[avishar]

100kmph in 5th is usually just a bit above 3K rpm mark,regardless of the how passengers,how much weight,the rpm at which a particular speed is reached in a particular gear will never change.

160 Kmph for 5 mins!Thats something,i would not try that on the K10 though,max i have done is 130 for 2 seconds.

Ok people,just came back from my first highway trip,details:

1.Trip was a roadabout 400 kms.

2.Fuel efficiency almost 20 kmpl.

3.Mix of 200 kms of good 4 lane,truck infested roads,100 kms of good 2 lane road,100 kms of terrible 2 lane roads.

4.Max speed reached 120Kmph,favorite speed of the alto is 80 kmph,will do it effortlessly,and stay there all day.

5.I did a very fast section for 50 kms at constant 90-120kmph including holding 4th at many occasions to try and reach a higher speed,so enthusiastic driving and my Fuel just nose dived to 15kmpl odd and one notch dissappeared.However decided to to stick to 80kmph there on,and for the next 80 kms the next notch did not budge.

6.Had to downshift to 4th to overtake the trucks on 2 lane roads,needs a bit of poke which is not there in 5th.

7.Very nice highway manners,at 90,the steering is firm enough,the car is stable,and confidence inspiring.However once you go above 110+ it does not feel so stable.

Overall,i had a brilliant highway drive and was fresh after the drive,no tiredness.

Was fun watching the odd Indica,swift trying to hard to catch up with me in 4th.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by avishar

100kmph in 5th is usually just a bit above 3K rpm mark,regardless of the how passengers,how much weight,the rpm at which a particular speed is reached in a particular gear will never change.

160 Kmph for 5 mins!Thats something,i would not try that on the K10 though,max i have done is 130 for 2 seconds.

6.Had to downshift to 4th to overtake the trucks on 2 lane roads,needs a bit of poke which is not there in 5th.

7.Very nice highway manners,at 90,the steering is firm enough,the car is stable,and confidence inspiring.However once you go above 110+ it does not feel so stable.

Overall,i had a brilliant highway drive and was fresh after the drive,no tiredness.

Was fun watching the odd Indica,swift trying to hard to catch up with me in 4th.

Next time try second or third for overtaking. You will over take in a jiffy. I slow down to 70 in fifth (the truck speed), then down shift to second and zoom past the trucks at 80-90, and then upshift to fifth. This has been my regular overtaking method in both the K10 and the Esteem.

[Yamahead]

@ Avishar- Theoritically its true that RPM doesnt change but I cross-checked and for the same speed it did vary. For eg, on NH 67 between Yallapur & Ankola on the ghats section to keep the car at 100 KMPH in the winding stretches, I noticed RPM varying quite a bit between 3000- 4000.
At the same time, between Krishnagiri & Vellore on the straight stretches, 100 KMPH cruising also meant a steady RPM of 3500ish.
Lets check it again next time I drive to Bangalore and we can meet at Bombay House CCD ( or is it Lavazza ) to compare notes; what say ?

Roy sir- thanks for the tip. We learnt it on the go while overtaking the lumbering giants.But I did the same thing in my Yamaha Rx 135 so downshift and twist/ squeeze the pedal is somehow natural to me.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Next time try second or third for overtaking. You will over take in a jiffy. I slow down to 70 in fifth (the truck speed), then down shift to second and zoom past the trucks at 80-90, and then upshift to fifth. This has been my regular overtaking method in both the K10 and the Esteem.

Is it advisable or even safe on the k10 (or any other 1.0L, 1.1L or 1.2L hatch for that matter) to be on the second gear while at 80-90 kmph? Would it not put any strain on the engine? And man, the sound of the engine on second gear at 80-90 kmph could well drown the sound of the truck that you plan to overtake!

The max that I have done on my Alto800 or i10 in the second gear is 30-40 kmph. By 40kmph, the engine sound is already very audible.

[Crazy4.Cars]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Next time try second or third for overtaking. You will over take in a jiffy. I slow down to 70 in fifth (the truck speed), then down shift to second and zoom past the trucks at 80-90, and then upshift to fifth. This has been my regular overtaking method in both the K10 and the Esteem.

Oops, thats not quiet right mate. try that with a present day diesel car's you could cause lot of damage to the gear box by downshifting from 5 to2.

5th gear at 70km/hr, downshift to 4 pick up speed upto 80km/hr and sudden downshift to 3rd gear pick up to 4k rpm and zoom past 100km/hr.

