Modifying Maruti 800 & Alto

[samishka]

that maybe true but they will never be branded by some indian name.. nor it will get any attention if there is a city still made in japan.. have u seen the price differnce mate of the indian versions and the japanese versions.. have u seen the buld quality and the interiors these things... thaty why we ask japanda indianda...

I am not against Japanese vehicles. What I hate is Reconditioned Vehicles. I accept the fact that Indian vehicles lack the feel-good factor of their Japanese counterparts.

I used to drive my father's 13 Sri Lancer C12. When it was time for me to buy a car all brand new Japanese cars were beyond my budget of 1.5 Million. (The cheapest brand new Japanese car those days was the Basic version of Daihatsu Charade at 1.8 million)

Finally I settled for a Maruti Wagon R. It is sad that we don't get a brand new Japanese Wagon R in Sri Lanka. Otherwise I would have definitely have stretched my budget and buy one. It is even more versatile than the Indian one.

Since Suzuki has moved its (export market) small car manufacturing base to India and they still turn out Second Generation Wagon Rs while in Japan they make the Fourth Gen. Wagon R.

[GihanFX]

I am not against Japanese vehicles. What I hate is Reconditioned Vehicles. I accept the fact that Indian vehicles lack the feel-good factor of their Japanese counterparts.

whay u hate recon vehicles ?

[Supra_Natural]

I am not against Japanese vehicles. What I hate is Reconditioned Vehicles. I accept the fact that Indian vehicles lack the feel-good factor of their Japanese counterparts.

I have to ask, why?

i mean, my family has had several over the years (including a recon peugeot) and they've always been excellent vehicles. I suspect the same can be said for most people on this forum, so its more than a little puzzling to hear somebody express outright hatred for reconditioned vehicles..

Surely you arent one of those misguided individuals who believes that "brand new is best, where ever, whenever", are you?

Edited July 11, 2009 by Supra_Natural

[Ruslan]

Seriously Mate, what's wrong with Jap Recon Cars? give us a reason..?

[samishka]

It is my personal opinion. Might be after seeing one of my uncles having trouble with his 38 sri recon Delica while my father's 13 sri B/new Lancer ran trouble free. (Both of them were 1st owners)

[Pericles]

He may be a rich guy who can maintain a Subaru.

Aint no maybes about it . Sharkster is one of the forum moderators. He is very well known to the long term members. Hes just another guy with a 9 to 5 job making ends meet.

Gone are the days of humble Subaru M80s. Nowadays Subarus are tech-laden and positioned as up-market vehicles.

The Legacy RS isn't a "nowadays" car. It was made from '93-'99. At least 10 years old however you cut it. The standard Subaru Impreza 1500cc isn't positioned as tech laden or up market. Neither is that Subaru R2. And don't they even have some batta van model? For a brand those terms are used for brands like BMW, where even its lowest spec base model cars are up market. Not some small Japanese company.

Surely you arent one of those morons who believes that "brand new is best, where ever, whenever", are you?

Play nice Supra. Name calling no-no.

[GihanFX]

It is my personal opinion. Might be after seeing one of my uncles having trouble with his 38 sri recon Delica while my father's 13 sri B/new Lancer ran trouble free. (Both of them were 1st owners)

we taking abt recon petrol cars, how can u compare 90's Petrol cars ( 18- and above ) with old diesel 38sri delica ? also u have compared Delice and a Lancer, well delica runs on diesel and Lancer on petrol, so u cant compare those two types,

[GuruG]

It is my personal opinion. Might be after seeing one of my uncles having trouble with his 38 sri recon Delica while my father's 13 sri B/new Lancer ran trouble free. (Both of them were 1st owners)

WOW Realy!, so u assume all recons r like ur uncles. I prefer to buy recon over bnew. Cus after we buy it, its no more bnew . Thats MHO.

I love this tread its like talkin to a wall.

There is no crime modifyin a Maruti. People can modify what ever they want as long as it will not affect others. Its like have a tatto, ring etc. May it be performance or cosmetic, its the owners choice. IMHO yes you can do cosmetic mods to a maruti to make the car look faster and different from the rest. But doing a performance mods to it is a waste of money. Unless of course u r planing only to run against other marutis. What are the gain u r expecting from a maruti/alto engine? U might be able to get 10hp max after spending about nearly 1lk. But mate u could achive better by buyin bigger engine jap car for less ammount of cash.

