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im_hummer_freak 28th July 2009, 5:00 pmSo let me introduce you to my ride, The tall boy from Maruti family. This is the model I love the most of all the wagonR models come and gone. The colour was my choice. I love black cars. Although I'm in second thoughts about colour of any next car that we will buy. Black is not at all easy to maintain and you can see all the scratches and dents on the shell very easily.
So in all it has been a good journey till now with the car. Now lets go deep about the WagonR as a product. Well what do we have? Yes, a Maruti car.
DESIGN AND INTERIORS
Design is more of a personal choice and WagonR is more of love it or hate it types. Some people feel the car is too tall to even scare away birds. Well anyhow I love the cars looks. The car is very Japanese in design and thus it is built on strict dimensional regulations put upon Japanese small cars. And thus making the car a little disproportionately tall. Although the plus point here is the interior head space liberated, which gives the car more cabin space and makes it feel much roomier. The tall boy design also helps in keeping the car comfortable even with a short wheelbase. As the passengers sit upright in the car the leg space is not a problem. And also its great to walk into the car, than crawl into the car. The body panels are just what you would expect from a Maruti car, with dents showing up very easily.
Step inside and again there’s the mediocre quality plastic. Although door handles, power window buttons etc. feel better and sturdier than Tata. The space is good because of the upright seating position, as mentioned earlier. But yes the car is only comfortable for 4 people, because of it width 3 passengers on the rear seat is always a squeeze. The seats are well designed and even long journeys are comfortable.
‘Smart’ is the word for this car. The interiors have been designed with a lot of thought, with trays, bottle holders, cubby holes etc. Also the seats have been smartly designed. The rear seat has a 50:50 split and can be reclined individually. Also the front seats can be reclined back completely to form a bed joining the rear seats. So there are a lot of possibilities and mix and match to play with the four seats.
There is not much of visual appeal in the interiors. They are quite simple but yes functional. The AC is a regular affair. Nothing much to talk about it. Its fairly good in its place but because of sharply raked front windscreen and large glass area, the cooling could seem inadequate during harsh summers, felt most in the rear seats. And off course the vibrations in body panels which Maruti cars are infamous for are always present.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
The car has a 1061cc inline 4 cylinder engine, controlled by a 32 bit ECU, and like all other Maruti cars it has 16 valves i.e. 4 valves per cylinder. The engine has good power at higher revs, so the power although a bit late is good to keep it going, with a respectable 90 in second gear. The car is capable of 150kmph and is eager in revving to overtake. So it is fun to drive. But yes the main point of the car is not its speed, but being smart is what this car likes.
The car uses a 5 speed gearbox, now this is where I feel disappointed. The gear lever is very rubbery, and has takes some efforts in changing gears. The reverse gear is also sometimes hard to engage. Other than that the gears are well configured, 2nd and 3rd gears are good for city driving and 5th is possible at around 50kmph. This brings us down to a good fuel economy of around 13kmpl in city with AC and up to 19kmpl on the highways.
RIDE AND HANDLING
So this is a tall car and tall cars are known for their rolling nature, well wagonR defies it. The reason being stiff shock absorbers and anti-roll bars. Although ride quality is a bit compromised, but the safety provided is worth it. This makes the car feel stable and confident even on high speeds. Although if you intend on more of high speed highway driving, a tire upgrade is recommended, as the 145/70 R13 are a bit less for the game.
Handling is one of the best parts of the car. Get together short wheelbase, narrow car, light weight; what do u get? Superb handling. The car is quick and agile when it comes to handling. Squeezing into the traffic between those auto rickshaws is a cake walk. This is what makes the car fun to drive in the city.
VERDICT
So at the end of it, the car is a practical family car. It has well thought off interiors and smart design makes it very user friendly. Ride quality is compromised a bit for the safety, to make sure you don’t land up on your roof, unless you try very hard.
All in all, this car imbibes in it all the Maruti traits of performance, efficiency and longevity. It competes with the Indica Xeta and the Santro Xing. It scores over the Xeta in terms of overall refinement and quality, but loses out when it comes to value for money. It scores over the Santro when you consider the thought fullness of this car, but the Santro scores in terms of overall packaging.
