2022 Maruti XL6 automatic: Driving impressions after 1000 km

My reference points are the 4th-gen Honda City MT, Maruti Swift Dualjet MT & the Ignis AMT.

BHPian carreragt6 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Here are my thoughts after driving the Maruti Suzuki XL6 AT Alpha for 1000 km.

• NVH is a lot improved and suspension even though on the stiffer side is silent and comfortable.
• AC takes a couple of minutes to come on fully it seems (like the time delay in split ACs). But after that, it is quite chilly. This is the same in the AT and MT test drive cars. AC chills very well and this was with an outside temp of 36c
• Coming to the obvious one. Engine and transmission. First of all, as noted in the review the motor-assist doesn't come on in manual mode under any circumstance. I varied my driving style to check if any particular situation will trigger the assist. But no.

More than the lack of outright power from the engine, it's the gear ratios and shift points which ruin that drive in my opinion. The AT box shifts too early and many times it's in 6th even at 55 km/h. The 6th gear is pure overdrive gear. I do feel the box shifts multiple gears too fast losing the necessary pull.

The manual mode does improve things a lot. You can have a semblance of a normal drive with manual mode. Then again, I think it defeats the purpose of an AT box.

Maybe it's the reason why the MID doesn't show the gear values in D mode. It's too embarrassed by the box's shift manners.

More than an engine remap which is not rewarding with NA engines, I think you need better gear ratios and shift management.

• A bigger issue I feels is the new smart play pro-HU. It offers nothing over the usual smart play studio. At least I cannot find anything significant. I could never get the phone app to work in ios or android. Worst of all the sound quality out of the box is very bad. Totally unbalanced. It's got too much bass with subdued mids and non-existent high frequencies. You can tune it and get it as good as an older stereo. But it takes a lot of trial and error and it shouldn't be like that. My Harman OE HU in my swift is miles ahead. In short, the smart play set in Zeta is better. Other users can correct me if I missed any significant feature in the HU.
• Suzuki connect apps works well and is actually pretty useful.
• Haven't got a mileage below 12.5 km/l till now.

Disclaimer: The car is for my mom and dad. Other cars we own are 4th-gen City Vtec MT, Swift dualjet MT and Ignis AMT. Those are my reference points.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.