FYI I owned a bnew Maruti 5 speed (was pissed off at my dad for buyin this) purchased for Rs.500,000 somewhere arround 2001 n sold it after abt 1yrs with only 6000 clocked. And no, not once my dad drove nor got inside.

Pros.

Small, gr8 for driving in traffic as u can sneak in.

Very agile at very very low speed.

Did arround 10kpml when I drive.

Very light. Its seasy to lift when stuck(but might cut ur fingures when doing so)

Lights are damn bright. When headlights are on its enough to blind oncomin driver.

Performance - OK for a 800cc engine built with econmy in mind.

Ground clearence - OK

Cons.

Brakin - U have to start brakin at punchi borella to stop at borella. Braking is worse for the first 200kms n stays almost the same after that.

Handling - On a sunny day = As driving a jap car on a rainy day

On a rainy day = Just Dont drive

Speedin - My max is 110Km and I was 21yrs old. I still cant remember How I stoped. That was my 1st n last on a maruti at that speed. Also make sure there is no counter or side wind speed, no puddles, no sand, no oil, no peds, no other vehicles on the road n u hav a life insuarance.

Quality -

1. All the plastics are like moulded by hand. Remind me of a pencil box once I used. (that has buttons that u can press and options such as cutter/eraser etc pops up). U can hear "takas" sound as well oposed to soft clickin sound of a jap switches.

2. Door beading came out for no what so ever reason.

3. Seats r like made out of wood.

Space - I rekon it is designed for ppl under 5'

Safety - There is not F!@kin safety in it.

Safety Eg:

Below is my neighbors(a very close friend) car. It was a headon collision with the van next to it. She, her husband and 2 kids (one 12 and other one is 9). She was over takin a lorry and was goin arround 70Kmph. Some how she has lost control of the vehicle, the oncoming driver (van next to the car) has stoped the vehicle to minimise the damage. Below is the outcome of the incident.

See where the impact has occured (passenger side)

Damage caused to Maruti

Damage cause to the Hiace (some parts r removed)

My friend the driver (She died after 2 days with injuries to her liver and heart.) Reason for this is that she was pressed in between the steering and the seat. Her husband suffered from a broken knee cap, eldest with broken leg and other with a head injury. I tried my best to stop them from buyin this crap. But as most of the maruti owners they were convinced about the fuel consumption and it for a bnew its fits their budget. This is their first car and they preffer it to be small in size so its less trouble to drive.

So there u r, just me 2 cents

[GihanFX]

awesome stuff guru, i cant stop laughing

[Supra_Natural]

Play nice Supra. Name calling no-no.

Sorry Peri, put it down to frustration lol.... has been corrected.

[Supra_Natural]

awesome stuff guru, i cant stop laughing

not really all that funny when you consider that a mother/wife died thanks to the maruti's crap construction.... heck when i saw those pics i first thought that it seems to be reasonably in one piece considering, was quite horrified to hear that Guru's friend passed away as a result of this... Those poor kids!

@ Ek3, where are your "advanced safety features" now eh?

this is exactly the sort of thing that should be publicised among people, to ensure that this worthless piece of outdated junk loses its market share.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Supra_Natural

[Ruslan]

Well GuruG,

That's a great eye opener for all who looking to buy a Brand new + economical but unsafe crap vehicle like that. 13 Sri Lancer would do way better than that i guess. sorry to hear about your friend, that's tragic.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Ruslan

[Miyuru Daminda]

even same outcome happen in any car, if does not wear seat belts. Crashing 60kph without seat belts mean high chance of fatality in any car and become worse in small car.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Miyuru Daminda

[GihanFX]

not really all that funny when you consider that a mother/wife died thanks to the maruti's crap construction

yeah its a sad scene, i was saying abt the pros and cons, that was funny

[GihanFX]

even same outcome happen in any car, if does not wear seat belts. Crashing 60kph without seat belts mean high chance of fatality in any car and become worse in small car.

brand new car shoud atleset have duel airbags ryte ?

