[scuderiaferrari]

For your use, the A* would be perfect - your wife wont miss the extra punch that the i10 would have and the lesser rear/boot space won't matter too.

I have driven the i10 Kappa (not Kappa 2) AT and A-Star AT. Though not back to back. Yes there was a slight difference, but not major. Also, i felt A-Star's box was slightly quicker to downshift. Again since this was not a back to back comparo, I am not 100% sure.

I found the car a hoot to drive. Only issue was I am a little hesitant to try overtaking - I miss the surety provided by shifting down gears.

Needs some planning. Mash the throttle pedal all the way to the carpet, and with some minimal lag, there will be a kick-down. I can tell you, there will be a minimal lag even in City and Cruze (even if you shift using Paddle / Manual option) and I feel both the A-Star's and City's box was quicker to downshift than the Cruze.

Consider this : The LFI or LFL I believe will always come on when the fuel in the tank drops to a set point. If you can keep track of when this exactly comes on (might be off by max 1km), won't the fuel consumed between 2 LFI/LFLs give the best measure of FE ? Correct me if I am wrong because I am almost feeling like I have solved the perennial puzzle of finding a car's FE.

This also depends on the position of the car (whether on a flat surface/incline/slope) and the position of the fuel needle in the car. Some car's momentarily show an increase in fuel reading when going up an incline and some cars vice -versa. You might have noted this in the Baleno. If you go up a steep incline, the fuel needle shows a slightly lower reading and once the car is on a flat surface, it comes back to normal. So might not be the most accurate method. I believe in tankful - tankful approach.

[pgsagar]

SB, thanks for the info. 40 deg is steep. I was having reservations about its gradeability but looks like I need not fear. Regarding purchase, spoke to both MUL and Hyundai dealers fot A* and i10 respectively. i10 AT comes at 5.75 after all discounts whereas A* AT comes at 4.8 after all discounts. Both being on road prices in Vizag. Nearly 1 lakh more for i10 just doesn't make any sense to me. More so when I find A* way cuter than i10. A* looks very sporty, like a mini Swift. Front and back look verrry appealing. The only sore point is rear door glass. Wish it were bigger. Wonder if rear seat occupants can see anything through those windows. Also, I wonder if tachometer can be fitted to A*. Don't know why manufacturers leave out tachos when even 50K bikes are sporting one these days. And yes, regarding availability, the dealer says 1 month wait.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by scuderiaferrari

I believe in tankful - tankful approach.

Me too, but this is also not without error factors. Some people do this by doing tankfuls till the auto-shutoff clicks in - at the same pump & same nozzle. Others do a literal fulltank till brim.

I have mostly done the former and have noticed that even with same nozzle, the auto-shutoff can happen differently at times, affecting reliability of the readings. Eg. once when I was expecting the car to take in ~40litres, auto-shutoff clicked in when just 30-odd litres were filled. Since the resulting FE was not realistic for the car, I asked the attendant to continue filling and then stopped at the next auto-shutoff which seemed realistic.

With the latter method, you need an experienced attendant who can fill to brim without spilling fuel - not only does fuel-spill skew the readings, I hate to see anything going waste, especially petro-products. Also this process takes time - fill-stop-fill - people waiting in line to fill fuel can get impatient.

@pgsagar, I agree that 1-lakh extra does not make sense. I could manage with the visibility the rear windows provided - wifey felt it could have been bigger. The irritant actually is the useless ORVMs - adjusting them a pain.

And BTW, I would take the 1-month wait with a GV-load of salt. Be prepared for higher waits, unless you know someone high-up in MSIL. BTW, if you indeed are booking the A*, it would be good to get the 1-month waiting period part in writing. That way you can leverage it later and try to get the car in maybe couple weeks more at the max.

[scuderiaferrari]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Me too, but this is also not without error factors. Some people do this by doing tankfuls till the auto-shutoff clicks in - at the same pump & same nozzle. Others do a literal fulltank till brim.

This can happen. But the variation generally is not that big.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

@pgsagar, I agree that 1-lakh extra does not make sense. I could manage with the visibility the rear windows provided - wifey felt it could have been bigger. The irritant actually is the useless ORVMs - adjusting them a pain.

ORVMs are indeed a pain in this car. I am trying to get the convex mirror to stick on to the ORVMs. The rear windows just add to claustrophobic feeling, though the space is manageable in the rear, unless a 6ft + driver is at the wheel.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

And BTW, I would take the 1-month wait with a GV-load of salt. Be prepared for higher waits, unless you know someone high-up in MSIL. BTW, if you indeed are booking the A*, it would be good to get the 1-month waiting period part in writing. That way you can leverage it later and try to get the car in maybe couple weeks more at the max.

If you have been a customer of Maruti for long and if you get in touch with MSIL (I did that at the advice of supremebaleno), they speed up the process. In my case the waiting period was a very surprising 18 days (booked the car on the 10th of Jan and got the delivery on the 28th - 2011 model itself, as per the cut of chasis number). The 2 days of delay was the Republic day holiday and hence the delay in registering. The car reached the dealer on 15th morning. And that too, the color of my choice.

