Maruti Wagon R AX
Maxabout Review
Maruti's Best Selling B Segment Car
Monday, July 21, 2008
Overview
This compact car has a 1061cc petrol engine and weighs 825kg. It has a ground clearance and a wheelbase of 165mm and 2360mm respectively, a turning radius of 4.6 meters. It takes 6.49secs to reach from 0-60kph and has a fuel economy of 12kpl in city and 16kpl on highway. It also comes with a factory fitted air conditioner, heater and has additional features like power steering, wheel covers, roof rails, carpets, front and rear door pockets, electronic multi trip meter and is available in 6 colours.
It has safety features like high mounted stop lamp, collapsible steering column, side impact beams, central door locking, front and rear seat belts and childproof rear door locks. Also recently Maruti added ABS and dual airbags in safety list.
Design & Interiors
The Wagon R is based on the very Japanese way of creating cars; in japan small cars must pass strict dimensional regulations. That's the reason why maruti cars are not wide, so the only way to liberate space is by going up. Thus making the car look disproportionately tall, this brought about the Tall boy design which can also be seen in the Hyundai Santro. Though i dont like the design much but its strong sales every month shows that people arer loving the design.
Step inside the car and you feel that it is quite roomy, on the vertical front at least, the leg room though is a bit low. The car has nice seats, but the support is really lacking. The front seats also seem rather constrained for width. The rear seats are split, 60:40. They are very uncomfortable if you are 3 people at the back. Although the Wagon R is unable to compete with the likes of the indica xeta in terms of space, it definitely offers more space when compared to the Zen and the Alto. The boot space is also very good and with this car can haul quite an amount of luggage.
Engine
Powered by the punchy 1.1Litre engine, one can expect a good performance from this cutie. Cruising in the city traffic is a breeze. With AC switched on, moving from traffic signals is not a big problem. Still the 1.1 litre engine produces enough power to move ahead of other cars in the line. Navigation is easy too.
With powered steering, the cruising is more easier and safer. Touch the brakes and she wlll respond genlty. The braking is good for a car in this class. On the Acceleration front, she performs better with AC on, and performs amazingly with AC off. To sum up, this is a good performer in its class.