[spiritofmars]

Nice review. The K10 is an awesome car ; I've done 30k kms in the 1 year I've had it, with a mix of city and highway driving. It's a reliable pocket rocket that easily embarasses cars 2-3 segments above. And don't underrate its highway capabilities - I did the Manali-Leh drive last year in it, and I plan to do Leh 2014 in it as well. Wish you many happy miles in this little thriller of a car

[Utopian]

Nicely penned down.
Have briefly driven my friend's orange brown K10 (loved the color) and it was a hoot to drive in the streets as well as on the highway. Wishing your cousin happy journeys with the car.

[KMohanan]

Excellent Review. Thanks.

In my last 25 years after buying my first car Maruti 800, I owned nearly 20 cars. At present, my favorite car for office going and coming back (30 kms + 30 kms daily) is my ALTO K10 VXi. Power, Smoothness, Economy, Looks and VFM made me land on to this choice. I am in love with my alto K10 !

[josejoseph]

An excellent car by Maruti and can be considered as the right successor of the jelly bean Maruti Zen.

On the other hand I feel since this is a new car (well it's more than 3 years after launching), Maruti should have really offered this with ABS, air bags and rear wiper/de-fogger.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

A I wonder why Sid says it lacks low end grunt, but I was more than happy about it. It felt so much better than the Alto my bro-in-law has. In fact, I felt it was better than my F10 Waggie.

I think this may be due to the running-in of the engine in your rental car.
I have driven Alto K10 in city (took delivery from showroom for someone and also driven it around at 3000 KM mark). If you press the A-pedal gently, nothing happens. This is with just the front seat occupants and no luggage.

Driving back-to-back with my 1996 Zen, I preferred the Zen over the K10 from drivability perspective.

Probably things change after 10000 KM for the low end.

However, once the car is crosses 20 or 30 kmph mark, it literally flies.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I think this may be due to the running-in of the engine in your rental car.
I have driven Alto K10 in city (took delivery from showroom for someone and also driven it around at 3000 KM mark). If you press the A-pedal gently, nothing happens. This is with just the front seat occupants and no luggage.

Possible. I might have floored the throttle more often, just to enjoy the K10 experience.

While on this, I have driven a K10 WagonR owned by member pvs, and I agree that it lacks low end grunt when compared with my F10 WagonR. But once it crosses 2000 rpm, it literally flies.

Based on that experience, I might have floored the throttle to extract the maximum juice out of it. And as the Alto is lighter than the Wagggie, I might not have felt the lack of L.E.T.

[Ashkait Kapoor]

A different style and interesting write up there. Enjoyed reading!

Originally Posted by sidindica

The suspension is caliberated well but the car rides on 13" wheels with 145/70 tyres,......

Are you sure about the car having that tyre size? I always thought the car came with 155/65s. The review also says that.

We've got two alto k10s(vxi) in the extended family one of which sits in my house, both these cars have 155/65 tyres which came stock.

[999]

Originally Posted by sidindica

The 3 Bs of responsibility. Band, baaja and baarat.

Hi Sid,
Nice to see you after a long break. Great review and nice pictures. I cant see the reason why Maruti cant offer Air bags /ABS even as an option to this car. the spy pictures previous to launch, showed cars with airbags. At the end Alto K10 is a very powerful, nimble and frugal car with zero safety.

[sidindica]

Originally Posted by Ashkait Kapoor

A different style and interesting write up there. Enjoyed reading!



Are you sure about the car having that tyre size? I always thought the car came with 155/65s. The review also says that.

We've got two alto k10s(vxi) in the extended family one of which sits in my house, both these cars have 155/65 tyres which came stock.

Thanks for pointing it out AK! Asked for corrections to the mods.

[apachelongbow]

What is the absolute top end speed for this car? PM me if you dont want to share speeds on the forum. The old Alto 800 has given out 'interesting' speedo readings when on full chat on the expressway, needless to say, it has shocked bigger cars, the kinds of Mahindras and older Tatas

[joybhowmik]

A totally VFM car. My BIL owns one , he bought his Alto in 2006 or thereabouts, and after eight years it's still running fine.
The only mod he had done on it is installation of a gear lock. Incidentally , this addition paid for itself a few years ago, when a thief managed to break open the door, but could not drive the car away because the gear lock was in the way!
Other than the door locks which needed to be replaced, and a set of new tyres & battery along the way, touchwood , there's been nothing else done to the car.
With increased seniority in office comes status, and somehow the Alto was not gelling with his new position and what his colleagues were driving.
But, he continued to remain loyal to it, and maintains this car as his only ride.
I would say the Alto has been a commendable successor of the illustrious M800!

[Ashkait Kapoor]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

The old Alto 800 has given out 'interesting' speedo readings when on full chat on the expressway, needless to say, it has shocked bigger cars, the kinds of Mahindras and older Tatas

Could you share with us as to what top speeds the old alto 800 has managed. Or else where can I read about it?

I have one and I've only driven it at 100 tops. Never really got a chance with the kind of roads here.

[bullrun87]

Originally Posted by Ashkait Kapoor

Could you share with us as to what top speeds the old alto 800 has managed. Or else where can I read about it?

I have one and I've only driven it at 100 tops. Never really got a chance with the kind of roads here.

I have managed to take my old alto 800 up to 140 kmph. You do require a lot of straight road to get there. But I feel an alto should never be driven above 100 kmph for safety reasons.

[KMohanan]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Push the throttle, slot the first and the car shows its inherent weakness-weak bottom end grunt. I have a habit of upshifting early, but stop and go city driving calls for frequent downshifts. In fact, the engine needs to be whipped at 2000 rpm to make it to perform.

I fully agree with sidindica. I have driven my new alto for 8500 kms. Its low rpm performance is disappointing. Alto K10 is not the choice if you want a car for city start-stop traffic. It is best suited for reasonably good roads where you can go in 60-90 kmph speeds. As a general rule, you will love its pick up (except in fifth gear) above 2000 rpm !

I have chosen K10 since almost 90 % of my office going 30 kms is 4 lane where the chances of direct collision with another vehicle coming in the opposite direction is less.

In my office route, 80 % of the distance, I can comfortably drive in 60 - 100 kmph speeds. Except for overtaking etc, I do not drive above 100 kmph for safety reasons.

[sidindica]

She stands at 3,719 kms as of now. Seven hundered and nineteen kms in a month is quite a lot. And so, the smiles after miles after miles. My cousin's confidence inspiring drive continues, and the car just looks like what an alto k10 should look, no surprises here, because, no news is good news.