[aniketi]

Nice and detailed review as always. Maruti has a winner in hand, no doubt about that. AMT is clear winner here. What i like about Celerio is mainly AMT and internal space. It has plenty of space for sure, you get surprised with that. Much better than i10, Brio. Headroom, legroom is good for taller people as well. Overall nice product from MUL.

Advise to Maruti: Launch the AMT Zxi and Optional immediately and double the production of AMT & Z models. You can easily sell 10 K + cars every month for sure. Capture the market when its there, don't let it go is my advise

[Siddy]

Great review Rehaan!

I hope Maruti offers the AMT option on the swift & Ritz too. It would be a boon in the city traffic. I think the mass market would want a bigger and a more spacious hatchback like the Ritz/Swift to be offered with an AMT.
I've personally driven the Celerio AMT and its fun to drive

[noopster]

Great review Rehaan. As usual very comprehensive and covers everything a potential buyer will look for.

3 years ago if you'd told me there'd be a 4L vehicle in the market with AT and an MID, I would have laughed. It's a tribute to Indian automakers that they caught the trend in time and have started offering vehicles that would please the young urban (female) driver. The lack of safety features in the automatic variants is a silly policy that MUL follows but I believe ultimately market forces will make them offer that as well, across their range of models.

[hemanth.anand]

A TBHP review is a TBHP review...No matter how many other reviews I read, I don't get such details anywhere else. Kudos to everyone involved in this.

I can understand the amount of work that goes into it, but I would be happier if they come much more earlier (OT: monthly sales report too)

Coming to the car, after reading the review, the things that caught my attention

• I can only look at it when there are no other cars parked close by(except A-Star). Otherwise any other car would look better
• The lack of gradient holding definitely was needed. A newbie driver will panic with the "rolling back". Up to 3ft is too much!
• 18 Months waiting period!!! That's ridiculous. Apart from "Kitna deti hai" people should now start asking "Kitne din lagenge"

I have one question:
Can this AMT controller be fixed to an alto for example? (if space permits i.e.) If MASS provide this option, there would be many takers I guess

[Rakkum13]

Originally Posted by noopster

... offering vehicles that would please the young urban (female) driver.

Why would AMTs/autos please only female drivers? In the maddening city driving conditions, I'm sure many male drivers would also find it a convenient option. Great, detailed review though.Thanks Rehaan for the effort!

[W.A.G.7]

A good comprehensive review. The AMT is the USP of this car, and I think it would be very very convenient to drive it in the city with this setup. Overall, it fits the 'drive-in-the-city' bill perfectly; I have started seeing many Celerios here in Pune. This car is more suited for the city rather than the highway and I feel that for most owners ~90% usage would be within the city. Apart from that, the build quality looks good for the price of the car. I would prefer to take the base variant and customize it with a nice ICE, alloys, seat covers. Secondly I feel Maruti should at-least give ABS+Airbags as an option on the AMT versions. Nice to have would be the alloys and the music system from the ZXi version.

5* rating for the review. O.T: Isn't it strange that Maruti didn't invite you for the official review like other times?

[torque!!]

Awesome review, thanks a lot. A few things that Maruti must do rather soon:
1. Celerio ZXI AMT
2. Work with Fiat/ Magneti Marelli to localize AMT production
3. Diesel AMT. Perhaps a Ritz to begin with and then broaden the spectrum to all cars using the Fiat sourced 1.3L Diesel.

[latentpotential]

Excellent Review! Post one read, I would say the waiting time has been worth it indeed. The details provided regarding the AMT do indeed set all questions to rest. Perhaps, the only thing I would ask more, is an owner should put up a video log alongwith a torque or simlar application capture log, which would show the exact behaviour of the Magenti Marelli unit.

MSIL should seriously now consider providing at least optional extras for safety, whereby at least those who want airbags, ABS & EBD etc. should be able to procure the same.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

...
3) The lack of hill hold is a concern. I don't want the clutch to wear prematurely due to slipping. Will clutch replacement cost be similar to MT? Any pointers will be helpful.

As far as I can understand looking at the various reviews, it seems the clutch would be the exact same unit as the MT variant, since the gear box is the same, with a unit on top just to handle the clutch hydraulically, and select gears based on speed and engine rpm.

[theMAG]

Great technical review Rehaan, especially of the AMT dynamics. Couple queries:

1. Between the two - the regular driving gear-change energy sap observed and the suggested technique of slightly lifting off at 10 km/hr intervals to facilitate a smoother power availability during gear change, which offers more seamless power delivery?

2. Performance during AC load - any operational differences observed in the AMT operation?

[Slush_Traveller]

Excellent review Rehaan !

i am not sure, what will be the fate of the Celerio in the near future, but right now MSIL is doing what its known for at its best .i.e waiting period.
for AMT Celerio the waiting period quoted is minimum 8 months and for Manual its minimum 3 weeks, as per one of the Thane showrooms, one of my colleague is waiting for the manual top spec Celerio since 2 months but yet again the dealer is fooling around. who would want to wait for 8 months for delivery of a car, this is not a time where it takes years for delivery of a Bajaj scooter and you can do anything except waiting, MSIL are you listening ?

[RGK]

Nice and crisp review Rehaan.

The reliability of AMT will decide the market of Celerio in the longer run. Is cost the reason for Maruti to opt ZXi out?.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Great technical review Rehaan, especially of the AMT dynamics. Couple queries:

1. Between the two - the regular driving gear-change energy sap observed and the suggested technique of slightly lifting off at 10 km/hr intervals to facilitate a smoother power availability during gear change, which offers more seamless power delivery?

2. Performance during AC load - any operational differences observed in the AMT operation?

This happens in all automatic cars, CVT/DSG/Torque Converter/AMT. As soon as we ease pressure on "go" pedal, the car shifts up. Actually I do it all the time to coax it into higher gear for economy's sake, when crawling within city. On highways though, while overtaking, I keep it pinned until I am past the vehicle I'm overtaking and THEN I lift up to take it to higher gear. If mid-way we ease pressure on throttle, the car will shift up and overtaking task would be prolonged.

[srishiva]

I think the overpricing the manual (and not worrying about its sales numbers) might be Maruti's trick. I dont think for AMT this car is rightly priced. They could have shaved few ten thousands on the price. But then they are in business !

My A-star had this really nice tool holder on the sides of the boot with a nice cover. They have removed that in this car.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Look deeper into the engine bay, and you'll see a metallic box sitting on top of the gearbox:


This Magneti Marelli box has the hydraulics which operate the clutch & gearshift (instead of your limbs). The connection to the clutch lever (marked 5LA) is visible below:

Brilliant review !! Just one question though. What I understood was that Magneti Marelli box basically replaces the drivers left limbs.

So is it possible to make my normal MT car an AMT by just attaching the Magneti Marelli box to the transmission ? Is it practically feasible ?

Thanks in Advance

[DCEite]

Nice review.

I was hell bent on purchasing this car when i first test drove it. Coming from a WagonR and Spark background, the engine felt very peppy and the AMT was a breeze to drive, even with the slight pause of the gearshifts which was something i could live with.

However the long waiting periods were too much and finally decided to look elsewhere. I still rate this car very high as far as small cars are concerned.