Team-BHP - 2010 Maruti Alto K10 : Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenDay (Post 2027762)

Hello Team,

I'm planning to gift a car to my son on his b'day which falls on middle of next month. My options are Alto K-10, Hyundai i-10 and Santro Xing. I would appreciate if you guys help me in arriving at a conclusion.

These are the major features I am concentrating on,
Preference:
- Easy parking.
- Hassle free driving in traffic.
- Performance.

I would suggest the base BEAT model but if i had to choose among your three choices, i would put my money on the i-10. I was all 'gung-ho' about the K10 till i saw it in the flesh and was quoted the OTR price for the VXi and i was rudely awakened to my senses, which was almost RS3.70lacs for a 13-year old design with a clammy desi middle class makeover and shabby ergonomics!. Forget about the K10 and the Santro(long past it's sell-by date). Cheers!.

Quote:

Originally Posted by im_srini (Post 2011137)

The i10 Kappa is still faster to 100 Kmph no ?

Attachment 399438

Granted the i10's handling is nothing to write home about, but so is the Alto's, on stock tires. It rolls & understeers quite a bit when pushed, you'd need much stiffer dampers & wider tires to make the Alto handle well.

What would you recommend in terms of a suspension upgrade for the k 10?

i feel the suspension is a little too soft. there is only so much wider rubber can do.i'm running 175/60 r 13 A 539's on it and the suspension is the only thing letting it down:Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sutripta (Post 2031258)

Hi,
Does the K10 version have a temperature gauge?

For people who have used/ driven all four, how will you rate the AC of K10, A*, i10 kappa, and spark?

Regards
Sutripta

The K 10 does not come with a temperature gauge now, It has some sensor which is supposed to light up a warning light on your dash if and when the car should overheat. i hope this clears up your query.

i haven't driven any of the other cars so cant compare but i've found the ac of the new k 10 to be brilliant, especially since there is hardly any noticeable power loss with it switched on as compared to the old alto 0.8.

cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by airbender (Post 2031697)

This is an article from HT:

Alto K10: Much ado about nothing? - Hindustan Times

Some of you agree, some of you disagree. Bring on your views.

Quote:

This Alto flatters to deceive. The new engine does give it more substance but there is no radical change in driveability.

This guy must be kidding - or may be he didn't TD the car after all. The K10 beats the hell out of almost every car one segment above and he says this. There is no let up, it just keeps pulling till 120 kmph and this guy says there is no radical change in drivability. Wonder how much he got paid to write that crap.

Quote:

At just Rs 3 lakh, the car will outsell the competition, but performance-wise, it may be a missed chance for MSIL.

He probably TD'ed the K10 after a stint in the Bugatti Veyron.

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno (Post 2032528)

From my TD, driveability (city) was the main improvement I saw over old Alto. And ofcourse a/c effectiveness.

I doubt his "will outsell the competition" part due to the price. IMO, the old Alto will provide the numbers, with K10 selling much lesser comparitively. OTR for VXi should not have been over 3.5lakhs - maybe discounts will follow once sales figures come in.

I got the K10 last Sunday the 8th of August. For Metallic VXi the OTR was Rs.3.5Lacs.
- Ex Showroom : 3,19,166
- with 3rd yr warranty : 3,20,956
- Registration etc : 13,537
- MCD Parking charge : 2,000
- Insurance : 10,289
- Handling Charge : 3,500
- - O T R 3,50,282

I reduced the price by 1790 by not taking the third year warranty. I have been a Maruti customer since 1991 - M800(91), M800(96), M800(98), Exteem VX MPFI(2000), Baleno Lxi(2005). Till date none of the vehicles required any warranty claim. In fact barring regular oil change the only maintenance required is Brakes at around 40,000 and clutch at 60,000. I have yet to come across such low maintenance cost vehicles.

As the K10-LXi has only reduced non-essentials (Tac, Power Windows, Rear Tray, Fog Lights), one has to pay only a premium of 3,06,166 - 2,81,100.33 = 25 thousand over Alto-VXi mettalic, well worth the price for a better engine and excellent AC

Quote:

Originally Posted by headbanger (Post 2022165)

Just trying to put the views of some t- bhpians to figures and Looking for a solution to my dilemma:

Three cars I am looking at: Alto Lxi 800, Alto K10B Lxi, Santro GL
(Please note that I have not put in the precise figure quotes but have rather rounded off the figures)

All your valuable suggestions will help.

