Re: Maruti Wagon R CNG Review, 31,000 kms update and first breakdown Finally, I sold the car at Rs. 1.8 lakh.
Km :63,000
Bridgestone B250 tyres had around 8000~10000 km on them.
Amaron Battery was still under warranty.
For the good service it game me specially when the roads were flooded, or be it hot and humid conditions, always it will remain as a learning curve for me. This car was driven by my father, sister, chauffeur and me over a period of 7 years.
Due to dengue and then skin trouble post dengue, I barely used it in last 2 months.
Here is my final review of the car with odo reading 63000 kms. :
Ride and Handling : Handling is better than what you expect from such a tall and narrow car, but it can't break laws of physics. Staright line stability was good enough as long one is not pushing the car beyond 100~110 kmph.
Ride is good in urban conditions, and suspension wont crash through small potholes. Large potholes would make themselves felt inside the cabin. Lower tyre pressure and older tyres with not so good sidewall strength adversely affects handling. Felt this when stock JK were out of their expected service life. Changing to Bridgestones made significant difference to the driving dynamics.
Engine : Apart from high seating and easy ingress/egress, the other impressive part was engine. For a car built for urban operations, engine was happy at highways; an irony IMO. It wasn't a scorcher, far from it, but certainly K10 did have grunt. For a 1000cc naturally aspirated motor, top end grunt was good. I did enjoy revving it while overtaking on single lane highways. My usage did include running on highways too (highway runs had reduced over period of time). Reason why car had IDV of Rs, 2.34 lakh and insurance was due on 16-09-2017.
Engine was slightly noisier while running on CNG as compared to petrol.
It loved working hard, and driver had to put in efforts for extracting a bit of performance from it.
Typical Japanese unit. G10 was easily better than this but its long gone.
In urban conditions, poor bottom end torque = lots of gearshifts, this engine cannot pass the 2nd gear speed breaker test without clutch slipping.
Gearbox : Long throws, effortless shifting. Slotting in reverse sometimes difficult. Did job as expected.
Seats : One of the best seats in business for its segment. How many cars have adjustable front headrests in that segment ? And Wagon R LXi has adjustable front and rear headrests. Even after 7 years of usage, seat hadn't any sagging or any other concern. My Grand i10's driver's seat had sagging in 18 months/9000 kms.
A/C was a chiller. Did spent Rs. 4500/- last year. No complaints.
Headlights : Again, I found them to be more than adequate. Beam spread and throw was very nice. Bulbs took care of intensity, never installed wiring kit + 100W bulbs, but Philips Xtreme vision+ were installed. Worked wonderfully.
Rattles : None. My 2015 Swift VXi has started a rattle from glovebox area. Wagon R never had any such issue.
Cost of running on CNG :
Last I filled in CNG, cost was rs. 45.6/kg. City efficiency with A/C was 20~22. Rs. 2.2/km. Highway I managed to once get 27 km per kg of gas. My chauffeur got around 26-27 kg on highways with A/C.
Any Advantage of Factory Fitted CNG ?
Yes. Earlier I had used Mruti 800 and Baleno 1.6 sedan with CNG. Wagon R with factor fitted felt like a sea change. No irregular idling, no fear of engine shutting off, and incredibly efficiency, smooth switchover, and engine was still free revving on CNG. Lack of power on CNG was almost never felt unless I started pushing the car hard. For an average motorist, CNG mode will feel as if its on CNG. No hassle of tuning whatsoever. Just fill it, shut it, forget it.
Areas of improvement :
ORVM on LXi was ridiculous. The plastic cover + glass is single unit and has to be adjusted manually, no internal adjustment. VXi gets proper mirrors. If not those, atlesat internally adjustable mirrors in LXi should have been included by Maruti.
Day and Night IRVM sorely missed. In a country that is high beam crazy and where most wont even know what is high beam, this feature is an absolute must.
Removing spare wheel in CNG variants : Rear seats have to be folded to access the spare wheel. Can we have some better option please ?
Tachometer : Tachometer could be included in my view. The simple instrument cluster of LXi starts to feel dated quite soon.
Lower dashboard cowl : The dashboard rises upwards from base of A-pillar. This was not appreciated by many, including my chauffeur. I never faced any problem, but some do. Last generation Wagon R was better in this regard. My Aunt used last generation Wagon R, and then bought the current one on sale. Didn't like it while being more comfortable with Amaze.
Overall : An economical car for urban operations and it can handle the highway duties too. On highway, engine has more to offer than chassis IMO.
Ease of ingress/egress is awesome. The image of car might be getting more and more budget, but its one of the most practical, value for money car in its' segment. I rarely faced the issue of steering not returning back to its position. Its an utterly reliable machine which is inexpensive to maintain.
Am, I going to miss this car : Yes. Over a period of time, I started appreciating the practical stuff this car had to offer. It didn't burn hole in my pocket for fuel or maintenance.
NOTE : CNG cylinder will need testing every three years. It has to be done at approved centers only. If the car is more than three years old and not tested, the CNG station can refuse to fill CNG in the car.
@mods: Can we please update the thread title : Now sold.
If you feel the need to do so, kindly lock the thread. In case of any queries on CNG wagon R from any member, I shall revert back.
Last edited by aaggoswami : 12th September 2017 at 15:04.
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