Car+Van=Wagon R. Review on Maruti Suzuki Wagon R

Maruti Udyog Ltd.(MUL) is India's largest car maker but for years MUL sold cars running on old out dated engine technology and refused to launch new cars despite it's partner Suzuki having a impressive line up of cars in it's range. It took the Korean's to wake up MUL and suddenly MUL went on a new car launching spree. Hyundai was selling the Santro and to make matters worse , MUL knew that it was their partner Suzuki that had pioneered the tall-boy concept that Hyundai was so conveniently passing off as it's own.

The Wagon R has managed to become Japan's largest selling car displacing the Toyota Carolla, which was the best selling car for 21 years!! The Wagon R was developed by Suzuki after the government in Japan brought out the K-car regulations which specified the length, breadth and engine capacity dimensions.Suzuki designer's noticed that the K-car regulations were silent on the height of the car and thus they could design tall cars and liberate lots of interior room to make the small cars spacious.

Looks

Tall Boys don't make good looking cars.The Wagon R is 70mm taller then the Santro!. Compared to the Wagon R ,the Santro looks like Jennifer Lopez!(oops!, sorry Jennifer, I did'nt mean to insult your looks!).I feel the Wagon looks like a small Tata 407 tempo truck.It has the same small engine bay and front looks. The looks from front are digestible, the rear looks like it was picked up from a van and from the side the wagon shocks you!. What height!!. Does MUL want us to carry our luggage on our head?

Once you accept the quirkiness of the Wagon R its immense practicality hits you. Step inside and you will realise the room there is inside. The interiors are full of neat little touches that help you to carry small items. There is a tray under the steering wheel with a cup holder and another tray under the glove box. This car even has coin holders and a small empty parcel shelf under the stereo to probably keep your mobile. A welcome addition in the instrument cluster is the Tachometer. The ''key left inside the ignition''and ''lights on'' buzzers are the other neat touches.Way to go Maruti!!.The AC works well but the blower is too noisy and be ready to exercise your vocal chords if the AC is working. The boot space is again the best in it's class.You can adjust the front and rear seats and slide them down to make a full flat cosy romantic bed for 2.Now, all the lover's know what car to take with them if they plan on eloping. However, the leg room in the rear is pretty limited and in fact the Matiz still has the best leg space among all small cars. Also, the rear seat in the Wagon is strictly for 2 people.Sure the Wagon's comfortable for the passenger's but is it as comfortable for the driver? NO WAY!!.The ergonomics of the car disappoint. Probably it has something to do with the tall boy design because the Santro is also a pretty uncomfortable car to drive. Of course the seating position is high and one feels in total command of everything on the road but the position of the gear lever-steering wheel-foot pedals is not optimised. Take a long drive and you will end up with aching arms.Like in the Matiz, the thick A-pillars restrict vision while cornering. Sliding switches for the AC unit not only look down market and cheap but they are also a ergonomic disaster.The gear shift is clunky, crude and notchy. Also, the gear lever throws are too long. In fact, I feel the Wagon's gear shift quality is as good (or bad, whichever way you look at it) as the Maruti 800.I wonder if MUL took the gear shift of the M800 to cut down on costs.All said and done, the interiors are spacious and practical but poor on ergonomics and driver comfort.

Engine

Almost all the car makers bring their cars from the asian and European countries with minor engine and suspension modifications and sell them here.Because of the K-car regulation's the Wagon R is sold in Japan with a 660 cc turbo charged engine. Bringing this engine in India would make poor commercial sense as even the measly M800 has a 796 cc engine. The Zen's all aluminum engine was considered but it was not possible to fit that engine into the tiny engine bay of the wagon so MUL thought of bringing the 1298cc engine Wagon R+ from UK but it would be too expensive to sell the car with that engine over here. Obviously, the next choice was the M800 engine but here also MUL had a problem. The 796cc 45bhp engine of the M800 would have had a tough time with the Wagon because it weighs a heavy 840 kgs compared to the 630 kgs of the M800. MUL engineers came out with a brilliant idea. They took the 796cc 3 cylinder 6 valve (2 valves per cylinder) M800 engine and added a extra cylinder and 2 extra valves per cylinder to end up with the made in India 1061cc 4 cylinders 16 valves (4 valves per cylinder) engine (now why did'nt Daewoo think of this for their Matiz?).India is the only country where the Wagon R has this unique capacity engine (ever heard of any car having a odd 1061 cc engine??) option.Developing 62bhp@6000rpm and a impressive torque of 83Nm@3000 rpm, the Wagon is a breeze to drive in the city. Even with 5 people and some luggage on board with AC working , the Wagon will charge ahead of the koreans. Throttle response is crisp and it will scamper to 3 digit speeds in no time. There is no doubt that the Wagon R is the car with the maximum punch in the small car segment today. On the highway too, one never feels the lack of power while over-taking our sluggish and ''will go at my own speed'' trucks.

Ride Quality

The ride quality is better then Santro but no match for the Uno and the Matiz. Like the Santro the not so good ride quality is due to adjustments made to the suspension settings to accomodate the tall boy dimensions.Like the Santro the Wagon sways like a boat at speeds of about 80/90kmph.Try changing lanes quickly or making a tight turn on the twisty road and you feel like you could topple the car over. It's because of this that the car is no fun to drive. But yes, the ride quality is better then the Santro and it does a better job of going over our moon surface roads then the korean tall boy.

I feel the Wagon R is a good option for someone who wants to upgrade from the Omni. It offers the immense space and practicality of the Omni at a more car like feel. Also, it has a better engine and is more refined then the Omni.The Wagon R makes a lot of practical sense despite it's quirky looks and people give you odd looks on the roads. No doubt, it's comfortable but the Matiz has more leg room.

The main competitor of course is the Santro and the Wagon R is one up to the Santro in all respects. It has more space, better ride quality, better interiors (in the Vx model) and mainly a more powerful engine.If I wanted to buy a tall boy I would'nt look anywhere else.

If you want a car like van go for it.