[sai_ace]

Originally Posted by condor

The headlights on the A-Star were not good, and our car does not have the fog-lamps either. My wife uses the car, and even with her speeds (typically 40-ish), the lights were not upto it. The fogs would have helped light up near distance, but had never got to adding fogs.

The solution ? HID projectors into the stock head-lamps ! We got the projectors and dual-beam 55W HID lamps of 4300k rating. The projectors allow flashing too, and the lamps have a fast ballast for quick switch-on. The difference has been too good.

Looks really neat!! Request you to share the costs as well for the mod and where you got this done?

much thanks!

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by condor

Guys, can some one please share the location of the fuse for remote locking ?

(I have the owner's manual somewhere, but not able to locate it)

Sorry, didn't see your post. I've attached the owners manual.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by locusjag

But - this is 2020. The puny A-Star is dwarfed by bigger and furious vehicles on highways. It is not a slow car, but its pickup is comparatively slow when you look at the newer cars on the road. One tends to feel a bit scared of getting run over by an impatient Ford Endeavor! And it isn't safe - it only has ABS, has no airbags and has no crumple zones.

It's all in our head! I have driven my A-star AT on highways once, but it was only a 100 km trip. Perhaps you can start off with a smaller road trip? Drive on the left side of the road, and do no cross 100 kmph. It helps build confidence.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by mvadg

I cannot advise you on taking your A-Star to Ooty, but my experience has been nothing but fantastic. (And this was with the original CEAT tyres). The car grips and handles extremely well. I fact, it is so confidence inspiring...

No, I agree with you on the grip that this car provides. I love chucking it around corners at speed; it's like a go-kart for me, when I drive it after driving my TUV 300

I have full confidence in its reliability as well. My trusted FNG mechanic tells me that the A Star is built according to a higher standard ("Toyota standard" is what he said), whilst the Swift is built according to a lower standard ("Maruti Standard"). He tells me that this car is a keeper and it'll keep running well into the future. When we're in that absurd era where a hatchback costs nearly a million Rupees, yeah, this A Star is a keeper alright.

Originally Posted by SmartCat

It's all in our head!

I personally have a hard time keeping 'em nipping wolves at bay. I think that people see a small car and assume that the driver is a noob. They honk and nudge me out of the way! Whereas, my driving style remains the same even on my TUV 300 and no one bothers me at all when I'm driving the TUV.

[condor]

Originally Posted by mvadg

Sorry, didn't see your post. I've attached the owners manual.

Thanks, @mvadg. Didnt seem to find the fuse for the remote lock, though.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by condor

Thanks, @mvadg. Didnt seem to find the fuse for the remote lock, though.

I think these fuses are in standard locations for all Suzuki cars. (Not sure though). Aren't the functions marked on the cover of the fuse box?

Check out this video for the Alto

https://youtu.be/P1ZdSSyobvk

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by condor

Thanks, @mvadg. Didnt seem to find the fuse for the remote lock, though.

How about "Door lock" at position 16?

[avi550m]

I’m looking to change my 6 year old Michelin XM2s. The size will be stock 155/80 R13 since the car will mostly be driven in the city. I looked at prices around my area, and here are the choices:

1. Yokohama Earth-1: 3.4k

2. Continental CC5: 3.7k

From what I have read on the forum, both tyres are good in comfort and road noise, which is an important criterion.

Has anyone installed these tyres on their A-Star or any other brand and let me know which one you recommend (not going for the XM2s again since they are around 500 more than the Continentals).

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by avi550m

Has anyone installed these tyres on their A-Star or any other brand and let me know which one you recommend

I'm running Yoko Earth1 on my A-star. Tyre specs are 175/70 R13. No complaints or praises as such.

[locusjag]

I drove my A Star AT on the highway and on rattling bad roads for ~120 Km yesterday. When parking it at my home, I slotted it into reverse and it emitted a grinding noise. The parking is in a tight slot so I had to slot into D and R alternately 3 times and on each of those 3 times, when I would have my foot easing from its position down on the brakes and when I would slot into R, it emitted this sound.

I am wondering if -

A) The problem is with the front brake caliper, after my drive through 5 km of broken roads at 20 kmph. After all, like all A Stars, mine has been emitting the well known rattling noise from the front brakes on broken roads. And I was letting go of the brake pedal last night after slotting into Reverse gear when it emitted the sound. (I am yet to try slotting into R gear without having my foot on the brake pedal and see if this happens)

Or,

B) The problem is with the automatic gearbox itself (it's a dreadful possibility). I need to check the ATF dipstick and see if the level is low or if the color has changed. I had intended to get a full ATF change done but the pandemic came and put a stop to it all. The car drove like a dream on the empty highway yesterday. In forward gears, it goes like a rocket once it is into its 3rd or 4th gears.

Meanwhile, can anyone share if they have faced this problem?

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Diesel lover

I own a 1.2 dzire torque converter automatic which has an issue... Maruti says the ECU cuts off the air conditioning whenever brake pedal is released. I wanted to know if owners of A star torque converter AT also face this issue.

No, never noticed a/c switching off when brake applied in our AStar-AT.

Originally Posted by locusjag

...when I took her out on my office commute, I noticed that upon pressing the accelerator, it picked up speed along with an attendant rattling noise from the transmission.

