[Ricky_3007]

Hi Friends,

I am sharing my experience wit New Gen WagonR 2013 - CNG .

After owning M800(Aug 2006) for last 7 years then Swift DeZire for almost 3 Years and also a complete rebuild of Jeep Ex Army (MM550-4X4) it was my wife's turn to lay hands on a 4 Wheeler for specially for her.

I was very sure to go for CNG varient this time for very obvious Economy reasons.

I was considering to convert my M800 on CNG . It was supposed to be used by my wife. It had run 145 K kms in last 7 years and yet no Engine work / overhaul etc. I had lot of discussions with CNG dealers / Maruti Technicians and few of my friends. It was matter of about 20K for engine work/overhaul/Suspension work etc and around 30K for Open/Close loop kit and RTO endorsement extra. So net net it was + 55K. I was bit hesitant on putting 55K to 60K on 7 year old(145K ODO) M800 to convert on CNG.

As we all know for last 4-5 months the Car sales is going down and down. In March there was a Maruti Loan and Exchnage Mela in Pune. I have a Maruti Dealer(Mahalaxmi) on ground floor of my office building. While just taking a stroll after lunch I and my Friend entered the Maruti Showroom and enquired about CNG vehicles. There were 3 options - Alto 800 , Estilo and Wagon R.
The disccount offers were pouring in due to Gudi Padwa - 30K Cash Disc + 3K Corporate Disc + 20K Exchange bonus(If exchanged a car) = Total 53K + there was a scheme of 11 Silver coins of 5gms Each.

I decided to give a serious thought to my plan of M800 conversion to CNg or to go for new CNG vehicle.

Discussed a lot with my wife and took her to the showroom. She liked Alto 800- CNG just because of looks and small car feel. Then I showed her Estilo which she did not like. Lastly I showed her WagonR CNG. She was bit cautious before giving me her decision because the Car is bigger than Alto 800 . She is a newbie in driving so wanted a smaller car. After lot of discussions and TD/showroom visits , she got convinced about WagonR.

On initial visits

What we like :
1) Company fitted CNG
2) Proven Maruti Reliability
3) Space inside car
4) Low Hump at rear which gives larger flooring space
5) Good K10 engine
6) Low Running Cost - Due to CNG - Most Important

What we dont:
1) Small Tyres
2) No Luggage Space- This was considered so not a big problem
3) No Higher version of VXI available in CNG

We finally decided to go ahead with LXI - CNG varient. Now this dealer gave me a good value for my Old M800 which was running for last 7 years and 145K kms. He gave me 75K which I was also expecting.

After surrendering my old M800 and completing all formalities , I finally took the delivery on 11th April on an auspicious day of Gudhi Padwa. Before delivery I had a visit to Yard of the dealer for checking the CAR and I took our TB - PDI checklist alongwith me. The first look and PDI was satisfactory.

[Ricky_3007]

After taking the delivery its now 7500Kms till today I have done. I am sharing my experiances below:

Driving Experience: I have driven over 200K Kms (145K+65K) since last 7 years in M800 and Dezire VDI. The feel of Wagon R was completely different.
The Pick up in 1st and 2 nd gear is bit sluggish as compared to Dezire but definitely better than my M800. On third fourth and Fift gear it moves effortlessly and gains momentum.

This feeling may be because I have been using Dezire VDI over two years. If you carefully adjust your style with right gear shift and Tapping of right foot , you are fine!!
I found on running for more than half an hour and if you are on idle , the engine vibrate a bit more. I asked my friend who also has same gen Wagon R , he also feels the same.

On high ways , I did 2 trips to Mumbai on Expressway and 2 Trips to Kolhapur . Car behaves decent on highways. 3 occasions it was driven by me and once it ws driven by my brother. I found it was very much in control on cruising around 100kmph beyond this I was not very comfortable. Its because of the small tyres and tall boy design. Car gave me Average of 29Kms/kg when I was driving . I drive below 100Kmph on highways and my brother drives around 120Kmph so there was a drop in average to 26Kms per Kg . In city I get around 25 to 26Kms/kg.

How I calculate - I made a chart of Gas filled and no of Kms Run till Empty tank. This I have written over 10-15 gas Tank fills and no of Kms Run with 100% AC as it was full on Summer.
I calculated Petrol Average in a traditional way - When I visited Kolhapur where CNG is not available , I did a Full Tank and run the car for 3-4 days then on Half Tank indication I again did Full Tank and taken the reading . I got 19.5 Kms with AC. I did Petrol Average calculation only twice as I run the car maximum on CNG.

