Sweet Little Urban Princess!. Review on Maruti Suzuki Alto LX

I have always wanted to write a review on my car, but for some reasons, including Jaideeps's excellent review, I held myself back. Today I received a mail from Jasmine exhorting members to write review on their cars. So here I am.

I love my car, but I will try to remain objective.

My Alto LX 2001 make is one form the earlier imported breed, when CDKs were assembled in India. It was priced at about 3.13L then. It was not the roaring success then that it is right now and very few Altos would be spotted on Delhi roads. Now after the price correction, people have taken to it like hot cakes and it has become the highest selling car, a fact I am proud of. Though it was not the entry level car back then, as Maruti 800 was playing the role.  Maruti 800s DX and EX variants shared the engine of Alto LX. Current WagonR and Zen come with the four cylinder Alto VX engine, though the latter model is archived.

I test driven the car and felt that it lacked the zing, which when told to the sales executive of Rohan Motors NOIDA, he would ask, "which cars you have driven so far, sir?" I would tell, "Maruti 800 and Yamaha RXG". "That is why.".

Before that I had taken my seniors at office - some well established auto enthusiast who were driving their second-third cars then.  We trialed M800 and Alto LX. M800 was thumbed down because of its shabby interior, whereas we were attracted to the comparably very rich interiors of Alto for the times. It drove well and the gear shifts were good. So, bosses did a thumbs up to the Alto and the option was locked.

I was attracted to this car because of its inviting shape, made aggressive by the notches in the side panels. Then Indica was another car in fray due to its looks but it was dearer by min about RS.40000. Other B segmenters were rule out due to one reason or the other, most of them due to price and Santro due to shape and costly maintenance.

I have driven about 70000 KM and feel satisfied. The recent version sof Alto have got 2BHP extra(47) and better exterior. So I have gone ahead recommending the car over other B-segmenters due to its fuel economy and ease of driving. With AC on, it picks up form 20KPH in fourth gear.

I have driven in city and on highways. It had taken rough roads with gusto and came out trumps. I have done Delhi to Lucknow(500km) in one go with AC full on in mid May.

It was swift at highways and gave complex to many at red lights.  I have done Delhi to Bareilly(250KM) in three hours and Delhi to Haridwar(200KM) in two hours. Many of you may not believe this but this is truth and I love my little princess for this.

It picks up swiftly in first gear. The only lacking that it has got in power department is that it is slightly underpowered for highway driving with lot of overtaking involved. In the 4th gear, at about 80-90KPH, there is not much reserve power left to accelerate needed for tight overtaking. But then Highways are to be done with Scorpio, not sweet little city cars.

It came with Bridgestone tyres and I am respecting that spec so far.

Now comes the most important aspect for which I would back this car much more than ever.

It is an eco friendly car, with a fuel economy of 16-18, in city without AC and 14-16 with AC. On highway it has given me 21KPL a couple of times.

It is a small car and occupies lesser road space hence best for ever diminishing road space. I am not happy consuming a space of 10mx3m for a torso of less than 0.5sqm shadow. I feel people should switch to **public transport and if not possible at least move in smaller and more fuel efficient cars.

*Let Alto LX be your statement on eco-friendliness.

13.05.08 Edit:

*The car is pretty low on maintenance. It does not call for anything if you drive carefully. I have been quite rough to my car in city as well as on highways. It has been subject to a minor accident, so I have had to replace a couple of components.

I would like to mention one important thing here wrt the front axles. The universal coupling of the axle is covered with a rubber boss, which is filled with grease and prevents ingress of lethal dust. Many times on irregular roads this boss gets damaged and punctured and dust contaminates the grease, resulting in eventual wearing of the joint, calling fo rits replacement. The axle is a costly component to replace. Therefore I advise that one should get the boss checked frequently even if by a local mechanic and get it replaced if found punctured. Only the local mechanic would replace the boss for 200 or so. The dealers would replace the entire axle.

Be soft to your car and ride slowly through pot holes to extend the life of suspension system.

I think I have veered off enough to start a new review.

Coming back to Alto, Maintenance is as low as that of the Maruti800 and now one can get non MG or even MG components at economical prices. Like earlier it was not possible to replace the tail light cover(most prone to damages) and one had to replace the entire assembly includimng the reflectors. But now the Covers are available in market.

Since Alto is a lighet car, its components are not subject to as high loading as that of cars like Indica etc. The lighter weight enables longer overall component life.