[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

One advantage of AT for beginners (even some veterans) is the fact that it does not slide back on slopes (eg., when waiting to climb up a subway or on a gradient) - it stays stuck to the road due to the forward 'creep' balancing the pull of gravity backwards.

My wife reminds me of this every time I make her drive my accent. On a slope when it goes backwards she always says "see that wouldn't have happening in the A*!"

[supremeBaleno]

Yeah, so while I hate the "creep" feature & wished it were not there in AT cars, this advantage makes me tolerate it. :-)

Not even an year ago, I could have sworn that AT cars are boring. But today, after driving the A* occasionally I have started liking the freedom - wish I had the car here in Chennai, where it is sorely needed, given the traffic.

BTW, while I do come across i10-ATs once in a while, i20-ATs were never spotted till this week, when I spotted 2 cars on 2 consecutive days - one in Blue and another in white. Looks like ATs are slowly gaining customer acceptance. So, when would MSIL bless us with a Swift-AT ?

[B103]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, while I do come across i10-ATs once in a while, i20-ATs were never spotted till this week, when I spotted 2 cars on 2 consecutive days - one in Blue and another in white. Looks like ATs are slowly gaining customer acceptance. So, when would MSIL bless us with a Swift-AT ?

Me too. I drive an AT in Bangalore and I have evangelised my father also to own one. In my opinion, an AT is a must in the crazy Bangalore traffic.

You might be knowing that Maruti is in the process of coming up with a new Swift. It will have the AT variant. However, I feel that Maruti is using the same 4 speed AT gear box in cars ranging from from A-Star to SX4 to new Swift, with some tinkering. I checked the specs of Suzuki cars sold in Westen countries and found out they are running on the same 4 speed AT gear boxes.

Kizhashi is different though. Most probably, Maruti would have developed a new AT gear box for that car.

Even Hyundai has the same profile -- i10, i20 to Verna all run on the same 4 speed AT gear box. A 5 speed AT is desirable.

[supremeBaleno]

Yeah, I read about the new Swift coming in AT. That is indeed good news. And if they give it in diesel too, then that would be a first - no diesel AT hatch yet.

Aah, Kizashi. A nice car screwed by bad pricing. If only it were CKD and offered at Civic/Cruze prices or just a bit higher, I would have gone for it.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Yeah, I read about the new Swift coming in AT. That is indeed good news. And if they give it in diesel too, then that would be a first - no diesel AT hatch yet.

Can you post the source? I have never heard about the new Swift coming with automatic in India. If it is true, it is is indeed a very good news.

[supremeBaleno]

IIRC I read this on the newSwift launch thread on tbhp. Not sure if it is a sure source or "expectation" from tbhp-ians.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

IIRC I read this on the newSwift launch thread on tbhp. Not sure if it is a sure source or "expectation" from tbhp-ians.

Checked a international review. 4 speed automatic is only offered on Petrol. So, not too exciting.

[pgsagar]

Does an AT ever stall? I mean under hard braking, for example you are driving at 60-70 kph in 4th and suddenly someone darts across and you stomp on the brakes. What happens when car screeches to a halt? It gears down to 1 or the engine stalls, unable to shift down so fast?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Does an AT ever stall? I mean under hard braking, for example you are driving at 60-70 kph in 4th and suddenly someone darts across and you stomp on the brakes. What happens when car screeches to a halt? It gears down to 1 or the engine stalls, unable to shift down so fast?

AT will never stall. There is a hydraulic coupling between the engine and the wheels which lets the engine to run even when the wheels are stationary.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Guna

Checked a international review. 4 speed automatic is only offered on Petrol. So, not too exciting.

Given that we have way tooo limited choices in AT, it would be good even if we got it in petrol. Ofcourse, getting it in diesel would be great, though doubtful.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Given that we have way tooo limited choices in AT, it would be good even if we got it in petrol. Ofcourse, getting it in diesel would be great, though doubtful.

I agree, even petrol AT is still welcome. I believe there is still significant untapped market as we can see from i10 example (almost one in every four i10s I see in Bangalore are automatics).

[agbenny]

Is there a comparison between i10 AT and AStar AT? test drive comparison report would be great.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by agbenny

Is there a comparison between i10 AT and AStar AT? test drive comparison report would be great.

Before zeroing in on A-Star, I searched, too. But having found none, I did my own comparo and settled for A-Star. i10 is better-featured but it costs nearly 75K over A-Star. More importantly, many users reported poor FE in i10. I find A-Star very very cute and adorable and sporty so I went for it. But then there are some who just can't stand A-Star's looks. It's an individual thing. Also, I have noitced that A-Star upshifts very quickly as you drive away. This helps in better FE. Comparatively, I was told i10 lingers a little longer in each gear before upshifting, thereby effecting its FE. Do a test drive and decide for yourself. Do not be swayed by others' opinions. Listen to your heart. When I was about to book A-star, some of my wife's relatives who own i10, tried to persuade me to buy i10. But I would have none of it. Went ahead and booked A-Star and am very very happy with it now.

I did some stupid arithmetic initially and thought my A-Star returned 16+ kmpl. I was elated. But later it turned out, it was actually 8+ ( I had doubled up FE owing to my miscalculations ). But now after getting the hang of the car, and after 20 days running and after checking and re-checking my FE, I have found the FE to be 12.73 Kmpl ( in-city, with aircon on all the time ). I think it's pretty good.

[humveeguy]

Hi team-bhpians..

Finally Im booking an astar, thinking that AT will be helpful for my wife in bangalore traffic and more safer. It was a very hard decision across Beat Diesel, RitZ and Astar AT. I have few queries:

1. Between white and Red color, which one can one choose. Will Red color fade away ? It 3K more for the white version.

2. I see only 2 speakers are provided. Are there outputs from Head unit to support 2 more speakers. Is it possible to put them under rear seats.

3. I have a subwoofer + amp, is there a way to connect to the HU in this small hatch

4. Im wondering why the 5th gear is not there. Is that the reason it will extract max 17kmpl whereas the the manual transmission get 5th gear and 19kmpl .

cheers
Humveeguy

[Guna]

Originally Posted by humveeguy

4. Im wondering why the 5th gear is not there. Is that the reason it will extract max 17kmpl whereas the the manual transmission get 5th gear and 19kmpl .

cheers
Humveeguy

It is a 4 speed AT. While more number of gears result in marginally better efficiency, main reason for the AT version to be less efficient then the manual counterpart are:

• traditional automatics use torque converter, which is a hydraulic coupling which saps some power
• Automatics are also heavier (at least 40-50 kg) then the manuals.
• Automatics seem to change gears too often and tend to go to the lower ears. For example, in a manual geared car, you would pass a road hump in second gear but the automatics will shift to first gear at that speed.