Maruti A-Star review + test Drive disclaimer: this review is not meant to offend and defend ANY PROSPECTIVE A-STAR BUYERS, MARUTI LOYALISTS AND THEIR PEERS. this is my perceptual review.individual percetions may differ. if you like it, buy it and if you don't, please don't blame me for the review. maruti suzuki india presents
the making of a superstar
A *
guest test driver and touturer-sidindica produced by: competant motors, gazipur, delhi directed by: MSIL. review:not so early, read on... reel 1: looks- **.
people called it cute, chubby, stylish etc etc but for me, it looks ugly with those goofy eyed headlamps with that beautiful grill, bland sides with rear windows that thankfully rool down for the indian model to the big-tyres-on-a-small car look to the sloping rear windows which would make me claustrophobic to the disastrous rear end with the shape of tail gate which looks as if an alto was hit with a sledge hammer and al thats left was the flat opening and closing hatch door-so fragile that imagine what would happen if it gets rear ended with a blueline and with the door so close to the rear seat, rear passengers are a serious safety hazard. reel 2: interior: ***
good quality plastics, best fit and finish in a maruti car and the 2-tone grey interior looks good for a tiny car. thankfully maruti did not provide beige interiors which would look tacky. however, dor pockets were small and few cubby holes wee present as compared to zen and wagon-r.
one major irritant was the red illumination of the dashboard whic is truly a nightmare. small speedometer and dinky tachometer are design disasters. were they trying to imitate the fiat 500? reel 3: front space headroom:**1/2.
front space legroom:****.
rear space headroom: **.
rear legroom: **.
kudos for the front space legroom for 6-footers like me, even more than i-10. however, absence of a tilt steering and seat height adjustment is a disaster.
headroom is OK. but heads may be in damger of hitting the roof if a car is driven at a high speed over a pot-hole.unfortunately the good news ends here.
rear legroom is even less than an alto, and headroom is pathetic and this couples with small rear windowd, makes it feel that you are sitting in a claustrophobic cabin, even worse than a swift.
absence of a dead pedal is shocking.
whan will maruti learn to make spacious and comfy cars?? reel 4:boot space: *.
does this car really have a boot or just for the sake of it?
it's boot capacity is even less than an 800, leave alone an alto.
only one medium suitcase and that to on vertically position will fit, nothing else will. reel 5: engine at idle: ****
start the engine, at idle, even for a 3-cylinder is superbly refined due to DOHC aluminium cylinder hed and block etc.but again, the good news is over. reel 6: performance and drive: **.
yes, very disappointing 2/5 stars. expecting this to be an " all new all aluminium 12-valve KB series DOHC engine with 998 cc, 67 hp@6000 rpm and 90nm torque at 3500 rpm", this motor sounds good on paper but on the drive, a 3-pot motor can never match the smoothness of a 4-pot. this motor, dare I say, felt even worse than the 10-year old e-rlx santro motor, although 1.2 kappa is in a different league altogether.
wheelspins are easy ( i did 4-times) but the pick-up, in 1st and 2nd gears is lacking as compared to the hyundai twins and the engine has to be whipped to get it to perform.would anyone believe it that the motor is noisy and it labours to its redline like an alto!
poor low-end torque means like typical 3-cylinder suzuki cars, downshift is necessary.as speeds build up, the engine becomes smother but still is noisy despite a sould insulator present in the hood (black padding).
in fact, the engine exhaust note and sound is the same as an alto.
has suzuki gone wrong with their recent motors? or has hyundai kept improving for the better? reel 7: gearbox: ****
perhaps the only saving grace: smooth shifting short throw gearbox is sweet to engage and the ratios are even, save for the awkward gap between the 2nd and 3rd gears. reel 8: ride: front: ***, rear: ***
for the size, the car provides amazing ride quality while sitting on 155/80 R13 tubeless tyres. front passengers have reasonable amounts of comfort over small rough surfaces but on high speeds, the ride tends to get skittish wit the risk of head hitting the roof when the car goes throuh pothole at a high speed.
rear is even worse. at low speeds, suspension soaks potholes efficiently but at high speeds, the isolated trailing arm coil spring suspension begins to show it's limitations with ride being bouncy and crash through potholes with the car getting unsettled on a really bad road.
this car should have independent rear suspension with telescopic shock absorbers, this type of shockers provide btter ride quality and is present in the alto, not in the A-star. reel 9: handling:** 1/2
EPS always has its limit. steering feel is numb, artificial and the car does not respond to direction changes as well as a santro does and light feel of the steering makes it feel disconnected from the wheels. i-10 is slightly better, but the santro is still the car to beat when it comes to steering feel for a city kei-car. reel 10: stability: low speed: ***, highway speed: **.
no matter how aerodynamic the car is, its diminutive size means that at low speeds, its stability is great aided by the rear suspension design and tall profile tyres, but at high speedsover 90, it easily gets unsettled, especially when a versa passes by, also the same case when a santro, wagon r and i-10 pass by. reel 11: braking: ***(when equipped with ABS)
the demo car is ZXI with ABS and dual airbags.
brakes are pretty good but not as good as an I-10 asta.
peal feel is lacking and under heavy braking, the ABS light turned on 2 times, also brake fade was apparent after a series of 3 repeated stops.
the so-calld 13-inch discs on 13-inch wheels are good, but not great. reel 12: stereo: ***.
for a factory fitted unit in ZXI with 4-speakers, it sounded pretty good. it is mp3/wma compatible and also comes with an i-pod auxilary input jack.however, absence of a steering remote was a glaring omission. reel 13: final verdict: ** 1/2.
this car is overpriced for what it offers and the alto LXI for Rs 65,000 less than an A-star lxi is clearly a better deal despite the alto being 9-years old a compared to the brand new A-star.
for VXi and Zxi, for the equipment they offer, they are pretty well priced.
i had a lot of expectations from the a-star. however, after a 45-minute drive on all types of roads, i am truly disappointed with MSIL t come out with a product which is not exactly a big step ahed of alto, and the asking price tag is still too steep for me to say yes to the buying factor.
no doubt, it will sell in large numbers due to its all round combination of looks and best in class mileage (ARAI certified 19.57 kpl) and will be a hit with the young college going students, bachlors and newly married couples but for certain clientile, this car has a heart, not a soul.
only time will tell that what will be it's future in the long term in India, but who cares since india will be sole production and export hub for the A-star and for Maruti, earning foreign exchange and putting india on a world map is what that counts and kudos to MSIL (after Hyundai India) for that.
in case i missed any point or feel that my review is biased, all opinions are welcome. |