I will upload the pictures soon.

[Recompose]

Originally Posted by scuderiaferrari

In my case the waiting period was a very surprising 18 days (booked the car on the 10th of Jan and got the delivery on the 28th - 2011 model itself, as per the cut of chasis number). The 2 days of delay was the Republic day holiday and hence the delay in registering. The car reached the dealer on 15th morning. And that too, the color of my choice.

Typo? 15 of Jan?

@SB, Would it be possible for you to upload a few pics of your FIL's reverse accident? I'm just curious to see how the A* took it. No offence intended.

[noopster]

Congrats supremeBaleno and sorry for joining your party late! The A-star is a gorgeous car and the AT is icing on the cake. Plus the colour you have chosen is lovely- I for one feel it is far better than the black you had your heart set on.

I have a question- how many gears does your AT have? Is it a 4-speed?

Also, regarding the mileage, please don't sweat it and set yourself up for disappointment with unrealistic expectations. My Swift (MT) gives 12-13 at best on city runs. For an AT you should be thrilled with this kind of number (which you are already reporting) because the sheer convenience of the auto tranny which cannot be quantified!

All the best.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by RECOMPOSE

@SB, Would it be possible for you to upload a few pics of your FIL's reverse accident? I'm just curious to see how the A* took it.

From the description of the hit given by MIL over phone (hit the wall, made a big sound etc), I was mentally prepared for some serious damage to the rear of the car. When I went home last weekend, the first thing I did was to check the damage and I could see nothing. No dents, no paint-chipping, nothing. All I could see was some 9-10 fine scratches of about 1cm length on the bumper edge, which I am guessing is due to the contact with the wall. Did not take any snaps because there was no visible damage.

Originally Posted by noopster

Congrats supremeBaleno and sorry for joining your party late! The A-star is a gorgeous car and the AT is icing on the cake. Plus the colour you have chosen is lovely- I for one feel it is far better than the black you had your heart set on. I have a question- how many gears does your AT have? Is it a 4-speed?!

Thanks. We are slowly getting used to the colour and maintenance-wise it is indeed a better option than black. It is a 4-speed AT.

Originally Posted by noopster

regarding the mileage, please don't sweat it and set yourself up for disappointment with unrealistic expectations. My Swift (MT) gives 12-13 at best on city runs. For an AT you should be thrilled with this kind of number (which you are already reporting) because the sheer convenience of the auto tranny which cannot be quantified!

I am not bothered about the FE much, but from the initial figures of 13-14kmpl we get in Kerala town traffic, I am more than satisfied. These figures seem in line with what scuderiaferrari gets on his A*-AT in Blore - 11-12kmpl with 5people, 90% AC. See his report below.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ip-review.html

BTW, I assume your Swift is with the 1.3l engine, in which case those are good figures for city traffic.

[scuderiaferrari]

Originally Posted by RECOMPOSE

Typo? 15 of Jan?

Sorry, that was a typo. Reached the dealer on 25th and with 26th being a holiday Temp Regn was done along with PDI on 27th and the car delivered on the 28th.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I am not bothered about the FE much, but from the initial figures of 13-14kmpl we get in Kerala town traffic, I am more than satisfied. These figures seem in line with what scuderiaferrari gets on his A*-AT in Blore - 11-12kmpl with 5people, 90% AC. See his report below.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ip-review.html

I feel it is going to be better this time around. The A-Star fuel indicator is divided into 10 blocks. Till the last refill, the max I could manage in the first block was 47 - 48 kms. And say between 33 - 37 kms for next 3 to 5 blocks. The second goes down a bit quicker though..

It looks a lot better with it going all the way till 67 with a very light foot (I am just driving normally). So far it has run 120 kms, and only 2 blocks have gone down. I am expecting the 3rd block to go down in probably another 15-20 kms, which still would be better than the previous outings.

Say something in the range of 12 - 13 in Bangalore traffic, with about 10 - 20 % AC.


Anything above 12.5, I would be thrilled.

[supremeBaleno]

Yeah, while I initially hated the digital fuel-gauge, I now love it because it helps make FE calculation precise. Especially the blinking of the final block, which to me is akin to the "reserve" in bikes, which makes calculating FE of bikes so easy and error-free.

BTW, wifey is now much more confident in using the car and is taking it to work daily. She even did a trip to her Chengannur office which is like 20kms 1-way and I believe the car has served the purpose for which it was bought - to make her comfy in taking the car out by herself. Something I could never achieve with our M800/Swift/Baleno.

[scuderiaferrari]

Car has 1425 kms now.

'Something above 12.5 km/l, I would be thrilled.' Thats what I said last time.

