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Old 27th September 2011, 20:07   #91
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

Fan speed 2 is mostly adequate for Kerala and I believe it is not hotter in Blore-Mysore. Do you have the air-intake in "Fresh" mode ? That could explain the feeble a/c as it takes in hot air from outside. If so, put in Recirc mode.

Overtaking in AT is something you need to adapt to - I am learning that myself & still not very comfy with. When wanting to overtake, press hard on the A-pedal, this will make the AT box slip down to lower gears and give you the power. No need to drive in D3 or 2.
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Old 11th October 2011, 21:47   #92
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

Got my astar AT from Kalyani, am quite impressed with the cars perf so far. Done about 200 km mostly city drive and have tried to use it in place of my bike/scooter. The first 116 km were at 13.3 kmpl and am waiting for the 2nd top up to see if it was an aberation. Here is what i would suggest after having driven an AT in various countries for about 5 years to get the best FE *matters a lot in india":

1. if you are going to be stationary for more than 30 secs, move into N from D.

2. Accelerate gently. AT is not meant to be the first off the gates

3. Have a light foot on the gas pedal and here I think folks who have driven a diesel car have a distinct adv as they do not ride the clutch too much

4. drive at a speed so you can anticipate, for eg., if you can avoid touching the brakes to slow down the car, you gain something (other than brownie points ) on the overall FE, a constant speed is much better than accl and brake (esp in an AT)

5. brake gently, always anticipation helps in reducing both your stress and the stress on the car, planning to write up once i have hit the highway once, wait for it....
Cheers

Last edited by Jaggu : 11th October 2011 at 22:20. Reason: 2 smilies per post. Dotty post, please use proper punctuations instead of.... , also do a preview before submitting. Thanks
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Old 12th October 2011, 15:15   #93
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

@pramodhrao, Congrats on your A*-AT. Was the 13.3kmpl FE with a/c on or off ?
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Old 19th January 2012, 13:51   #94
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

After close to a year on Alto K10 VXi, and going through this thread, test drove A* AT today. Liked it a lot. Booked a silver one and exchanged my Alto. Dealer has promised delivery within a week. Fingers crossed on the time - good thing with Maruti True Value is that I can keep my current car and need to give it only when I take the delivery of the new one.

Test car had 17K kms on it. Initial pickup is quite good, though slightly lesser than i10 Kappa2. Easily gets to 60kmph. Went up to 90kmph and it feels more planted than Alto K10. Front seat comfort is definitely better than K10. Rear is a bit claustrophobic, but I don't intend to spend time there. A/C is a bit weak compared to K10. Engine noise is on par with i10 outside. But i10 has better noise insulation when you are inside the car. Both i10AT and A*AT had really biting brakes - compared to K10.

Sales experience was ok. Called up the same dealer (Bimal Maruti, Old Airport Road) as last year. They came to my office, offered test drive, evaluated Alto, gave a quote and after some negotiations, got to my satisfaction. Took down advance and the forms. Going for PDI at their yard tomorrow. 20K discount, 20K exchange bonus and sunfilm plus sideguard.

I liked K10. Pleasure to change gears and zoom. Perfect city car. Was good for long drives too. Got about 16kmpl in Bangalore and 21kmpl on drives to Pondicherry. But getting stuck in traffic jams and going in first gear was getting to be a bit too painful; hence the switch to AT. Also, wife is more at ease driving an AT.
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Old 29th January 2012, 10:06   #95
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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Originally Posted by vsbabu View Post
After close to a year on Alto K10 VXi, and going through this thread, test drove A* AT today. Liked it a lot. Booked a silver one and exchanged my Alto. Dealer has promised delivery within a week. Fingers crossed on the time - good thing with Maruti True Value is that I can keep my current car and need to give it only when I take the delivery of the new one.
Got it last Friday - 7 days after I handed over the cheque. Had 20km on odo. Got the number plate on Saturday. The delivery and exchange took 45 minutes overall. Car was relatively clean, but I don't understand what is with Maruti's interior cleaning staff. Enough finger marks on the dash, plastics and the roof fabric. Dash and plastics were easy to clean off, but I am not sure what to do with the roof fabric - may be wait it out till next service.

Filled up 3/4 tank on Shell petrol. Smooth drive. Covered about 100km so far. At signals, I am beginning to enjoy N and D being adjacent on the gear lever - just put it in N and put on the handbrake at signals.

A/C had horrible smell when on exterior circulation. Maruti guy said it is common and asked me to use this only in recirculation mode. I don't like recirculation mode and the remedy I used with my other cars worked in this one too. Just put it in A/C, exterior circulation, hottest temp setting and fan-speed 3 and drive it around for 15 minutes. Then switch of the A/C, but still keep the fan on and repeat this for some 2-3 times and let it stand unused overnight. In the morning, all that smell was gone and car is fine now. I guess many of the times, the smell is due to dampness and this gets rid of it.
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Old 15th February 2012, 09:45   #96
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

Quick review after 1st service at 1300km. So far, mostly Bangalore city traffic from Koramangala to Whitefield (which is mostly in 2nd gear in the mornings!) and back. Did one drive to Pondicherry and back.

