Impressive and Neat Package overall. Review on Maruti Suzuki Wagon R

This is my first review in Mouthshut though I have been a member for over a year now. I frequently browse through the new reviews, some of which are extremely useful. I hope this review of mine will be useful to some at least.

Choosing my new car

My budget was limited to the B-segment cars and it wasn?t a very difficult choice given the available options in the market. There was the new Santro Xing, the Tata Indica and the Wagon R. I did deliberate a bit before deciding to go in for a petrol car since my previous car was an Indica V2 Diesel.

I ruled out the Indica since I had already owned one. Wagon R came out the winner in the end for 2 very simple reasons. One, the electric power steering was simply superb and secondly, I trusted the Japs to the Koreans. Needless to say, its been almost six months now and with 4000 km on the clock, here is what I have to say.

Performance

Its certainly above average but I get this feeling that it needs to/can do better. I have trouble keeping up with cars like the Matiz or for that matter even the Santro when taking off from a signal light. I was told by the dealer that this would get better as I progressively put miles on the clock and more services were done.

My experience in servicing cars tells me that this may not actually happen unless there is some programming on the EPROM done specifically to limit the acceleration and speed. The top speed I have done so far is 100 kmph. Its difficult going above that speed due to lack of stretch for one and also ... the so called 'program lock'. The performance with the AC on does not drop though there is a noticeable drag initially. The AC cools fast.

Mileage

I get a good 12 to 13 km to the litre on an average with AC turned on most of the time. I drive about 20 km a day, which is a mix of both city (rundown, pot holed roads with bumper to bumper traffic) and highway (cruising at a average speed of 65 to 70 kmph). Its not bad but I guess I need to get to the magical figure of 15, which I hope I will do eventually when I complete a few more services. Handling Its a dream!. The EPS is simply superb and maneuvering through the roads of Bangalore is a pleasure with the Wagon R. The car handles quite well at high speeds though taking turns at speeds exceeding 65kmph is a little scary. I think its fair enough for this 'type' of car.

Powertrain

The 1.1 L engine is good and quite peppy but the manual 5 speed transmission is a let down given the overall impression that Japanese gear boxes are as slick as a hot knife cutting through butter. The shift from 2 to 3 is notchy and one can even feel a 'clunk' sometimes. The shift from 2 to 1 or to R is sometimes not possible unless you double de-clutch (like you do on a commercial vehicle). There also seems to be a design flaw in the front passenger seating position and the gear lever throw. When shifting to Ist or 2nd gears, its almost sure that you will hit your co-passengers right thigh! Thank God its my wife who sits there and she doesn?t mind that :))

Space

There is a space everywhere with door pockets and parcel trays providing lots of space to store anything from cassettes to CDs to Tissues boxes. Legroom is good in the front while the back is just about OK. Boot space is decent though I would have preferred a parcel tray at the back like the Indica where the rear Audio speakers could be mounted.

Overall

Maybe I have a lot of mixed feelings because I have moved from a diesel car to a petrol car and the expectations are sky high, when you have been pampered with 'more car per car' at a much lesser price. However, its a lovely, neat vehicle with decent performance & mileage and if these small problems are fixed, its certainly a good buy for someone who does office commuting as well as take the occasional weekend break. I am impressed certainly.