Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Price in India
If you do a simple random sampling of a group of Indians who know how
to drive, chances are a majority of them would have learnt driving on
an Alto. Ever since Maruti Suzuki first launched it in September 2000,
as many as 30 lakh units of this entry-level hatchback have been
cumulatively sold in the country. The car’s unique selling points have
been its remarkable fuel efficiency, peppy engine, attractive price
and low maintenance. Add to that Maruti’s countrywide sales
network—you can practically buy an Alto even if you live in the
remotest town in India!
Yet another reason for its success is that the Alto has been evolving
to reflect the changing India. Over the years, Maruti has been arming
it with just the right features a buyer looks for in an entry-level
car, and subtle but timely design updates; these have been appealing
to customers.
EXTERIORS
The styling of the Maruti Alto 800 looks far from impressive. The old
Alto looked cute even thought it has been around for more than a
decade. With the Alto 800, Maruti Suzuki has just tried to bring
styling from the Japanese Alto and the A-Star, which doesn’t give the
Alto 800 an identity of its own. The Alto 800 has very compact
dimensions and the company has added new bits to make the vehicle look
modern. A new and lighter roof has been added with corrugations to
boost stability. New outside rear view mirror has been picked up from
the Alto K10 but its shocking too see no left side rear view mirror as
standard. The door handles are body colored but the rear view mirror
is not. The full wheel caps look good and the wheel arches are
slightly flared too. The increased height and high ground clearance
makes the Alto 800 look odd. The Alto 800 is thus, no match for the
well styled Hyundai Eon. The conservative styling doesn’t appeal much
and the Alto 800 ends up looking very disproportionvate.
INTERIORS
Things are quite different on the inside. You now get a dark grey tone
for the dashboard and new upholstery on the door pads and seats. The
front seats are decent in comfort while frontal visibility is also
excellent. The Alto gets a basic audio system, front power windows,
power steering and AC. The AC has good performance and it fared nicely
in our hot weather. With the facelift, the Alto 800 now gets a
standard left hand side mirror, child locks at the rear and an
optional driver-side airbag.
At the rear, you have good head room while leg room is also pretty
decent thanks to the thin front seats. Shoulder space is decent but
fitting 3 passengers at the rear could be a problem. However, the
seats are lacking in terms of under-thigh support. You also feel a bit
claustrophobic due to the small window area. The rear seats now come
with integrated head rests. The rear doors finally get child locks
now. There is a bottle header in front of the gear lever which can
hold a 1-litre bottle. There is also a small storage area above the
glovebox. The boot is pretty compact at 177-litres
SPECIFICATIONS OF ENGINE
Mechanically, the new 2016 Alto 800 remain unchangeds. This means that
powering the refreshed Alto 800 is the tried and tested Suzuki F8D 796
cc, three-cylinder engine that comes mated to a 5 speed manual
gearbox. This motor pumps out a max. power of 47.65 PS @ 6,000 rpm and
a peak torque of 69 Nm @ 3500 rpm. The Alto is available in both
Petrol and CNG avatars. Maruti could give the engine an ECU remap to
further optimize the fuel mileage. As we said, the Diesel model of the
Alto 800 won’t be launched anytime soon. However, powering the Diesel
Alto will be a 800 cc, twin-cylinder engine that has a maximum power
of 47.5 PS and peak torque of 120 Nm.
DRIVING
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The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 has a feedback rich steering though it feels a bit heavy
at crawling speeds. However, the steering is very direct and despite
being such a small car, the Alto is quite fun to drive. Thanks to its
small footprint, you can easily drive it around and tackling too much
traffic doesn’t get easier than this. The ride is very flat at low
speeds and it tends to get uncomfortable when you hit broken or uneven
surfaces at even moderately high speeds. The car remains decently
stable at high speeds but it’d be best if it is driven below 90 km/hr.
The body feels very light and the super thin tyres have questionable
grip levels.
CONCLUSION
Maruti Suzuki hasn’t made many changes to the Alto 800, which is
essentially the Alto in fresh clothing, with slight upgrades here and
there. What this results in, is a much better Alto overall but is it
enough considering this is the first facelift to the Alto in 12-years.
While Maruti Suzuki’s brand name is more than enough to keep the
Alto’s sales flying high, we were hoping for a vastly improved Alto to
compete with the likes of the Hyundai Eon. However, the changes to the
Alto are more than welcome and the refreshed exteriors, new dashboard,
marginally more space, slightly more eager engine and better quality
of plastics is enough to justify the Rs. 30,000/- price hike which is
expected on the new Alto
Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Ex Showroom Price in New Delhi ranges from 2,46,752/- (Alto 800 Standard) to 3,75,265/- (Alto 800 LXI CNG Optional) .Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 has 10 Variants of Petrol are available in India. Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 comes in 6 colours, namely Blazing Red,Silky Silver,Mojito Green,Cerulean Blue,Granite Grey,Superior White.
