Maruti A-Star….

2008 November 20

tags: a-star, astar, automobile, Car, i10, india, maruti, new, new car, suzuki

by lalframes

The A-Star from the Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) stable is touted to be the most important launch after the Alto for the company. Vikram Gour gets behind the wheel of this crazy little thing to bring you the details…

The credentials are high with the A-Star. Born in India , conceptualized and designed with major inputs from Indian designers, yet built for the world, this car is destined for stardom. It’s a sea change in terms of thought, for, till now Indian customers were constantly bombarded with the tag line that a certain car model has been “Altered for Indian conditions”. The A-Star spells the end of that era, for now we have a car that is going to be solely built in India , yet sold across the globe. Not only that, Nissan is set to pick up 50,000 units and sell them under their brand name! It’s a change for the good, and even in grim times of an economic slowdown, such news is bound to get the patriotism genes kicking in, for we can feel nothing but proud about such a car. The stellar looking concept car, going by the same name was unveiled at the Auto Expo in Delhi earlier this year. Since then it has been a wait and watch game which included a preview of the global car at the Paris Motor Show in October 2008. Incidentally, for the global market this car will be known as the Alto, but in India it will go by its concept name-A-Star, which, I feel suits us just fine.

So, after Paris we knew what the car looked like, and to make a long story short, the A-Star looks like a baby from head on. You just want to walk up and pinch its cheeks (if it had them). Those large headlamps and the round-ish finish to the front all make it look very cute. It’s bound to be a hit with the women for sure! The little bonnet rakes up sharply, ala MSIL Swift style, to merge with the line of the swooped back windshield. Unfortunately MSIL didn’t keep the stellar lights or the front grille from the A-Star concept car, which had a sportier overtone, but opted for a cuter ‘bug’ look. When looked at from the side, the A-Star clearly retains some design elements from the concept. The most prominent is the shape of the front and rear passenger door including the cut of the windows. The rear notch is also a prominent design carried over from the concept as the similarities are very clear in the C pillar of both cars. The rear is rather different from the concept, and in a vague way it actually manages to remind me of the present Alto. It’s more butch, and better rounded, plus it looks more solid, but the design seems to lead back to the Alto for inspiration.

The interiors again have design elements taken forward from the A-star concept car, but have been toned down to suit this category as well as to make better business sense. After all, I highly doubt anyone of us expected to find that awesome ‘Start’ button located on the gearshift in the production model. (Alright, I did, and Maruti, I still beg you too do that!) The interiors are governed by a sporty theme. Single form seats, a wedge shaped dash that houses the A/C controls as well as the music player. But what takes the prize on interior design is the position and design of the tachometer. Done up in true racing style, the tacho is a separate unit all together that peeps over at the driver from the right corner of the dash. It’s retro and in your face design, which is sort of the USP that MSIL is going with anyway.

Overall, the car is well proportioned and has a wide stance, that gives the car its international look and as promised by MSIL officials, this stance also offers for better drivability, but more of that later, right now we got to see what lies under the hood.

A new engine for a star

The A-Star ushers in a new series of engines for MSIL. Known as the KB series, this engine is a brand new petrol drinking unit that promises better performance and efficiency as it is modern and encompasses technologies of today. Till date the J series engine has proved to be extremely reliable but the time has come to move forward and further enhance the engine.

The new KB 10B engine, the first of the KB series to be manufactured right now is a 998cc, 3 cylinder unit that has a high compression ratio of 10:1 and delivers 67PS @ 6200 rpm and a noteworthy torque o f 90Nm@3500 rpm. It is this engine that will power both the domestic and export versions of the A-Star hatchback. The new lightweight aluminium engine boasts of low NVH levels, enhanced fuel efficiency and linear performance throughout the powerband. Salient features of the new engine include an all plastic engine manifold, a smart distributor-less ignition system with dedicated plug top coils and advanced injectors plus an innovative rocker-less DOHC shaft. The engine has been further optimized by using light weight pistons and nutless conrods. All this has lead to the engine having a dry weight of just 47 kilograms. So, we have a new car and a new engine, but as they say, paper and tarmac speak two different languages and it’s in this translation that we get to know just what mettle a vehicle really packs.

A Driver’s hatchback

Firing up the 3 pot cylinder engine block, I watch the rev counter steady itself. Idle. The ‘retro’ tacho, if I may call it that, seems to be telling me that this might be a small car, but it’s sporty all right. I take the cue and head out to open roads. I shift my way into 5 th gear just as I finally hit the wide open expressway leading to Greater Noida. I gun the engine to see what everything I’ve seen and heard about this car till today has amounted to. The plastic induction on the KB series engine gives out a pronounced purr, the car moves as though there is a bigger engine under the hood, and getting up to speeds where a traffic cop would just love to ‘chalan’ you at, I found myself pleasantly taken aback by the fact that this car can move and how!

The little engine does its duty well and just loves to be revved. The all new 5 speed gearbox is a tad bit notchy, but a big improvement when compared to ‘boxes’ that do duty in the Wagon R or Zen Estilo. The power assisted steering wheel provides decent feedback and even at high speeds it never felt too light or as though the driver has lost touch. MSIL has taken special care to ensure that the driver get his dues in terms of a small hatch that has genes of a sports car.

The wide stance of the car also helps a great deal in keeping this little 2 box well planted to the road even at speeds above 140 km/h. It’s surprising enough as it is, but the only thing that came to my mind was the fact that the A-Star is an out and out driver’s car. It’s small, manageable, yet has that zest that if I were to reminisce would remind me of the peppiness that the older Zen had. The A-Star boasts of utilizing gas damped suspension all round, wherein the front suspension has been tweaked for enhanced handling and the rear is more in line with enhanced ride comfort. The best of both worlds is what MSIL has set out to do, and judging from the ride quality it seems that their formula worked. Of course some of the credit in terms of ride also goes to the 155/R13 tubeless tyres that comes as standard on the A-Star.

Braking is provided by ventilated discs up front and drums at the rear. ABS is onboard to ensure proper braking even under difficult conditions, which also adds to the safety of this car. MSIL has fitted the A-Star with front airbags to ensure a high level of safety. Further to this, the A-Star’s body is based on the Total Effective Control Technology (TECT) concept in the form of crushable structures that absorb impact energy and then disperse the energy away from the occupants in the event of a collision. I just took MSIL’s word for this, and have no intention of actually testing this feature, but it does feel good to know that such a small car now comes with so many safety measures. The benefit truly goes to the customer.

The brief drive does reveal that the A-Star can live up to its sport overtones, and though I could not get any figures in terms of fuel efficiency, I have been informed by MSIL that the figures will delight me when I do a full blown road test, but from the looks of it, and knowing MSIL’s history of providing fuel efficient small cars, I wouldn’t really argue with them too much on that front. As I head back, after my drive I cannot but help to think that the new A-Star is the new hot hatch in town. Other cars in the A2 segment have their job cut out in terms of competition, and the A-Star is sure going to rough things up a bit. A full blown road test of this new kid in town will reveal more, but from the looks of it, MSIL has a star in their A2 segment portfolio. It’s a crowded segment to be in, but the A-Star seems destined to soak in the limelight, for that is what ’stars’ do.