P.S. Pics Coming soon. I will have to get new snaps. As the ones which i had have been locked away in my dead PC.
Although there are some pics of my ride Here.
So in all it has been a good journey till now with the car. Now lets go deep about the WagonR as a product. Well what do we have? Yes, a Maruti car.
DESIGN AND INTERIORS
Design is more of a personal choice and WagonR is more of love it or hate it types. Some people feel the car is too tall to even scare away birds. Well anyhow I love the cars looks. The car is very Japanese in design and thus it is built on strict dimensional regulations put upon Japanese small cars. And thus making the car a little disproportionately tall. Although the plus point here is the interior head space liberated, which gives the car more cabin space and makes it feel much roomier. The tall boy design also helps in keeping the car comfortable even with a short wheelbase. As the passengers sit upright in the car the leg space is not a problem. And also its great to walk into the car, than crawl into the car. The body panels are just what you would expect from a Maruti car, with dents showing up very easily.
Step inside and again there’s the mediocre quality plastic. Although door handles, power window buttons etc. feel better and sturdier than Tata. The space is good because of the upright seating position, as mentioned earlier. But yes the car is only comfortable for 4 people, because of it width 3 passengers on the rear seat is always a squeeze. The seats are well designed and even long journeys are comfortable.
‘Smart’ is the word for this car. The interiors have been designed with a lot of thought, with trays, bottle holders, cubby holes etc. Also the seats have been smartly designed. The rear seat has a 50:50 split and can be reclined individually. Also the front seats can be reclined back completely to form a bed joining the rear seats. So there are a lot of possibilities and mix and match to play with the four seats.
There is not much of visual appeal in the interiors. They are quite simple but yes functional. The AC is a regular affair. Nothing much to talk about it. Its fairly good in its place but because of sharply raked front windscreen and large glass area, the cooling could seem inadequate during harsh summers, felt most in the rear seats. And off course the vibrations in body panels which Maruti cars are infamous for are always present.
ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
The car has a 1061cc inline 4 cylinder engine, controlled by a 32 bit ECU, and like all other Maruti cars it has 16 valves i.e. 4 valves per cylinder. The engine has good power at higher revs, so the power although a bit late is good to keep it going, with a respectable 90 in second gear. The car is capable of 150kmph and is eager in revving to overtake. So it is fun to drive. But yes the main point of the car is not its speed, but being smart is what this car likes.
The car uses a 5 speed gearbox, now this is where I feel disappointed. The gear lever is very rubbery, and has takes some efforts in changing gears. The reverse gear is also sometimes hard to engage. Other than that the gears are well configured, 2nd and 3rd gears are good for city driving and 5th is possible at around 50kmph. This brings us down to a good fuel economy of around 13kmpl in city with AC and up to 19kmpl on the highways.
RIDE AND HANDLING
So this is a tall car and tall cars are known for their rolling nature, well wagonR defies it. The reason being stiff shock absorbers and anti-roll bars. Although ride quality is a bit compromised, but the safety provided is worth it. This makes the car feel stable and confident even on high speeds. Although if you intend on more of high speed highway driving, a tire upgrade is recommended, as the 145/70 R13 are a bit less for the game.
Handling is one of the best parts of the car. Get together short wheelbase, narrow car, light weight; what do u get? Superb handling. The car is quick and agile when it comes to handling. Squeezing into the traffic between those auto rickshaws is a cake walk. This is what makes the car fun to drive in the city.
VERDICT
So at the end of it, the car is a practical family car. It has well thought off interiors and smart design makes it very user friendly. Ride quality is compromised a bit for the safety, to make sure you don’t land up on your roof, unless you try very hard.
All in all, this car imbibes in it all the Maruti traits of performance, efficiency and longevity. It competes with the Indica Xeta and the Santro Xing. It scores over the Xeta in terms of overall refinement and quality, but loses out when it comes to value for money. It scores over the Santro when you consider the thought fullness of this car, but the Santro scores in terms of overall packaging.
P.S. Pics Coming soon. I will have to get new snaps. As the ones which i had have been locked away in my dead PC.
Although there are some pics of my ride Here.
