Go for it !. Review on Maruti Suzuki Alto LX

Make : Alto LX

Year : 2005

Running : 17000 ( I was out of India for 1.5 years and it was run hardly in those days)

Why I bought Alto ?

Priority is for better fuel efficiency 80-90% of times it will be we three traveling. – So I don’t really care for 3 people sitting on back seat comfortably or not We are average height and not overweight, - Leg room etc, no big issues here. I am not fan of speed , 80 is what I drive on highways, sometimes 90-95 , but yes not in 3 digits. .Compared to M800 better looks, more safer ( like child lock ) , 5 gears so better average, more bhp and so on... ( means otherwise I would have bought M800)

Fuel efficiency I have got

I have got average of 20 for last 13000 km. I have detailed data for each petrol fill and concluded following points. This includes 50% pure long trips. 30 to 40 % trips from Kothrud to Hinjawadi , and rest in city.

I mention this especially as drive to Hinjwadi is somewhere between pure highway and city as there are may times traffic jams and most times traffic congestion is there.

The highest ever average I ever got was recently for my trip from Pune to Kolhapur and back. While returning somewhere near I made tank full and average given was 23.05. Actually I wanted to check what average I get if I drive at 60, So when we started in the morning I was driving at 60-70. But then I realized that I might get late so from Satara to Kolhapur I raised to 80 , return trip was full at around 80-90 kmph.

I feel Alto unsafe when driven beyond 90. Otherwise it has excellent road grip. . I have been to Konkan via Amba ghat and with four persons I climbed ghat mostly in 4th without issues. ( A/C off ofcourse)

For better fuel efficiency follow these things.

In that order…

Do not exceed 80 on highways, even on Mumbai – Pune express way :-

Shift to next gear as soon as possible. As soon as car is in motion change to 2nd. When near 30 3rd,  40 – 4th , 55 – 5th. I have many times found myself in 4th on Karve road. Make less use of brakes! Remove your foot from accelerator when you can anticipate that you need to stop or slow down. For example signal , toll naka or even major turnings. This is one of the major savings.  Turn off engine when signal is more than 1 min. – This has no scientific proof. I have read one article which proves that if you are doing on/off at signal you loose your battery earlier and it is costly. So check for yourself what is more suitable Do servicing in time. Follow Maruti’s recommendations like when to do carbon cleaning etc. .Check tyre pressures every 15 days as far as possible.