Team-BHP - Maruti A-Star review + test Drive

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidindica (Post 1060003)

reel 11: braking: ***(when equipped with ABS)

the so-calld 13-inch discs on 13-inch wheels are good, but not great.

How is that possible? How can they fit 13" brakes on a 13" wheel? Where will the caliper go? In the boot or dashboard perhaps?

Quote:

Originally Posted by palioman (Post 1060203)

The Palio launched in 2001 had all requirements in a compact, well built and safe car,looked smashing for its time and failed dismally, not due to aftersales but the all important "average". Or kindly explain how the Indica with equally dismal aftersales but crude diesel efficiency thrived.
For Christ's sake it even had ABS and airbags as options back then when most did not know their ABS from their ABC :).

Sour grapes!
Our family was the 1st to pick up a palio in cochin when it was launched. a 1.2 ELPS. we were forced to get rid of it because of the A S S and the poor availability of spares. FE was tolerable if driven in old man mode(12kmpl)
Our palio was very safe- it was hardly ever driven, it spent most of its life with us, waiting in the TVS garage,Cochin(AKA-Hellhole) for spares

Do not dismiss the Indica- it does everything its asked to do without fuss or fanfare.

I think thats enough going OT from my side.

The A star will sell because maruti seems to do its homework(Whats stopping Fiat from doing so?). And if the sales chart for the petrol looks good, wait till they come out with common rail diesels for the A star and the Splash.

Good review, actually thats the reason why I baught pre owned almost brand new Alto as my City car rather buying i10 (beyond my budget) and A star which I didn't like after stuyding it.

A Star is truely driver's hatchback I feel rather than calling it family car. I still feel people who need small car only for city driving and only 1 or 2 people in it would buy A Star. Other than that I prefer Wagonr or i10 anyday :) or much more cheaper Alto which is really indian VFM product. Actually this is the reason why MSIL is not going to face Alto I feel.

I guess 2 years downtheline they will study between A Star-WagonR-Estilo-*one more hatchback they are launching next year* and choose which one to phase out.

Or

They might phase out M800 or decrease price of M800 to Nano tarritory and position Alto in place of M800 and put A star in Alto's palce which would make more sense.

Regards,

Ravi.

great review sid; a bit critical, but from your review i've gathered the following:-
1. Car seems suited for singles/couples due to the lack of space @ rear n in the boot
2. Boot being small is a factor, but that would also depend on how much the owner would need to use the boot too.
3. The power and size of the car makes it good for in-city driving and maybe for the occassional long drive. I remember people taking the 800 on cross country runs.

Great review there Sid!:thumbs up

I was waiting for this car to hit the market and TD it to finalise a car for my wify! Your review is reconfirming my alternative option - the Alto! (Usage is only 30kms a day)

Anyways, one of the dealer has agreed to bring the car for TD in next few days time and so will decide after a thorough test drive of this one!

Waiting for you A*...!

Very well written review Sid. As expected many people are liking and disliking it. I am not at all surprised by your review. From the day i saw the first pic of A-star i hated its look (might add i didnt liked the soon to be launched Splash either - no offences).

Rear leg room space has always been the problem with Maruti cars, be it - 800,Alto,Esteem,Estilo or our own loved Swift! I think they must learn from TATA in this regard, really makes me wonder why the manufacturer ignores such a basic neccessity in all his models! Cant they understand more than 80% people dont buy car for only themselves but their family as well, pathetic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 1060960)

Rear leg room space has always been the problem with Maruti cars, be it - 800,Alto,Esteem,Estilo or our own loved Swift! I think they must learn from TATA in this regard, really makes me wonder why the manufacturer ignores such a basic neccessity in all his models! Cant they understand more than 80% people dont buy car for only themselves but their family as well, pathetic.

100%agree: with you on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 1060960)

Cant they understand more than 80% people dont buy car for only themselves but their family as well, pathetic.

I remember once reading about this interesting statistic - The average occupancy of a 4 wheeler vehicle (on road) in Delhi is 1.3! That was in 2004 or 2005 I read this and I dont think nothing has changed to challenge this. In fact this figure included the Driver in case of Driver driven vehicles!

Mind it, it is for Delhi. I dont know if it is true for other cities. Normally you see just one person in the car all around here!!! If mostly the car is going to occupy just one person/two people than it hardly matters how good the rear bench is(I mean if choice between say Indica and Astar!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 1060219)

Atleast you should give Indians credit for standing by their priorities - the Palio did not meet the first 3 priorities mentioned by you and Indians gave it a thumbs-down.

However, if you think it is only FE that matters to Indians, then Palio-MJDs should be selling like Swift-DDiS, which is not the case, right. So again, there is more to it than just FE. :)

Fuel Efficiency is very important for everybody. i went to BMW museum recently and in every car, they have mentioned fuel efficiency. they claim between 4.9 to 5.7 liters for 100 km for most of their contemporary cars. they close the Air inlet in front at high speeds to make the car better aero dynamic (since the engine does not require much cooling at higher gears)

Quote:

Originally Posted by joslicx (Post 1060974)

That was 4 years back and in delhi around you may see this as most office goers in the metros prefer using there own vehicles rather than public transportation(hence the mad traffic volume) - we are still ages behind in learning the car pool system in that regard. I dont have the statistics but am sure if the complete India is considered (am talking about the hatchback section mainly as middle class rules in this) then most people buy car considering their families.

That was indeed a realistic review buddy.

Everybody is talking about FE, agreed, but there has been a growing awareness among us Indians regarding other factors. Take for example, my uncle's friend who bought chevy coz he feels that its a strong car, which will protect him against his rash driving.

Also the T.V. and the internet [teambhp in specifically] have contributed more towards other factors than just FE, take for example the new Aveo - Uva adv [saif ali khan], its all about space.

:)And well its on to us - The Customers to let the manufacturer know the growing needs. Coz Customer is the KING and you need a decent, comfy, safe, FE set of 'Wheels' to suit personality and the pocket, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 1060960)

Rear leg room space has always been the problem with Maruti cars, be it - 800,Alto,Esteem,Estilo or our own loved Swift!

A part of the story lies in the fact that the Swift and the A Star were initially 2 door hatches, which explians the poor space at the rear to start with. How much more can you improvise?