Visibility - I find A pillar bit obstructive while taking right turn or find it bit difficult while driving in pitch dark spotting a pedestrian walking or a dog coming to my way. I have to be careful in this.

Head light bulbs are good for anly driving in the city. I upgraded to Osram NB+ now its very good.

Taking reverse is not as difficult as my dezire and I have fitted the reverse parking sensors so not a big deal.

Gears are soft and now I am very well adjusted to the Gears and clutch / accelartion combo.

Breaks are decent and stops the car almost immediatly upon applying them.
Clutch is very smooth and does not have to press hard.

Comfort: I was thinking being a CNG cylinder fitted at back the suspension should be hard , but to my surprize its not that hard and runs smothly over potholes and bumps.
Due to its tall boy design there is considerable body roll but since the car is being used mostly in the city , its not a big issue.
Seats are comfortable.
There is enough space available for a small family like mine even though the entire boot space is taken up by Cylinder.

High roof gives much Airy feel inside and feels like sitting in a big car.
AC works fantastic even when it was full on summer and I had not tinted my windows with Sun films(Now I tinted the glass with cheapest Film).

Easy Ingress and egress is a plus point.

Features: One feature I like is Bottle trays in front of Air Con Vent . I tried this feature while driving to Mumbai and Kolhapur where the bottles became chilled. Coke/Redbull Cans also get chilled in no time. Only worry is few 1 Ltr bottle are are bigger than the tray socket.

Easy switch over from CNG to Petrol or Petrol to CNG. CNG filling knob given near Petrol inlet. If you open this inlet cap the engine stops. This is very good safety feature.

Does not have many features at ODO. No RPM meter or Engine Temp Indicator.

No Stock Fog lamp - Which was added by me later as Mod.

No Wheel Caps for CNG varient.

After purchase I did following MODS / ICE to my CAR
1) Fog Lamps -
2) OSRAM NB+ Head Lamps
3) B Pillar Black Out Tapes - 3M
4) ICE - Pio DEH 3590 , RockFord Comp Speakers at Front and 3Way Full Range Speaker at Rear
5) 4 Door Stoppers
6) DRLs
7) Sun Film
8) Reverse Parking Sensor - Acron
9) Paint Protection - 3M
10) Central Locking and Key Less Entry - Minda
11) Mudflaps
12) New Horn - Minda Trumpets
13) Damped fron 2 Doors till now.

Future Mods :

Flooring Lamination and 3M Nomad Mats
Seat Cover - Leatherite Fit , Steering Cover
Rear 2 doors and Boot Door Sound Damping
4 Alloy Wheels
Tyre Upgrade with Alloy Wheels

First Servicing was done at 1200Kms and the experience was not very good. I was getting this wobbly feeling when cross 60Kmph mark and had asked Service station guys to check but on TD after servicing I found the fault is same as earlier and they have not done anything. I complained to the Service Manager , he accompanied me for TD. He only drove the vehicle and found that it is due to mis-balancing. The wheel balancing is done again with fresh weights put in. The issue resolved. The Service charges for first service wereRs.300/- Only consumables(god knows which are these consumbales)

Second service was done at 6000Kms. Replaced Engine Oil and Oil Filter(Maruti does not say to replace) . It was my suggestion to change the Oil and Oil filter. No other problem was encountered during these 6000Kms so all other things were OK. The total cost for second servicing was Rs.2100/- Including Oil Change , Wheel Balancing and Alignment.

So far I am very satisfied with the performance of the CAR. I would rate my Car as follows
Reliability- *****
Economy - *****
Drive Experience- ****
Comfort - ****
Features - ***

Overall Rating - **** and 1/2*

I am attaching few more pics here.

[Rudra Sen]

Mod note: Thread moved from Assembly Line to Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports section.
Nice and crisp report you have here. Thanks for sharing.

