[Dippy]

Congratulations on your new Spark. It is the perfect car for the city. Black looks great and nice pictures too. Does the LS have only front power windows? Since you will doing Mumbai Pune runs in this one, it would be nice to know how she bahaves on the highway. Do update this thread with your experiences.

Drive safe.

[rageshgr]

Great interiors! The beige just gives an upmarket feel!

[vijaythacker]

sparkled, congratulations on your new spark, surely its a VFM and yes that super silent cabin and engine along with more roomier car comes as added package with spark.Nice pictures as well.Keep updating and enjoy driving her.

[NIP]

The beige interiors look smashing !!

[SPARKled]

Hey thanks all!!
@Dippy: Yes the LS only has front power windows and the difference between the LS and the LT was mostly cosmetic and only the central locking and rear power windows are things of importance missing in the LS IMHO.

I have already done 3 Mumbai-Pune trips within the last 10 days. The car is superb on the highways and frankly I did not expect it to be so good. Comparsions with my Ford Ikon are inevitable and let me tell you the difference between these is not much. The car is very stable cruising along the expressway at 80-100 kmph and is not affected by cross winds at all. Maybe it is an issue at higher speeds but I did not check. It does not lose direction nor does it require constant corrections even when passing over those concrete block joints and uneven patches of road at high speeds. The steering is very responsive and I can clearly feel the surface that I am traveling on with feedback on the steering wheel. I found the A-star pretty numb especially in steering feedback. I encountered a traffic jam on the ghats while coming to Pune and the little S-Tec mill did a pretty good job of rushing in to fill those gaps before the others could take them. Body roll is pretty well controlled and the ghat twistys were encountered with a lot of confidence and at same speeds that I usually tackle with my Ikon.


@Fordmanchau :I drove the A-star twice and thought the interiors were pretty good. I was given the top end ZXi to test both the times. The front seats were pretty good but the same cannot be said about the rear seats. Space is surely a rare commodity at the rear but its not as bad as some people have led us to believe. Boot space is only for light bags and briefcases. The sound system was pretty sad and I don't know why people buy cars with such pathetic sound systems. Also this is pretty well integrated with the dash so I am not sure if an after market system can be fitted. The car is quite noisy on the inside compared to the spark and there is also a little vibration that sneaks in when idle. I test drove it on palm beach marg and thought it was at least as good if not better or worse than the spark at high speeds. The steering feedback though was absolutely absent and so I wasn't aware of the surface I was traveling on which is pretty important to me. Its brilliant on my Ikon and much better on the Spark. Also I felt that I needed more corrections on the steering wheel when driving on a bad patch of road at decent speeds. The gear box is silky smooth and much better than whatever I have driven from Maruti including the Swift. The suspension set up felt taut and hard which I thought would give an edge to the A-star in handling but after having driven the Spark on the highways I think the Spark is at least equal if not better here. I thought the doors closed with a better reassuring thunk on the A-star than the Spark.

But is the A-Star Better than the Spark to command almost 50K more (Spark LT vs A-Star VXi) for the Maruti name and A.S.S, I leave it for the readers to decide. As for me I prefered to pay just the fuel bills for the next 3 years.

[Fordmanchau]

Hey Sparkled thats a pretty good write up their. So basically reading your comments, Sparky wins hand downs on better pricing, spacious interiors, good peppy engine, steering response, highway stability, etc. Good to know that, and yes the 3 yrs no maintenance cost offer is definitely a clincher for General Motors. Hope other manufacturers also follow suit so that we people can benefit. Nice to know to you are enjoying your spark and well when you are comparing its handling with the Ikon, it should be really something.

[SPARKled]

Well yes!! The handling of the spark surprised me for sure but I don't want anyone to think that the handling of the spark is right up there with the Ikon. What I meant was there isn't a huge difference as I had expected. At about 100kmph the Spark starts to make you aware of the speed that you are traveling at, but the Ikon masks this speed very well and is good enough for about 120-130 without a fuss. Also the new engine of the spark is still a bit tight and I sorely miss the tachometer especially due to the silent cabin. The Apollo Accelers of the Spark are way superior to the noisy ZVTS of the Ikon which does cause a lot of tyre noise to permeate inside the cabin.

[abhi1309]

Nice writeup, the black color with beige inside is just very very upmarket to look at. I love the Spark, its natural I have had a Matiz since 2000. You can drive it for a decade without any major expense. Just make sure the regular services are done. The front suspension is a bit delicate and that will start showing in about 3-4 years, so just don't be too hard on it. You will enjoy the GMDAT experience.

[Mpower]

Congrats, the 2 tone interiors look really cool. Can it be had with any exterior colour?

[tanwaramit]

nice writeup, good pics, excellent color choice. Though maintaining this color is going to be the biggest pain (I also own a black car - santro).

Can you post some pics of instrument cluster ? some close pics will help, especially the one where hand brake, engine oil lights glow, I think it is at a different location than instrument cluster !

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Since you will doing Mumbai Pune runs in this one, it would be nice to know how she bahaves on the highway.

Oh no problems at all with the Spark on highways. I had a tough time chasing it on the NH4 and it took the curves and bends smoothly like my Zen. Member @Harishnayak would vouch for this.

[SPARKled]

@Mpower: Yes the beige interiors are standard across all variants and colors.

@abhi1309: If it lasts that long without any issues I will be happy. I have had front suspension noises coming from all my cars including my Fiat Uno and Ikon within 3-4 years.

@tanwaramit: Yes I will post some more pics of the instrument cluster along with all the warning/indicator lights soon.

[Joy]

Congrats on your new car. The black colour really looks cool with biege interior. Enjoy your new ride.

Wish you a very happy and safe driving.

[blackasta]

Nice car SPARKled !
Take good care of her, black beauties are dust and dirt magnets. I know this truth in my 2 whole days of a black car ownership !!

[shantyrocks]

nice pics maan!
congratz!
lovely bright interiors too