Pros:
* Fuel Efficiency has been steadily increasing. First full-tank test gave about 11kmpl - about 300km all in Bangalore traffic. Second one gave 13kmpl - again in City. Third and fourth, with 100km in the City, 300km on NH45 and 100 on Tamil Nadu state highways gave 15.5kmpl and 16.5kmpl respectively. Except for one fuel fill at Pondicherry, it has always been filled with Shell petrol. A/C is used once in 15 minutes for 5 minutes (I don't generally like A/C - so that must be helping) and aggressive driving is not employed. On highways, just let it keep on at 100kmph.
* Straight line stability is very good on highways
* Better noise insulation than other small cars I've used.
* Comfortable front seats
* Boot is small, but fits one standard medium VIP suitcase. Works for my small family :-)
* Kick down mode works nicely
* Good FE for an automatic

Cons:
* Loading height of the boot is too much. With the narrow hatch door, you've to be very careful to ensure your luggage doesn't scratch the bumper.
* Side view mirrors are too narrow. I am used to nice mirrors on my Innova - so this is a bit scary on highways.
* Weak brakes.
* A/C is weak. But I guess because the car has less glass area, once it has cooled the interiors, it doesn't warm up back quickly. I just let the fan work after switching the A/C off.
* A/C off switch is a real sports-mode enabled :-)
* Rear is a bit bumpy
* Too much difference between the heights of brake and accelerator pedals. Maruti service said it can't be changed - and showed to me the same height difference in other models and in manual versions too. In city driving, this is giving serious trouble to the right leg. Brake pedal is unnecessarily wide too.

Overall, for the price and FE, decent car.
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Old 15th February 2012, 09:53   #97
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

^^^ Weak brakes ? Never felt that in our A-Star.
Other than that, your observations are spot-on - especially about the useless ORVMs, high-loading boot etc.
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Old 15th February 2012, 10:15   #98
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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^^^ Weak brakes ? Never felt that in our A-Star.
Other than that, your observations are spot-on - especially about the useless ORVMs, high-loading boot etc.
Yup! you're correct! Brakes are quite fine and mine doesn't have ABS as well.

Has anyone tried an alternative to improve the OVRM visibillity? Would changing the complete assembly to Swift OVRMs help?
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Old 15th February 2012, 17:39   #99
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

Weak brakes -> yes, I've noticed that the brakes lack any feedback when these are wet. To test it, I just poured couple of mugs of water on to the front wheels and for first 3-4 application of the brakes, it seems weak. This is usually the case for me in the mornings since the apartment guy washes up the car (not seen this in Alto K10 I had before). Anyway, I am going to be a bit cautious during rainy season :-)

ABS worked like a charm. On the Chennai highway, while I was going at about 75kmph (was just getting out of a road side stop), one guy got two cows on to the road from the opposite highway just after I took a curve. Car stopped in a straight line without any drama. Don't know if ABS kicked in or not, but far better than Alto K10 - when I had to make emergency braking, I had to literally let go of the brakes so that it doesn't jump lanes.
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Old 18th February 2012, 14:09   #100
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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* Good FE for an automatic
18.9kmpl. did an overnight trip to Pondicherry from Bangalore (went there on Thursday night, came back on Friday night), with steady speed of 95-100kmph. And that is the average mileage I got with two measurements. A/C on for 2-3 hours till night fall. Bangalore to Pondicherry on Shell petrol gave about 19.3kmpl and the way back on Pondicherry HP petrol gave about 18.5 - bit of a traffic jam also while coming back.

I am astonished (and happy) - it has covered less than 2000km so far.
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Old 27th February 2012, 11:13   #101
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

hi
i am also joining the club purchased a II hand i10 AT for wife will post pictures soon
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Old 28th February 2012, 11:59   #102
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Overtaking in AT is something you need to adapt to - I am learning that myself & still not very comfy with. When wanting to overtake, press hard on the A-pedal, this will make the AT box slip down to lower gears and give you the power. No need to drive in D3 or 2.
In a recent TD of the A-Star Automatic, I found that the 3/D3 (whatever it's called) is indeed useful while overtaking. While driving, I had this thread in mind and wanted to check if shifting from D to D3/3 helps. And it does to a good extent. Of course, if someone wants more power quickly, can go to 2 ( I didn't try that) and do the overtake. However, needs to be careful about the engine rev at that point of time.

Cheers
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Old 28th February 2012, 12:04   #103
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

^^^Yeah, it does help to shift down to 3 or 2. But I guess it is quicker to floor the accelerator to get the same job done.

I did use the 3 and 2 gears extensively while driving in the hills. But there not only is time not crucial (as it is while overtaking), but rev-matching is not a concern since anyway we are at low revs.
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Old 3rd May 2012, 09:35   #104
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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Weak brakes -> yes, I've noticed that the brakes lack any feedback when these are wet. To test it, I just poured couple of mugs of water on to the front wheels and for first 3-4 application of the brakes, it seems weak. This is usually the case for me in the mornings since the apartment guy washes up the car (not seen this in Alto K10 I had before). Anyway, I am going to be a bit cautious during rainy season :-)
One thing I noticed was that the pedal gets pretty hard when you have to brake suddenly with a lot of force. During this time, the effectiveness of the brake also reduced.

If instead, I had not applied as much pressure, the car stopped pretty much well.


But then in case of an emergency, you slam the brakes and not apply slowly, right

I had reported this in the 3rd service. Now it is almost time for the next one - 20,000 kms. Should be doing it in probably a month's time. will report again and see.
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Old 3rd May 2012, 10:29   #105
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Re: Maruti A-Star Automatic : Ownership Review

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Went up to 90kmph and it feels more planted than Alto K10.
At 90 kmph, the A-Star Auto felt more planted and stable than the i10 Auto. Alto (800 cc) and i10 felt less stable at 90 kmph.
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