2010 Maruti Alto K10

The redesigned Alto appears more grown up and mature compared to the old car. The reworked face with the angular headlights and bigger grille give it a bold and purposeful look, which was missing in the earlier car. Even the restyled rear with its new tail lights looks modern and gels well with the overall design. Maruti has also increased the length of the car with a longer engine to accommodate the bigger engine. As a result it looks more balanced in profile.

The name might be the same but Maruti’s heavily revised Alto is much better than the car before. Besides the updated looks, the main talking point of this car is its new power plant. Maruti has assaulted the Indian market with its much- coveted K-series engines and the Alto is the latest car to get the engine. It is by far the largest selling car in the country and with this revised version, Maruti has high hopes of maintaining its lead.  

Move over to the interior and you’ll find some subtle changes. The most obvious change is the new steering wheel which looks nice and gives you a good grip. The new dials look more upmarket and are easy to read. The dashboard is unchanged and it feels decently put together. But there’s too much of grey plastics and some of the materials used look very cheap. The new seat fabric with its vibrant colour helps liven up the otherwise drab-looking interiors. You sit pretty low in the Alto and due to the low stance of the car, getting in and out is a bit of a chore. With its integrated headrests, the front seats are similar in design to the A-star’s. The seat itself is comfortable but it lacks enough under-thigh support. Seat bolstering is also not the best and you tend to get thrown around on enthusiastic drives.

The increase in the car’s length hasn’t increased the Alto’s interior space. By making scoops in the front seats, Maruti has tried to carve out more kneeroom for the rear passengers. It helps but you have to keep your legs together to make use of it, which is not always comfortable. Headroom is poor and a tall person will mess up his hairstyle. The boot is decent for a compact car though.

The first thing you realise when you set off in traffic is that this motor is really free-revving, constantly urging you to get a move on. It makes the Alto feel light and agile to drive. The car’s throttle responses have improved drastically and it pulls well from most engine speeds. The engine is hugely flexible and a thrill to drive. Thanks to this, the Alto now feels at home on the highway too. Overtaking is much easier and the Alto needs only a shift or two to accelerate with gusto.

Where the 796cc engine feels strained in the mid-range, the K-series motor feels relaxed and has an adequate reserve of power on tap.  However, the motor isn’t perfect. It does get thrummy after 4000rpm and the low-speed responses from the engine are not the strongest. There is also some degree of jerkiness when negotiating stop/start traffic as the three-cylinder motor doesn’t run smoothly. And this motor has an unsettled idle too that makes the cabin shudder.

Performance figures here are quite impressive. A flat-out sprint to 100kph will take a very impressive 15.87sec, which is a whopping 4.51sec faster than the 800cc engine. Thanks to good top-end performance, it will reach a top speed of 143kph. In-gear acceleration too is much improved. 20-80kph will take 15.13sec and 40-100kph takes 22.47sec which again is much quicker than the old 796cc engine. 

On the fuel efficiency front the Alto, with its light kerb weight and efficient engine, was always expected to be great. The new Alto gave us 14kpl in the city and a decent 17kpl on the highway. Revamping the looks and putting a new engine in the Alto’s bay is Maruti’s method of making this Indian bestseller even more aspirational. The new K-series engine is leagues ahead of the 796cc motor of yore. Not only is the new engine big on power but it delivers good fuel efficiency too. 

Like the engine, the ride and handling have also gone a step in the right direction. The ride at low speeds is decent and the Alto soaks up most undulations on the road with relative ease. Where the Alto shines the most is in the city limits. The car’s compact dimensions, coupled with the light steering, are terrific for parking in tight spots. All-round visibility is good too, making the new Alto an ideal car for our ever-crowded roads. There is fair bit of body roll when you go fast around a corner, but the car feels safe and in control. However, the light steering doesn’t quite weight up at higher speeds and is uncommunicative as well. Ride suffers the most at higher speeds. Though the sense of stability has improved considerably over the old car, the narrow dimensions and the tiny tyre footprint don’t inspire confidence at speeds.