[Miyuru Daminda]

brand new car shoud atleset have duel airbags ryte ?

agree with it, only jap alto has air bags.

BTW M800 has high mounted stop lamps. lol WTF

[GTAm]

So our man's plan has gone horribly wrong. I guess he chose the wrong forum to promote a Maruti 800.

There's one thing he could be right about though. The 800 needs modification. And lots of it, including a new engine and gearbox, a new interior, safety equipment and a styling update. All these mods need to be carried out by the factory though

[Miyuru Daminda]

So our man's plan has gone horribly wrong. I guess he chose the wrong forum to promote a Maruti 800.

There's one thing he could be right about though. The 800 needs modification. And lots of it, including a new engine and gearbox, a new interior, safety equipment and a styling update. All these mods need to be carried out by the factory though

Even in india, M800 sales going down rapidly because simply it's a crap

[Pericles]

even same outcome happen in any car, if does not wear seat belts. Crashing 60kph without seat belts mean high chance of fatality in any car and become worse in small car.

There was nothing saying they weren't wearing seatbelts.

brand new car shoud atleset have duel airbags ryte ?

Air bags are SRS. Suplemental Restraint systems. It goes with seatbelts. You whack a car with air bags while not wearing seatbelts you can get even more injured when a balloon expanding at pace smacks you in the face like a concrete wall, and shoves you the other way while continuing to expand to full size. Proven in crash tests, btw. The seat belt will prevent you from meeting with the air bag before its fully inflated. AKA, you can have the latest safest car with 10 air bags, but you still need to wear the belt!

[GuruG]

even same outcome happen in any car, if does not wear seat belts. Crashing 60kph without seat belts mean high chance of fatality in any car and become worse in small car.

I do agree with u. But if u read my post well u'll come to know that she was pressed between the seat and the steering wheel. So wearing a seat belt or not u will get injured. Maruti should design steering belt or some sorta s@#t for the steering to prevent it from coming out in a crash.

So our man's plan has gone horribly wrong. I guess he chose the wrong forum to promote a Maruti 800.

There's one thing he could be right about though. The 800 needs modification. And lots of it, including a new engine and gearbox, a new interior, safety equipment and a styling update. All these mods need to be carried out by the factory though

It will not be M800 anymore. The slogan fits better "Maruti M800 - Live Dangerously"

Wonder whether they ever crash tested the 800. Hmmmm they must be thinking "y we need to destroy bnew cars n dummies, when tha users can test it for us FOC". They must be "cost cuttin"

Edited July 11, 2009 by GuruG

[Miyuru Daminda]

There was nothing saying they weren't wearing seatbelts.

normally Maruti drivers doesn't ware seat belts because they believe that maruti's are safe, like Ek3

Also womens normally dnt like to wear seat belts

And in that picture. damage to front area didn't reached passenger area. So my conclusion is they didn't wear belts cause fatality

[samishka]

WOW Realy!, so u assume all recons r like ur uncles. I prefer to buy recon over bnew. Cus after we buy it, its no more bnew . Thats MHO.

I love this tread its like talkin to a wall.

There is no crime modifyin a Maruti. People can modify what ever they want as long as it will not affect others. Its like have a tatto, ring etc. May it be performance or cosmetic, its the owners choice. IMHO yes you can do cosmetic mods to a maruti to make the car look faster and different from the rest. But doing a performance mods to it is a waste of money. Unless of course u r planing only to run against other marutis. What are the gain u r expecting from a maruti/alto engine? U might be able to get 10hp max after spending about nearly 1lk. But mate u could achive better by buyin bigger engine jap car for less ammount of cash.

FYI I owned a bnew Maruti 5 speed (was pissed off at my dad for buyin this) purchased for Rs.500,000 somewhere arround 2001 n sold it after abt 1yrs with only 6000 clocked. And no, not once my dad drove nor got inside.

Pros.

Small, gr8 for driving in traffic as u can sneak in.

Very agile at very very low speed.

Did arround 10kpml when I drive.

Very light. Its seasy to lift when stuck(but might cut ur fingures when doing so)

Lights are damn bright. When headlights are on its enough to blind oncomin driver.