Now thats a perfect overtake, safe and most importantly no damage to the engine or gearbox.

Cheers

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Is it advisable or even safe on the k10 (or any other 1.0L, 1.1L or 1.2L hatch for that matter) to be on the second gear while at 80-90 kmph? Would it not put any strain on the engine? And man, the sound of the engine on second gear at 80-90 kmph could well drown the sound of the truck that you plan to overtake!

The max that I have done on my Alto800 or i10 in the second gear is 30-40 kmph. By 40kmph, the engine sound is already very audible.

The engine is a high revving one, just like the Esteem MPFi. You will not even hit the limit of 6.2K RPM at 90 in second, and you are doing this momentarily while accelerating, not as a sustained run. The older engines were not rev happy and you could never do what you can in a high revving engine.

Regarding down shifting, you do not down shift from fifth to second directly, except in emergency. You just do 5-4-3-2 or 5-3-2 as fast as you can, and with practice is takes a second or so. As long as the RPM; at the gear you are downshifting to; does not exceed the rev limit, you are safe. So downshifting from 80-90 in fifth to second is within limits of the K10 engine.

NOTE. This is what I have been doing for the last eleven years. Those who have have a doubt on the sanity of the maneuver, desist from carrying it out.

Originally Posted by Crazy4.Cars

Oops, thats not quiet right mate. try that with a present day diesel car's you could cause lot of damage to the gear box by downshifting from 5 to2.

5th gear at 70km/hr, downshift to 4 pick up speed upto 80km/hr and sudden downshift to 3rd gear pick up to 4k rpm and zoom past 100km/hr.

Now thats a perfect overtake, safe and most importantly no damage to the engine or gearbox.

Cheers

Sorry, my take was on high revving petrols. With diesels the torque would see me through with just one gear downshift or at the most two, and that too sequentially.

[JustCause]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Sorry, my take was on high revving petrols.

This is precisely the reason I refrain from a diesel buy. The maneuver you described above is vital to overtake battered call center cabs hogging the lane .Once you find the gap, it is but a matter of seconds & the cabbie is left clueless.

High rev of a 3pot is essential to scare off a certain breed of bikers who deliberately won't yield. Just the sound of a sprightly petrol is enough.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by JustCause

This is precisely the reason I refrain from a diesel buy. The maneuver you described above is vital to overtake battered call center cabs hogging the lane .Once you find the gap, it is but a matter of seconds & the cabbie is left clueless.

High rev of a 3pot is essential to scare off a certain breed of bikers who deliberately won't yield. Just the sound of a sprightly petrol is enough.

Or imagine
A truck going at 60 overtaking another one at 59. Add a two lane highway and you are stuck for ten minutes if cannot zoom past in a jiffy!

By the way, with a modern high speed diesel, you can take the advantage of the massive torque to rapidly accelerate on one gear lower - say a BMW or a VW diesel easily out accelerates our MUL cars.

The exhaust road of a K10 engine at 5K+ RPM, is enough to scare most of the bikers. I have watched amazement on their face when you zoom past then in the second at 70+.

[avishar]

Hello all,

K10 crossed 16,800 kms today,and took it for service because of a couple of niggling issue's.

1.Rubber beading was coming up on the RHS rear door,got that fixed.
2.The gear lever shroud(or whatever its called) had come out and got that attached back.
3.Recently i noticed a lot of vibrations at and above 70 kmph,coming through the steering and body,and realized the have to do the wheel balancing so got that done.All wheels were balanced and new weights put in.
4.Wheel alignment done.
5.A lose belt(water pump maybe)

Other things done in the service:

1.Engine oil and oil filter change.Last time this was done it was at 10K,i think i should change it every 5,000 kms?
2.Throttle body cleaning.
3.The full paid service,inspection,tightening.
4.Greasing callipers.
5.Topping up of coolant.

Entire bill came to around 3,500.

[Oreen]

Hi Avishar,

Good idea, really, to get it done every 5000 kms instead of 10000. My K10 has done 15500, just came back from Goa, and has a lot of new noises in its body. It did Goa-Bangalore in 9.5 hours, with top speed touching 150 at times and generally maintaining 130-140 in the Hubli-Bangalore stretch.
The rubber beading on the door has come off for me as well...and at high speeds the rear windows come down a few cms by themselves at times!

Is your clutch acting up? I drive a Bolero, so am not used to changing gears much in the city, but the k10 requires a lot of gear shifting in traffic. My clutch is probably wearing off, but I can't tell just yet. The first gear is also very difficult to engage.

