother and quieter. After the third free service I had the wheel alignment and balancing done at a tyre shop near my place. During my Chennai Bangalore trips I noticed that there was a considerable vibration in the steering wheel and seat creeping after 100kph. Just as I thought the aftermarket alloy wheels required weights and now the drive at higher speed is smooth and comfortable.
Positives:
>Easy to drive: The AMT makes driving easy and relaxed. Driving in heavy traffic is very relaxing.
>Engine performance: Quick acceleration, addictive linear power delivery after 2000rpm till 6000rpm, fuel efficient, feels reasonably comfortable even at 120kph at 4000rpm. Power to weight ratio of 91bhp/ton is equal to VW Polo TSI.
>Easy to maneuver: Small dimensions and excellent driving position makes driving in tight spots and reversing easy. Good all round visibility.
>Good tyres: The OEM Bridgstone tyres provide excellent grip even under hard braking and the tyre noise is acceptable.
>Powerful AC: Cools the cabin quickly even on hottest summer days.
Negatives:
>Cabin insulation: Excessive road noise due to lack of proper insulation. Pot hole thuds and small stones hitting wheel arches are highly intrusive.
>Brakes: Even though the wheels doesn't lock up during hard braking the brake feels spongy and lacks bite.
>No anti glare in interior and exterior RVMs.
Impressive bits:
Flared wheel arches: Though it is not that prominent, the wheel arches in the Alto is a neat design element in the otherwise simple side profile. The flared wheel arches compliment the offset wheels to a fair extent by improving the looks of the car.
Offset wheels:
They are the only aftermarket mods which prominently enhances the stance of the car. I have attached few pictures for this. Personally I like flared wheel arches and positive offset wheels with lowered ride height which gives the best stance for any car. The main drawback is when driving over water, excessive dirt from the front tyres reaches the side of the car.
Driver Ergonomics: Accessibility to all features inside the cabin from the driver seat is an advantage. Be it opening the passenger side ORVM, winding the rear windows, slide the driver's seat all the way back to reach stuffs from the rear parcel tray. The driver seating position and visibility is excellent.
Fuel Efficiency:
I don't drive with fuel efficiency in mind and I always drive with the AC not because I need AC always but to keep the interior clean from the outside dust. I prefer driving when riding bike is a simpler task. I always do tank full and I am getting an average of 16 to 16.5kmpl inside city. On the Chennai Bangalore trips the average was 18.2 to 18.5kmpl due to constant triple digit speeds and quick accelerations.
I like Ambi pur, it gives nice refreshing smell and I have tried all the fragrances except this Vanilla flavor. Vanilla smells, well too much Vanilla, its not that bad but every one entering the car gets puzzled with the smell for the first time. The smell is not refreshing, smells like a perfume shop. I don't suggest this flavor unless you already like it.
The old school antenna gets the job done.
The sculpted space in top of the dashboard has not much use unless if you are using a antislip mat.
The front seats provide good support even in long journeys.
The stock headlight assembly has good output both in terms of reach and brightness.
The OEM stereo has good finish and easy to use functions. It works overtime in my Alto. The aftermarket Pioneers and Ground Zero gives decent output.
The IRVM does not have anti glare function. Reflects a lot of bright light from tail gating vehicles at night.
The ORVMs are from Celerio. They are large and give good view of the rear.
Wish list:
1.Better cabin insulation.
2.Better handling and cornering capability.
3.More power. Well, more power is always a welcome.
Future accessories:
1.Rear roof spoiler.
2.Fog lamps.
3.Paint the headlamp bezels black.
4.Touch screen audio head unit. I checked the Pioneer MVH AV179 and still deciding on it.
5.Trumpet horns.
Dear Moderators: Please update the thread title as 10,000kms update.