Pricing of Alto Lxi 800

Ex show room price- 282000
Free Insurance- 9000
Complementary Accessories 6000
Complementary third year warranty 3000
Corporate discount 2000
-----------------------------------------------------
Total discounts 20000

Pricing of Alto K10B Lxi

Ex show room price- 320000
Paid insurance- 10500
Complementary Accessories 0
Complementary third year warranty 0
Corporate discount 0
-----------------------------------------------------
Total discounts 0

Pricing of Santro Xing GL

Ex show room price- 350000
Free Insurance- 11000
Complementary Accessories 7000
Complementary third year warranty 2000
Corporate discount 2000
Cash disount 5100
--------------------------------------------------------
Total discounts 26100

Now in this case Santro GL and Alto K10B are almost neck to neck. And hence my confusion.

Decided to book Santro. Will book this weekend!!!

@Aroy, road-tax is quite low in NCR, which is why your OTR comes at 3.5lakhs. In Chennai that would be 10% of ex-showroom cost ie. 31K against the 13.5K you paid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy

I reduced the price by 1790 by not taking the third year warranty.

As far as Maruti vehicles are concerned, the 3rd year warranty is just a way for the dealer to make 2K. I also go with only the standard manufacturers warranty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilMonSter (Post 2031609)

What would you recommend in terms of a suspension upgrade for the k 10? i feel the suspension is a little too soft. there is only so much wider rubber can do.i'm running 175/60 r 13 A 539's on it and the suspension is the only thing letting it down:Frustrati

The Alto is a hard car to upgrade, you'd be hard pressed to find any 3rd party vendors with performance parts for it. Which, in essense, relegates you to universal upgrades or upgrade of parts shared with other cars in the family. Suzuki-Sports carry some nice parts for the HA22, but it's next to impossible to elicit any response from them.

Anyway, my Alto's running 13" Plati rims, 175/60R13 A539s, stock springs, & Pedders BlackGas Touring struts. These struts are actually for the older generation Alto (the Zen here), but fit the Alto without any modifications.

These struts have improved handling a lot. Body roll is a lot more controlled now, & there's a huge improvement in composure when changing direction quickly (think slalom). The car still understeers at the limit, but the limit itself has been moved quite a bit further (no issues turning with a wide-tyred Swift).

On the downside, the ride is much much harder, you'll be forced to tip-toe around potholes & slow down considerably on broken pavement. For 7 years I had not a single squeak or rattle, but with these struts, within 3 months almost all interior trim had been shaken loose :D

Another thing is that wear is markedly higher, especially of the front tires. At less than 25K Kms, my 3-year old A539s needed replacement due to excessive wear (hardly any tread left) - in comparrison, the stock Bridgesones (S322s ?) lasted 45K Kms. For a while I ran 165/65R13 GoodYears on the same rims, but switched to Yokos after several issues with them, particularly, slow punctures due to poor tire/rim sealing.

Despite these shortcomings, I'm pleased as punch with my setup because of the huge increase in cornering grip. If the surface is good, corners can be mighty fun :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by im_srini (Post 2036123)

THanks for the info,i i'm going to be looking into the pedders struts upgrade.clap: just let me get the running in donestupid:

My review is a bit of a deviation from others and may not be inline with others but here goes.

Sat in an Alto after almost a year and remembered all the stuff I liked and hated about the car. The redesigned front seats to liberate rear space is a disaster. Now I can't fit inside the Alto anymore.

The gearbox is horrible, worse than before. The vibrations are lesser, suspension is better but still skittish and the noise is the same inside of the engine.

The performance is way better but I was disappointed. Now there's no low end torque at all and the car needs to be revved to extract the performance out of it. Move it will but only when you show it the stick. You cant potter around like before in 2nd or 3rd gear.

In short after owning an Alto for 4 years I wouldn't go for another Alto even with this new K10 version.