Performance - OK for a 800cc engine built with econmy in mind.

Ground clearence - OK

Cons.

Brakin - U have to start brakin at punchi borella to stop at borella. Braking is worse for the first 200kms n stays almost the same after that.

Handling - On a sunny day = As driving a jap car on a rainy day

On a rainy day = Just Dont drive

Speedin - My max is 110Km and I was 21yrs old. I still cant remember How I stoped. That was my 1st n last on a maruti at that speed. Also make sure there is no counter or side wind speed, no puddles, no sand, no oil, no peds, no other vehicles on the road n u hav a life insuarance.

Quality -

1. All the plastics are like moulded by hand. Remind me of a pencil box once I used. (that has buttons that u can press and options such as cutter/eraser etc pops up). U can hear "takas" sound as well oposed to soft clickin sound of a jap switches.

2. Door beading came out for no what so ever reason.

3. Seats r like made out of wood.

Space - I rekon it is designed for ppl under 5'

Safety - There is not F!@kin safety in it.

Safety Eg:

Below is my neighbors(a very close friend) car. It was a headon collision with the van next to it. She, her husband and 2 kids (one 12 and other one is 9). She was over takin a lorry and was goin arround 70Kmph. Some how she has lost control of the vehicle, the oncoming driver (van next to the car) has stoped the vehicle to minimise the damage. Below is the outcome of the incident.

My friend the driver (She died after 2 days with injuries to her liver and heart.) Reason for this is that she was pressed in between the steering and the seat. Her husband suffered from a broken knee cap, eldest with broken leg and other with a head injury. I tried my best to stop them from buyin this crap. But as most of the maruti owners they were convinced about the fuel consumption and it for a bnew its fits their budget. This is their first car and they preffer it to be small in size so its less trouble to drive.

So there u r, just me 2 cents

You are spot on about how horrible is a Maruti 800. However when it comes to Maruti Alto It's a different story.

What Alto has got, but M800 lack are 1) Collapsible Steering Column 2) Servo brakes.

Edited July 11, 2009 by samishka

[Miyuru Daminda]

You are spot on about how horrible is a Maruti 800. However when it comes to Maruti Alto It's a different story.

What Alto has got, but M800 lack are 1) Collapsible Steering Column 2) Servo brakes.

yes I saw a crashed alto and it's steering was disconnected. So less chance of crushing driver unless damage reached passenger cabin.

AFIK M800 is the ONLY car that dnt have servo assisted breaks

[GuruG]

You are spot on about how horrible is a Maruti 800. However when it comes to Maruti Alto It's a different story.

What Alto has got, but M800 lack are 1) Collapsible Steering Column 2) Servo brakes.

[samishka]

The Legacy RS isn't a "nowadays" car. It was made from '93-'99. At least 10 years old however you cut it.

You all admire those old models because newer models are prohibitively expensive to buy. And all of you seem to be loyal to Japanese Domestic Models.

However what I was trying to say was that it is rude to condemn Maruti Altos, Honda Citys just for the sake they are made in India.

Unlike Made in Japan vehicles, quality of Indian vehicles vary between brands. While Indian Toyotas and Hondas got the highest quality levels , cars like Ambassadors belongs to the other end. Marutis (the whole range) belong to the middle of the spectrum.

Therefore when you see a rickety Ambassador or a Bajaj Trishaw don't expect every indian vehicle to fall apart like them.

What I have been admiring upto now was not Indian vehicles but Indo-Japanese vehicles. Regarding 100% Indian vehicles even I also hate them. Marutis are now actually Suzukis in all but their name, since majority of Maruti-Suzuki stake is held by Suzuki Japan and headed by Japanese people. However Maruti has to discontinue the M800 which seems to be tarnishing the company's image.

ek3 seems to have given up arguing for M800. No wonder when I find it difficult to argue for much better Maruti Alto.

Finally I would like to stop arguing, since it is difficult to argue with a bunch of youngsters (Some of them even doesn't know that 38 sri vans are petrol) who love to hate ANYTHING indian, just like I love to hate recon vehicles.

Let's keep our, sentiments to ourselves since you all and myself belong to totally different segments of car buyers.