Engine
The K Series 1.0 litre is a nice revvy unit. Sounds like the good old M800 MPFI without the rough engine note. Good torque to power car from rest but not enough to induce kickdown at times. Engine is in exact tune as the manual.
ARAI Fuel consumption is 17km/l as opposed to 19km/l
None of us managed to get that figure. Our very enthusiastic driving saw us get approx 12-14km based on what we refilled. If the car is run in and driven in moderation, 15 is achievable.
Transmission
Four speed box. This is new and a refreshing change from the 3 speed. Surprisingly customers were more bothered with milaege and not the number of gears
Liked the lateral shift in order to downshift between 3-4. The ratios are so close, it does not make a difference in real life. There is a shift lock button which was supposed to prevent the selector from moving. We could not get it to work. The foot brake detent was more effective. More about the gears in the On the Road section
On the Road
Test Route
Surajkund - Agra - New Delhi Airport
Got quite comfortable easily. Slotted into Drive and the car engaged promptly and took off. This was in the peripheral area of Delhi and change up was not bad left to its own devices up to 40km/h. Brakes were pretty soggy and feel-less unless I realised the car had done only 47km and brakes needed a bit of bedding in.
Faridabad highways were pretty congested and the car did nifty job of slotting in. It was in its element and performed well, As the road cleared, the A-Star's strengths and flaws emerging.
High speed stability was impressive. I say this since I normally drive a Skoda. It was stable and took potholes in its stride and refused to get upset. We could cruise around 110-120km/h without a problem. The car clocked a maximum of 145km/h according to the GPS. It takes a while from 100 to get there and that is its limit from a noise and handling perspective. It is fairly refined upto 100km/h but our car had an annoying vibration when accelerating from rest. The other cars did not have this.
Steering is a doddle in town, you can turn on a sixpence. Although electrically powered, the feel is decent. Tracked well during fast sweeping bends. There s a hint of understeer though when pushed..
Midrange acceleration- 50-70 km/h took 10 sec
Brakes - We only got to really sample them halfway through since they had not bedded. They felt a little spongy but effective. We had to brake hard at times on uneven surfaces nd the cars stopped in a straight line.
The Box - Shift action is easy. When driven on a light throttle, it responds, slowly but not too leisurely. The lag is not as bad as a Nissan Versa that I drove recently. Kickdown from rest, the car, takes off from low and quickly shifts to 2 then 3. There is a facility to laterally shift between 4 and 3. In real life, it was not that effective due to the ratios.
1 and 2 are low and close, 3 and 4 are very high and close. This means a big gap between 2-3. Exiting Delhi, the car was in third and only went to fourth at around 60. With the slow moving traffic and our press on attitude, we ended up overriding and using second a lot. Kickdown was not bad in my opinion. It is slow to react but it compensates by being overeager to shift. one thing I liked was, unlike other small automatics, it did not whine as much.
From 100, we found that engine braking was not possible to prevent transmission damage. Heaven help if you have dicky brakes.
Air Conditioning - barely adequate - it had a tough time coping with Delhi heat. Sunfilm will be required. Performance was markedly more peppier with the air con switched off
Defining Moment - On our return leg, we went via Sonah and Gurgaon. The roads were brutal and we had to drive through water which covered the wheels (even had to stop due to a queue). The little A-Star merely enjoyed the wash. Brakes took a while to dry out. My passenger sat in the back and had mashed his internals due to the choppy rear ride.
I found the car at its best, cruising at 80-100 and leaving the transmission in Drive
Conclusion - The car is at its best in town or a ring road when driven at an undemanding pace. If you want verve or brio and want to beat the clock, this may not be the right choice. Your significant other or mother will like it. It can never be an only car but it is a great commute car, rear seats are for occasional use though. For a Rs 30000 premium, it would be a good choice.
Note: Team-bhp was invited to test the A-Star and all travel and hospitality was borne by Maruti