[RonXRi94]

Congrats on your new car, the car looks great in white and im happy to hear you're highly satisfied with your waggie.
A friend of mine recently bought the same car, and he feels the mileage is a bit low. Driving in city roads after filling up the cng tank, the cng indicator drops one point after just 5 to 6 kilometers. It consistently drops, and manages to run only around 90 kms on a full cng tank.
At the first service, we asked MASS to look into it, after which they filled 1 kg of cng and went on a highway run to check the mileage. It ran for 36 kms on cng, before switching over to petrol. After service however, the car still gives the same ~90 km on a full tank, 70% city driving.
Is it an issue with the car, or is this normal? Would highly appreciate if you could throw some light on the matter

[S_U_N]

I don't know why there is no more than one reply to your thread.
But, congratulations! It is a wonderful city vehicle - my neighbour has the same CNG model but in Chocolate/ Brown colour.

Can you also post a list of good CNG pumps in Pune?

[W.A.G.7]

Hi Ricky, Congrats on your new car. The Wagon R is a good car, with spacious interiors, and especially good for city driving I feel. My only grouse with the car, is that as compared to the front overhang, there is almost no space at the rear end of the car. But it's a nice car after all. Is there an automatic option available in the WagonR? (Either with or without CNG combination) Did you consider any other CNG car as an option while buying this one?

[bluevolt]

Congratulations for your WagonR.

You made a wise decision by going with a factory fitted CNG car.

It is a practical, no nonsense car which is simply effortless to be driven in city traffic.

Wishing you many miles of happy and safe driving.

[Ricky_3007]

Originally Posted by RonXRi94

Congrats on your new car, the car looks great in white and im happy to hear you're highly satisfied with your waggie.
A friend of mine...


After service however, the car still gives the same ~90 km on a full tank, 70% city driving.
Is it an issue with the car, or is this normal? Would highly appreciate if you could throw some light on the matter

Thanks Ron,

I am extremely happy with my Car . On a full tank CNG I never got below 200Kms . This is after ~8.5Kg CNG filling. Which comes out to be 24Km/Kg. Now after Sept MNGL has increased the density of the GAS and the filling is more than 9Kg say..9.4-9.5Kg and now I get ~235Kms on full Tank so the mileage is same . This is in city driving with AC on.

If I go on Pune-Mumbai Expressway with light right foot - not more than 90Km/Hr , I get 30Km/kg and if I go upto 120KmPh then I get around 27/28 Km/Kg .

I hope this helps. I think you ask your friend to get the vehicl checked once again. My Waggy is due for a service of 20K Kms now.
Happy Motoring.

[Ricky_3007]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I don't know why there is no more than one reply to your thread.
But, congratulations! It is a wonderful city vehicle - my neighbour has the same CNG model but in Chocolate/ Brown colour.

Can you also post a list of good CNG pumps in Pune?

I am also little bit lazy in this thread. I am more active on RE -C500 and 4X4 Jeep threads. Thanks. I dont know which area you stay but few pumps like the one in Nigdi Bhakti Shakti/ Paud Road/Pimple Saudagar are good.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Hi Ricky, Congrats on your new car. The Wagon R is a good car, with spacious interiors, and especially good for city driving I feel. My only grouse with the car, is that as compared to the front overhang, there is almost no space at the rear end of the car. But it's a nice car after all. Is there an automatic option available in the WagonR? (Either with or without CNG combination) Did you consider any other CNG car as an option while buying this one?

Thanks WAG7 . NO BOOT Space was considered before buying. Currently I guess Maruti is the only company who provides factory fitted CNG vehicles. So All Maruti vehicles are equipped with the same CNG tech. Which is very good. It has New Alto800/ Estilo /Eeco in CNG options. In bigger cars they have SX4 and Ertiga.There is no Automatic option available in WagonR I guess.

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Congratulations for your WagonR.

You made a wise decision by going with a factory fitted CNG car.

It is a practical, no nonsense car which is simply effortless to be driven in city traffic.

Wishing you many miles of happy and safe driving.

Thanks BlueVolt. It is really an no - nonsense car. I have driven now 20K kms in 7 and half month . It runs like a butter. It saved a lot for me as I travel a lot. In City it runs very wel. It is big inside space but it is small for easy parking in Pune.

[StrangeWizard]

Originally Posted by Ricky_3007

Thanks Ron,

I am extremely happy with my Car . On a full tank CNG I never got below 200Kms . This is after ~8.5Kg CNG filling. Which comes out to be 24Km/Kg. Now after Sept MNGL has increased the density of the GAS and the filling is more than 9Kg say..9.4-9.5Kg and now I get ~235Kms on full Tank so the mileage is same . This is in city driving with AC on.

