[Pratzgh1]

Excellent review guys!

I was eagerly waiting for an official review. Although, in the midst of it all, I went in blindly and booked the Celerio Vxi CNG in White, which will be coming home next week.

I too am planning to go in for some aftermarket alloys but having stretched my budget from a second hand car to a Celerio + plethora of accessories, I am a bit skeptical towards the cost involved. Will definitely share my two cents on how the Celerio CNG performs.

Happy Driving

[guptad42]

Originally Posted by GTO

On very steep inclines, yes. You either keep accelerating or use the handbrake.

This sounds like a safety hazard.
Shouldn't it downshift to the right gear for the speed, instead of stalling like this?

suzuki should fix this and also implement ABS + hill hold on all AMT variants of Celerio.

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by Pratzgh1

Excellent review guys!

I was eagerly waiting for an official review. Although, in the midst of it all, I went in blindly and booked the Celerio Vxi CNG in White, which will be coming home next week.

Will definitely share my two cents on how the Celerio CNG performs.

Happy Driving

Congrats on the booking buddy. Please do not forget to post your review as I am seriously considering this car (CNG variant) and your feedback matters a lot to people like me.

[Pratzgh1]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Congrats on the booking buddy. Please do not forget to post your review as I am seriously considering this car (CNG variant) and your feedback matters a lot to people like me.

Thanks Abhi.

I will definitely update about my experience. Car has been chosen, but finding the right amount of balance between "wanted" and "needed" accessories is the real brainstorm I'm stuck in.

Have opted for almost no exterior accessories and channelized the same for getting my desired registration number and most of the interior goodies.

[ajayishanku]

Thank you Rehaan and GTO for this exhaustive review. . While waiting for this, I went through the process of deciding, booking and consequently driving 1200 kms in my brand new Celerio AMT.

I was shouting 'exactly!' Every now and then while going through this review. For anyone looking for an affordable automatic hatch in the market, to be used as a second car, Celerio AMT ticks all the right boxes. If you need a more complete hatch look elsewhere (ogle at the grand i10 AT if you must!).

For me, the VXi coming with no music system was the perfect opportunity to load up a pretty decent ICE setup. One thing I particularly love about the AMT is its tiptronic like manual gear selection (no more hunting for the perfect gear). Though to shift 'down', you have to flick the gear lever 'up' and vice versa. It makes power delivery predictable, unlike in D-mode where the cog shifts midway between an overtaking manouvre.

This light peppy car is fun to drive in manual mode and automatic is hassle free in traffic.

[Funny]

Excellent review, very detailed. Thanks to Rehaan and GTO.
Was waiting for the official review for a while, the review car looks stunning in blue with all the added accessories.
Celerio is true to its name, EZ Drive. Maruti never fails to fascinate us Indians.
We are planning to buy a Celerio AMT by 2015, I hope Maruti launches the ZXI variant for the AMT as well by then.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Sankar

The new one is called K-next engine.

Thanks! Corrected this soon after you posted.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

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

+

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

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 ?

Well, the Alto will be getting an AMT by the end of 2014. After that happens, it should be fairly easy to bolt on. The trickier issue will be the controls in the cabin (but they are just electronics, so it is possible).

Alternatively, you could retrofit a half-way-there solution like this.

Or opt for a eClutch system from bosch

Originally Posted by latentpotential

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.

In most cases (baring close to WOT and heavy loads) the upshift points would be similar to those mentioned in the review. What other info would you have liked to see?

Originally Posted by theMAG

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?

For smoothness, definitely the latter! Mostly because the gearshifts happen when you expect (or rather dictate) them in that case.

Originally Posted by agnimidhun

This seems odd and unsafe. Does it mean that one needs to constantly press the accelerator when driving uphill - or else, the car might slowdown and start rolling backwards?

+

Originally Posted by guptad42

Shouldn't it downshift to the right gear for the speed, instead of stalling like this?

Let me just clarify here (as well as edit the opening post to avoid any confusion): this does NOT mean the car shifts to neutral when you take your foot off the accelerator whilst going uphill. This also does NOT mean the car does not downshift - it only applies when lugging at crawling speeds (in 1st gear). The fact is that you'd have to be a horrible driver doing something terribly wrong to ever get into this situation. To put it into perspective, if you did the same thing in a manual car, the car would stall. In this case the AMT shifts to neutral to prevent a stall. It was just mentioned as an interesting / technical observation.

That said, it would probably be safer to stall in-place than to shift to neutral - however, the AMT is using the same logic it does when say, you try and drive ahead when there's a big rock in front of your wheel.

Originally Posted by e46

I would however, like to know if am allowed to, what took you guys close to 4 months to come up with this. I believe, this is the first time we had to wait this much.

Yes, it is. To add to what was mentioned earlier, we only ended up driving the car in April - and the next few weeks were spent dealing with Team-BHP's server move, which to be honest affects TBHP in a much larger way, and hence i had to prioritize that over the Celerio review.

Originally Posted by Kaumad

How did you arrive at the Transmission Efficiency values?