Few aspects about the driving and the conditions during the last FE check:

1. Completely in Bangalore city, with a good mix of heavy and moderate traffic
2. About 25% of the time, A/C was used
3. In general light foot
4. Accelerated / in kickdown mode for overtaking

Overall, I would say a normal Bangalore drive. Nothing too specific for the mileage, other than the light footed driving, which is what any slushbox prefers. Thats how Automatics should be driven.

Now the answer to the question - Was I thrilled.

The car did 156.7 kms (tankful to tankful) in 11.20 l of Shell Regular Unleaded (Maruti Service Center guys at Bimal told me not to use Shell Premium / any other premium petrol).

Which translates to 13.99 km/l of Petrol. Very good indeed.

I am not expecting this on a regular basis. But good to know nevertheless. Should get between 12 - 13 I believe on a regular basis with A/C 50% or so.

[supremeBaleno]

Wow!!! 14kmpl in Bangalore is indeed an amazing FE. Especially because apart from being AT, this car is one of the better/heavy built Marutis, weighing in at close to 900kgs. To put things in perspective, this small hatch weighs as much as the Etios sedan from Toyota. Add the solid/planted drive and this seems to be one of the most under-rated cars around.

Any other manufacturer would have made hay while the sun shined and laughed their way to the bank by promoting this car and delivering on demand. But, it's a pity this car is in the MSIL stable, where you have to keep pinging the MSIL folks for months to get delivery.

High time I did an FE check on our car - the tankfull-to-tankfull way.

[supremeBaleno]

@scuderiaferrari, if possible, try doing an FE check with a/c on all the time.
BTW, I guess you missed updating your thread with the latest FE of your car.

Checked the fuel-gauge on our A* - last time I had put 19.71litres before even the LowFuelIndicator (LFI) blinked. Tripmeter has 200kms on it and 2 blocks remain on the fuel gauge. Will know the FE when LFI comes up next.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Checked the fuel-gauge on our A* - last time I had put 19.71litres before even the LowFuelIndicator (LFI) blinked. Tripmeter has 200kms on it and 2 blocks remain on the fuel gauge. Will know the FE when LFI comes up next.

Did a long-ish drive today to Parakkode and back. LFI came up (ie. last block in fuel-gauge started blinking) at 280kms, just 1km from home. FE = 280/19.71 = 14.2kmpl.

All driving was with a/c on, 200kms town driving in moderate traffic by wifey, 40kms on NH47 by me and 40kms on nice MC Road by me. FE not as good as scuderiaferrari who gets the same FE in Blore driving, but I guess as wifey gets better at driving, maybe the FE will get better.

BTW, the digital fuel gauge is not without its quirks. When I checked the guage yesterday (with engine off), it had only 2 blocks filled. Today when we started from home, it was again just 2 blocks. But a few kms later, the 3rd block filled up.

[scuderiaferrari]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

@scuderiaferrari, if possible, try doing an FE check with a/c on all the time.
BTW, I guess you missed updating your thread with the latest FE of your car.

In Bangalore conditions, it is not really possible to do a 100 % AC drive. It is pretty cold in the evening.

What I did was to check the FE in real life situation.

Now, with the family back, should get a lower number. AC on almost 75 - 80 % of the time.

From the gauge, FE looks great. Around 230 kms done, and 4 blocks of fuel down. The 5th one should go off anytime. This, though involved 2 - 3 days of really heavy traffic, 1 trip to the Airport with AC on 100% (never exceeded the allowed speed limit of 80 km/hr). Overall AC was used around 75 - 80 % of the time.

Also, my better half drove the car in Bangalore a bit yesterday. First time ever on the ORR and she was comfortable.. Needs to get a bit more used to the traffic and reversing the car. Thinking of sending her to the Maruti Driving School...

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Did a long-ish drive today to Parakkode and back. LFI came up (ie. last block in fuel-gauge started blinking) at 280kms, just 1km from home. FE = 280/19.71 = 14.2kmpl.

This is pretty good FE, considering 200 kms of town drive with AC on 100%.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, the digital fuel gauge is not without its quirks. When I checked the guage yesterday (with engine off), it had only 2 blocks filled. Today when we started from home, it was again just 2 blocks. But a few kms later, the 3rd block filled up.

This probably is because of the incline / slope where the car was parked. What I noted was that the blocks go down slightly when in a slope and go up when on an incline. This is due to the location of the float in the fuel tank, and you will see some change like this in every car. My Baleno also shows similar kind of a variation...

That brings out the similarity between us, both of us using Baleno and A-Star ATs.

Took the car to Bimal Auto the other day. Felt the foam under the carpet in the driver side was misplaced, which resulted in an uneven carpet.

It turned out right, and the guys there fixed it in no time

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by scuderiaferrari

This probably is because of the incline / slope where the car was parked. What I noted was that the blocks go down slightly when in a slope and go up when on an incline. This is due to the location of the float in the fuel tank, and you will see some change like this in every car.

I think you have a point. Our porch (where the car is parked) is built with a slight slope.