Time for an untimely service, I guess, like your vehicle

Oreen

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Oreen

Hi Avishar,

Good idea, really, to get it done every 5000 kms instead of 10000. My K10 has done 15500, just came back from Goa, and has a lot of new noises in its body. It did Goa-Bangalore in 9.5 hours, with top speed touching 150 at times and generally maintaining 130-140 in the Hubli-Bangalore stretch.
The rubber beading on the door has come off for me as well...and at high speeds the rear windows come down a few cms by themselves at times!

Is your clutch acting up? I drive a Bolero, so am not used to changing gears much in the city, but the k10 requires a lot of gear shifting in traffic. My clutch is probably wearing off, but I can't tell just yet. The first gear is also very difficult to engage.

Time for an untimely service, I guess, like your vehicle

Oreen

There is no need to change the engine oil every 5000 km. Though you can adjust/inspect and wash.

If the 1st gear is difficult to engage, get the gear changing mechanism checked. As the gear is wire driven and not directly through a shaft into the gearbox, any misalignment will affect either the 1st or reverse (depending on whether it is too short or too long).

I doubt the clutch will wear out so fast. In my M800 in city traffic, the number of gear changes were same as in the K10 and my clutch lasted 40,000 km.

[chetanhanda]

Originally Posted by theMAG

The Maruti Alto K10 has been launched in India - priced between 3.03 - 3.16 lakhs (ex-Delhi).
What you'll like about the new Alto :

• Power! 67 BHP (68 PS) in a 760 kg kerb weight car. The Alto K10 will shame most A2 segment, and some B segment hatches too

This must be an interesting car to drive..something to replace my older 5 speed mpfi m800 with ..if I ever want to replace it.

[avishar]

Originally Posted by Oreen

Hi Avishar,

Good idea, really, to get it done every 5000 kms instead of 10000. My K10 has done 15500, just came back from Goa, and has a lot of new noises in its body. It did Goa-Bangalore in 9.5 hours, with top speed touching 150 at times and generally maintaining 130-140 in the Hubli-Bangalore stretch.
The rubber beading on the door has come off for me as well...and at high speeds the rear windows come down a few cms by themselves at times!

Is your clutch acting up? I drive a Bolero, so am not used to changing gears much in the city, but the k10 requires a lot of gear shifting in traffic. My clutch is probably wearing off, but I can't tell just yet. The first gear is also very difficult to engage.

Time for an untimely service, I guess, like your vehicle

Oreen

My problem is not with the 1st its with 3rd gear,sometimes feels difficult to engage,although i am not sure whether its my own incompetence or something mechanically wrong.Other than that gearbox is fine,the clutch does seem to be engaging sharply still,touchwood!

Yes the K10 requires lot of shifting,20 kmph is the threshold slow speed for 3rs,10 kmph is for 2nd and anything below that 1st is required,so is slow moving stop-go traffic,i have to keep shifting from 1-2-3.Although,dont mind doing so,i quite like the gearshifts.

Brakes are no longer as sharp as it was before,although thats understandable.

Does anyone of you like driving bare feet?I dont know but i find it more comfortable driving bare feet.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by avishar

My problem is not with the 1st its with 3rd gear,sometimes feels difficult to engage,although i am not sure whether its my own incompetence or something mechanically wrong.Other than that gearbox is fine,the clutch does seem to be engaging sharply still,touchwood!

Yes the K10 requires lot of shifting,20 kmph is the threshold slow speed for 3rs,10 kmph is for 2nd and anything below that 1st is required,so is slow moving stop-go traffic,i have to keep shifting from 1-2-3.Although,dont mind doing so,i quite like the gearshifts.

Get the gear shift mechanism checked and aligned. Similar slotting problems used to happen in the older Fiats and Ambassadors, where the gear shift was through a complex linkage, any shift in alignment and some gears used to be hard to slot.

As the K10 can easily travel at 4K RPM, I use second gear the most in B2B traffic. It is only when I have to go steadily at 30-35 that I use the third gear. Yes below 10, or 20 with AC the first is required, but except at sharp turns or in crawling traffic, second suffices most of the time.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by chetanhanda

This must be an interesting car to drive..something to replace my older 5 speed mpfi m800 with ..if I ever want to replace it.

If you can sort out the high-speed handling, this is one mean rocket that doesnt disappoint. That understeer and lack of any steering feel are the two most frustrating aspects that I remember in this otherwise great package.