One issue we have with our AStar-AT is a kind of ruffling sound from the rear (exhaust?) when you apply A-pedal heavily. Nothing to do with the transmission, but some loose fitting in the exhaust assembly.

Originally Posted by locusjag

But - this is 2020. The puny A-Star is dwarfed by bigger and furious vehicles on highways. It is not a slow car, but its pickup is comparatively slow when you look at the newer cars on the road. One tends to feel a bit scared of getting run over by an impatient Ford Endeavor!

There are 2 things here - the car & the roads.
The car : I have seen 5-speed M800s running rings around the Octavia on the Chennai MMST track - so just small vs big car doesn't say much. The AStar is a pretty quick car inspite of having a puny 3-cyl 1L engine and weighing as much as a Liva/Baleno. Am sure you know this, but ATs have certain differences with MT when it comes to overtaking (slam A-pedal down to the floor to enable downshifts). And ATs are quicker off the block & after slow downs, while MTs have to go through gears. These can be leveraged for better pickup.

The roads : I see you are at Chennai. So out of the city to Ooty, you have nice multi-lane highways. On these roads, its better to stick to the slow lane driving at decent speeds & let the big boys zoom past. The Astar is no match to the big cars on these highways. I drive my Astar in 1-lane-each-way Kerala highways which given the narrow & crowded highways are a big leveller - both an AStar and Endeavour will have the same abysmal average speeds here. But here, it is fun to keep the big boys on their toes.

Originally Posted by locusjag

My trusted FNG mechanic tells me that the A Star is built according to a higher standard ("Toyota standard" is what he said), whilst the Swift is built according to a lower standard ("Maruti Standard").

The AStar manufactured here was also exported to other countries, hence the better build.

Reliability has always been a Suzuki characteristic for all their cars and they don't have different standards for different models. Regarding "Toyota standard", since Toyota is sourcing the Baleno & Brezza from Suzuki to sell under the Toyota brand, its clear that there ain't anything magical called T-standard. Both are examples of Japanese reliability.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I drove my A Star AT on the highway and on rattling bad roads for ~120 Km yesterday. When parking it at my home, I slotted it into reverse and it emitted a grinding noise. The parking is in a tight slot so I had to slot into D and R alternately 3 times and .... it emitted this sound.

Here is an update - The ATF is at healthy levels as per the dipstick's 'Cold' and 'Hot' levels and the oil was partially drained and replaced only last year, so it looks good on the dipstick. I had then tried test driving it and the noise couldn't be reproduced. My FNG mechanic tells me that I shouldn't rapidly switch between the D and R gears the way I had. If I give it enough time between gears, this noise won't occur.

I've given it to him for long pending body repairs and painting and to fix the front brake caliper issue. And he told me that a link rod was weak so he's replacing that too. Otherwise, he has assured me that the car is in the pink of its health. I'm happy.

I am considered weird that way in my family - I feel happy to splurge on and pamper my cars. The norm is to do nothing for the upkeep of our cars in our immediate family circles.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Here is an update - The ATF is at healthy levels as per the dipstick's 'Cold' and 'Hot' levels and the oil was partially drained and replaced only last year, so it looks good on the dipstick. I had then tried test driving it and the noise couldn't be reproduced. My FNG mechanic tells me that I shouldn't rapidly switch between the D and R gears the way I had. If I give it enough time between gears, this noise won't occur.

I got myself a (actually this is my second one) Vgate iCar3 OBD tool and measured the ATF temperature on the BETL expressway - glad to report that the temperature never crossed 78 degrees Celsius. I've yet to replace my ATF again (replaced it earlier once and have unused ATF left for a second change).
Of course, I don't think we'll see real bumper to bumper pre-covid traffic soon to check the ATF temperature under really stressful conditions.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Our A-Star is a 2010 model done about 35K kms, running the original ATF oil. When it comes to vehicle maintenance schedule, I prefer to go by the book (car user manual). Since it is highly unlikely (due to very low usage) that our car will even do a lakh kms in 15years, I might change the ATF based on the years (not kms). Not decided when to do it though - maybe a few years down the line.

In a year since this post, the car did another 5K kms with the odometer at 40K kms in 10years.

As per the manual, the ATF is to be changed at 11years or 1,65,000kms, whichever comes first. Since 1.65L kms is no way happening, I was planning to get it replaced at 11years (2021), but got it done last Friday as the car was already having a big engine work done (will post details in the car's LTR).

On Sunday, did a long 100km drive & one change I noticed was that the gearshifts seemed almost seamless and way less noticeable than before. Earlier I could feel the gears shifting over, which is almost not there now.

Ofcourse, I don't remember now how it was when the car was new 10years ago.

[vsbabu]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

...
As per the manual, the ATF is to be changed at 11years or 1,65,000kms, whichever comes first. Since 1.65L kms is no way happening, I was planning to get it replaced at 11years (2021), but got it done last Friday as the car was already having a big engine work done (will post details in the car's LTR).

Hi, my 2012 A-Star AT has done 70K kms now. This weekend, me, wife and two children drove that up and down Bangalore-Coimbatore trip. No complaints and each leg took about 6 hours door to door with 15 min break. I really like this car. I had completely forgotten about ATF replacement, though mine is due only in 2022, thinking of getting it changed. May I know where you got it changed and whether that took regular daily service time only or you had to leave the car at service center? Approximately, how much does it cost - if you don't mind sharing that.