Team-BHP - Review: 2nd-gen Maruti WagonR (2010)

Quote:

Originally Posted by shantanumishra (Post 1854763)

WagonR is an excellent VFM for Indian Families,

If the people are willing to buy WagonR in hordes and hordes each month, then you really cannot blame Maruti. It is delivering what people want, it is fulfilling their exact requirements,

Believe me, the practicality offered by WagonR is simply unmatched, None of the other cars can come close to it, Agreed that it has its own limitations, but tell me one product which is 100% fail-proof and without any limitations,

I had to carry a lot of construction items like Cement bags, Gravel, Iron Rods, etc because of my house under construction and yet it never fluttered even once, Just one service after all these episodes and it was like brand new,

it is the No-Nonsense car.

I doubt any other car like Beat/i10/Figo can match the sturdiness, practicalilty of a WagonR. Each car has its own share of Benefits and Limitations and one has to live with them, Remember you cannot have 100% perfection, It is still yet to come in this world, I would say it is much better to live with 90% success than 100% perfection as you will never find it,

well said,Shantanu.

The Wagon-R is one of the most practical cars on the road.

The only let downs here are the 3 cyl engine and the smaller boot ;everything else is spot on.

Guys, any idea on the *real world* FE of this engine ? Will 14-15 kmpl be an over-estimate ?

@ Extreme_Torque,

I can understand different people having different taste/preferences about a car. But your posts are suggesting a deep *bias* against this car (and Maruti in general), we know you haven't even seen it in person. Your posts are getting too repetitive now. Please.

Nice review Eddy.

IMHO the old Wagon R sold because of its practical, easy to use, drive about and of course it's a Maruti.

As mentioned earlier nobody bought a Wagon R because it was good to look at. And though I am disappointed at their effort at "redesign" especially looking at the cool Jap versions, I guess Maruti is justified in not spending money on factors that did not affect their sales in the first place. Rather they have strengthened the strengths of the car even further making it a more comfortable, spacious and well equipped place to be. The reduction in boot space is a bad move and might have an impact on users decisions.

Design wise I think the car actually looks nice till the headlamp cluster. To accomodate the engine they have increased the length of the bonnet area - the same thing done in the Zen Estilo and both of these cars look awkward in this area as a result.

I still think the Santro remains a better buy but the Wagon R may sell more :)

Drive on!!
Shibu.

Went to Varun Motors, Begumpet today. They had kept the new WagonR on display. I pretty much liked the exterior. Interiors of VXi were appealing. Rear leg room is certainly improved. After checking Vxi, the Lxi's interior was looking bland mainly because of absence of tachometer. Btw, ex-showroom prices in Hyderabad are quite high. 3.41 L for Lx. 3.72L for Lxi.

When asking for test drive, they told us that the test drive was not available, and would take a week time.

The new Wagon R puts up a question. Has Maruti done enough good with this car or has it gone a step back wards?
Lets try to get the answer .
Going by the practical view, Maruti has done well in addressing the major flaws of the older generation Wagon R.The ample interior space, good seat comfort, improved gear shift quality,convenience and safety features and of course the VFM pricing all of them make it a decent and practical city car.
However look at this in a broader sense and one can say that Maruti has been unsuccessful in presenting any path breaking product. The engine is a noisy 3 cylinder, the design is evolutionary rather than revolutionary,the boot space is sacrificied, and the overall quality doesn't seem to be ahead of the competition.
Blame it on the R and D.With around Rs.290 crores at its disposal , surely the company could have done better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by recshenoy (Post 1854496)

Eddy,

very nice write up. was team bhp invited by MSIL for the TD?

Yes, recshenoy. We were invited to the the Press and Media test drive event. Unfortunately, I could not make it to the launch event on 23rd since I could not take time out from office.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avi550m (Post 1854609)

Am I the only person here who found the looks of the old and, to some extent, the new WagonR appealing? .

You know what, you may be in the minority but you will definitely find like minded people. In my books too, the looks aren't that bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCEite (Post 1854784)

Guys, any idea on the *real world* FE of this engine ? Will 14-15 kmpl be an over-estimate ?

14-15 would actually be my bet too, especially in the NCR.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayjay (Post 1854132)

Eddy - can you please let us know if the foot pedals are more car like now?

Not sure what you mean by more "car-like", but why don't you take a look ? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCEite (Post 1854784)

Guys, any idea on the *real world* FE of this engine ? Will 14-15 kmpl be an over-estimate ?

I get 16-17...actually 17+ since last 2-3 months from my 3 yr old Wagon R. 100% city driving in Navi Mumbai. Its the old model, the one older than the curent outgoing one. So I expect this K10B engine to return atleast 18-19 kmpl.

@ Extremetorque.. just out of curiosity , what car do you own ?

It is better to LIKE something with a passion as opposed to HATING something with a passion, as you obviously do, the Wagon R.

You dont like it, ignore it . You getting worked up will not make MSIL withdraw the car from the market nor will it stop ten thousand people a month from buying the WagonR.

Wagon R is being sold only in India and Japan. Would the japanese sell something in japan which is a matured car market without having some merit to the product?

The height of the average japanese and average indian is very similar as opposed to the western population. So the design is especially adapted to the asian population.

I have seen many many wagonR's on the road but i am yet to see one which is rusting or in a very bad condition. So it is obvious that the car is made to some kind of standard and it also tells you that the people who go in for theses cars are not ignorant "lacking in understanding" and take good care of them.

This is in no way a car suited for the highway. So talking about small engine and body roll shows that you don't understand the car market. This is a car tailor made for the city with congested roads and traffic jams.

When cars costing 10 and 12 L show body rust within 6 months and have plastic parts breaking off, why pick on a car which costs 4L. If this car gives good service for 5 years it has done its job.

As far as "not being seen dead in this car" well this car is obviously not meant for people who attach any significance to what "Jhon, jhonny and janardanan" would say .

@ Anurag that is phenominal mileage for a city drive. It must be an exception and not the norm. The new wagonR with a claimed FE of 18.9 would give about 14-15 in real world conditions at the max, in city .

Nice detailed review Eddy clap:

The VXi sure seems a good option with a lot of the bells and whistles that are slowly getting to be par for the ,arket due to gamechangers like the Beat and Figo.

The new one seems to be better than the outgoing model, but I wish they had put in the K-Series or atleast retained the old one with changes for BS-IV. That 1.1 was quite a peppy engine for city use.

To the naysayers, the Wagon R despite the shape is quite a practical city car and a lot of my colleagues have told me they wish they had bought it instead of their Swift/alto/indica.
While I may not agree with them, that seems to be a popular sentiment with people around me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy (Post 1854863)

14-15 would actually be my bet too, especially in the NCR.

In my 2006 WagonR, I regularly get 14-14.5 in-city Mumbai mileage with the a/c on all the time on congested roads. The engine is responsive enough at low speeds so I just need to tap the accelerator a bit when driving in traffic.

nice crisp review Eddy.Maruti did thought to give better rear seat room and make it a better family car out taking its boot space which i feel is decent for a family for urban usage.Yes we all would always ask for more power, better drivebility but on normal usage i do think it would be good car to own for crowds looking to buy in this catogery.Pricing, better space, better equipments and maruti's *** would make this another success.
Eddy just one demand, more pictures please.:)

The ZXI model comes with 155/65 R14 . The display car had Apollo tires.

Seeing how a lot of Figo owners are having problems with apollo tires and also because the tires look really small in the wheel well, i was wondering of upgrading teh tires immediately after delivery.

Without going in for alloys , what would be the better upgrade , 165/65 or 175/60 . And also which manufacturer is a good option, Goodyear or MRF ?