If I go on Pune-Mumbai Expressway with light right foot - not more than 90Km/Hr , I get 30Km/kg and if I go upto 120KmPh then I get around 27/28 Km/Kg .

I hope this helps. I think you ask your friend to get the vehicl checked once again. My Waggy is due for a service of 20K Kms now.
Happy Motoring.

What???? You get 235 kms on a single tank?

I usually get 130 and exceeded 170 only once. Under very hard and aggressive driving I get 100-105.

I wonder how do you manage so much? Maybe the quality of installation also matters here since yours is a company fitted sequential kit whereas I have a closed loop kit on my Spark.

However my cousin gets only 120 on his WagonR lxi which is the same as yours.

[RonXRi94]

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

What???? You get 235 kms on a single tank?

I usually get 130 and exceeded 170 only once. Under very hard and aggressive driving I get 100-105.


However my cousin gets only 120 on his WagonR lxi which is the same as yours.

120 is low don't you think? Thats an average of 13.3 km per kg. One would expect atleast 20 on a factory fitted cng vehicle. I can't give my opinion on your spark though, dont have much knowledge about retrofitted CNG kits

[Ricky_3007]

I did 4th Service of 20K last week in MASS. Changed following
1) Engine Oil
2) Gear Oil
3) Coolant
4) Brake Oil
5) Oil Filter
6) Air Filter
7) All 3 Spark Plugs

Did following things in Service
1) Brake Caliper Service
2) Strut Greasing
3) Throttle Body Cleaning
4) Injector Cleaning
5) Overall Service
6) Tyre Rotation
7) Wheel Alignment

Total Service charge is Rs.7000/-

After Service the pick up was sluggish and Car was not starting up in first Car if I start after few hours. It was due to the wrong Spark Plug Gap . As mentioned in SYRAVI's thread it should be 0.95mm to 1.05mm. In post service follow up call from MASS I complained about it and they asked me to come to correct it. I went and got it corrected immediatly . Fixed the GAP as 0.95mm and WHOA!!! Car again came back to its old Pick up and start .
After servicing I got the tank filled and calculated the Kms. It was 215Kms on a Tank full of 8.8Kgs so it is 24.4 Kms /Kg . Its 75% in city with AC driving. I visited Mumbai once where in I got 235Kms on a Tank Full which is again like 26Kms /Kg with full time AC ON from Pune to Mumbai(Mahim) and Back. Extremely Happy and satisfied with this performance.

Now ysterday I came to know that one of my OSRAM head lamp bulb has lost Upper point. Have to change the bulb now. But I guess I will shift to 100/90 bulbs with a Cut out & relay.

Regards,

[girishglg]

Came across your initial ownership thread and firstly congrats on your very sensible and practical ride. However was surprised at the last post on the 4th service bill which is no means very small!

Also let us know if the headlight upgrade was done and the difference in the performance from the earlier to now. Till then happy motoring!

[procrj]

Congrats on the ride and hope you have a long,safe & peaceful ownership. Surprised to hear you say that your gears are soft. Have read quiet a few ownership threads here and most complain about hard gear shifts.

Originally Posted by StrangeWizard

What???? You get 235 kms on a single tank?

Your F.E on CNG is excellent. based on your figures, your cost per km is about Rs. 2.5. I drive a LPG WagonR and my cost per km is around Rs.4. and now LPG in Bangalore costs more than diesel

[Ricky_3007]

Originally Posted by procrj

Congrats on the ride and hope you have a long,safe & peaceful ownership. Surprised to hear you say that your gears are soft....... complain about hard gear shifts.


Your F.E on CNG is excellent. based on your figures, your cost per km is about Rs. 2.5. I drive a LPG WagonR and my cost per km is around Rs.4. and now LPG in Bangalore costs more than diesel

Gears are really not so hard. These are good.

After 4th Complete servicing and all below changes , I am getting very good FE. Actually due to cold whether in Pune you get a good fill also while filling CNG. I got 242Kms in 1 Tank ful with 50-50 highway - City road driving ratio. even if it is 9KG fill the FE coming as 26.8Kms/Kg.
If I drive in city only , it drops to 24Kms /Kg.

I hope to maintain this for long. I have completed 22000 Kms till now and I am very happy about my Waggy .

regards,