Source. Naturally they are a generalized value for each type.

Originally Posted by Kaumad

Further, "transmission efficiency" is of no consequence to the consumer, fuel efficiency is.

Since we were talking about the transmission in that post i provided energy efficiency numbers for better understanding of each type of transmission. For comparing overall fuel efficiency, there's already the ARAI numbers which consumers are well familiar with.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I got a bit confused with this one:

Ahh, i see what you mean here. I will rephrase that point. Thanks.

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

He shifted from D to M while driving and the car stalled for no reason. ... After a while he tried shifting it from D to M , the car stalled for the second time.

That's strange, and sounds like more of an electrical problem to me, simply because the act of shifting from D to M does absolutely nothing mechanically.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Also, does the MID display the gear information in D mode also ?

Yes, see here.

cya
R

[KPS]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Understanding the AMT better:

• If you're in Drive and pull up the handbrake (say, at a traffic light), the clutch will automatically disengage. This is far more convenient than shifting to Neutral each time you stop. To start moving again, you need to lower the handbrake and press the accelerator. If you don't press the accelerator, the clutch will remain disengaged and the car could roll forwards or backwards (depending on the slope of the road).

Coming from Coorg, this is a huge negative. Even with the manual gear I have seen lot of non-locals struggle to handle inclines in the hills.

• If you're lugging uphill (not pressing the accelerator) in 1st gear and the incline or load gets too much for the car, it won't stall like a manual transmission would. Instead, the AMT will just disengage the clutch and you start rolling backwards!

Normally such things happen very fast. The problem in modern cars is that when the is engine switched off the brakes become spongy with no bite, in the absence of hydraulic pressure. Hence the application of hand brakes is crucial. Owners should develop the habit of regular use of hand brakes

• Turning off the vehicle with the transmission in Neutral leaves you entirely reliant on the handbrake, when parked on an incline. We suggest you turn your Celerio off in either "D" or "R" instead, which will provide a secondary brake force (just like parking a manual car in 1st or Reverse).

If the car is in a down hill incline apply the "R" gear. If the incline is uphill then apply the "D" gear. Would also advice you turn the front wheels towards the curb, just in case the car rolls, it will rest on the curb.

Lastly, if you are largely an urban driver, please do not drive casually, if you take this car to the hills and drive steep inclines.

Cheers

KPS

[rana_kirti]

has anyone testdrove both the celerio amt & the grand i10 automatic ? which of the 2 will have smoother gear shifts and faster 0 - 100 acceleration ?

p.s I really hope team bhp does a automatic hatchback comparison/shootout, now that we have so many to choose from... :thumbup:

[archat68]

Originally Posted by rana_kirti

has anyone testdrove both the celerio amt & the grand i10 automatic ? which of the 2 will have smoother gear shifts and faster 0 - 100 acceleration ?

p.s I really hope team bhp does a automatic hatchback comparison/shootout, now that we have so many to choose from... :thumbup:

I've not driven the Grand i10AT but theoretically Celerio is better:
i) Grand i10 has a 4 speed gearbox whereas Celerio is 5 speed
ii) The Hyundai AT box are not so great and i10 AT has single digit FE figures. Celerio scores here too.

[Shanksta]

Took a test-drive of the Celerio yesterday at Khivraj in Chennai, the car had a positive feeling to it but I guess I am right in saying that this car is only meant for a relaxed and sedate driving style. The gear-shifts were jerky and slow in 'D', and when you depress the accelerator nothing happens and then once the gear engages you shoot forward, need to be a little alert while driving this car. In 'M', the car felt much better but still a little slow. But overall the positives outweighed the negatives and this small hatch shines through.

Funnily, while I was test-driving the car it ran out of fuel, and the Celerio is a light car to push to the side of the road.

[thedragonreborn]

Fantastic review as ever! A joy to read and boy, the details!

Thank you

[chandrda]

Excellent review as always, nicely done with all the details.

But, this thread has not grown as fast as the other car review threads.

Makes me wonder how well this car/technology has been accepted by the Purist.

Regards

[Atif]

Originally Posted by KPS

Coming from Coorg, this is a huge negative. Even with the manual gear I have seen lot of non-locals struggle to handle inclines in the hills.

Personally, I don't think its that difficult to handle. I am a non-local(Chennai), and visited Coorg in 2012. I found it relatively easier to drive than some of the steep hills in TN (Eg - Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu with 70 bends).

[KPS]

Originally Posted by Atif

Personally, I don't think its that difficult to handle. I am a non-local(Chennai), and visited Coorg in 2012. I found it relatively easier to drive than some of the steep hills in TN (Eg - Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu with 70 bends).

We are not discussing driving skills but from a safety aspect it a huge negative. As people stay in Home Stays across Coorg, internal roads in the estates to these Home Stays can get tricky as these are privately maintained.

The beautiful road from Suntikoppa to Madikeri has accidents almost every week as tourists do not understand or are not able to gauge the risks of driving in the hills.

This gear box is negative from the safety aspect if you are driving in the hills. Coorg is just an example my friend

Cheers

KPS