Maruti Suzuki’s A-star is the fifth model from Suzuki and the attractively designed small car has been designed by Japanese engineers to suit the European taste. The car is expected to replace Alto in European markets but in India Alto will not be removed from the market. Its features are the elliptically designed shape, oversized headlamps and A in the name stands for Aerodynamics that is a fast car with high fuel efficiency.
Maruti A- star comes in nine colors and three new colors are - Desert Brown, Paradise Blue and Healing green. A - Star is produced by the company at Manesar and the model comes with five door hatchback. A-star will be exported in names Suzuki Alto and Suzuki Celerio.
Look of A-star
The car is designed in a way top have large wheel arches and bold outlook. The interiors of the A-Star make it look small as the rear passengers get small windows that is designed like a wing. Those who have been driving Hyundai’s i10 will not be happy about the space in the car. The rear space is small for a person above 6 feet but for the driver the car is comfortable as the instrument cluster is spacious and meters are clear to read. The tachometer comes with a dash and it is placed outside the instrument panel. The dashboard is small in height that makes it difficult for tall drivers.
Engine, Power, Torque
A-Star has a new generation three cylinder light weight aluminum K10B KB-Series 998cc engine that is Euro -5 compliant for emissions and it generates a power of 67ps @ 6200 rpm and torque of 90nm @ 3500 rpm. The engine comes with five speed auto box and flat torque of the engine makes it idea for city traffic. The engine is a three cylinder one that makes noise if the speed is increased at low fuel. In normal driving conditions the engine gives a 14kmpl
Comfort and Safety
A-star comes in 3 variant Lxi, Vxi and Zxi. Vxi has music system with two speakers and Zxi comes with air bags, ABS, security system, keyless entry and music system with four speakers. A –star has a compact dimension of -3.5m *1.6m*1.49m that makes it comfortable to drive on city’s crowded roads and turning radius of the car is 4.5 meters. The steering is easy to handle but the wheels takes some efforts to move.
A-star comes with MacPherson bar up in front and torsion beam at the rear and tyres are l55/80 R13 that offer a fine grip on roads even in high speed.
The switches are reachable and the sitting position is comfortably designed but for short height people there is not option for seat adjustment (not present in Zxi).The space for glove box, door pockets and boot space is not much.The seats are comfortably made of fabric and look is impressive but for people above six leg room and knee room is not much in rear.
For safety the car comes with the ABS with EBD is standards in Vxi and Zxi and the Zxi variety also contains two airbags and integrated CD player is also expected to come with the car. The Lxi and Vxi variant of the car are equipped with a sunroof.
Engineering and Style
A-star has been designed to look sporty and stylish and the car will also match European market requirements although the styling looks similar to Hyundai i10.A-star’s slippery drag co-efficient is 0.30 and for Hyundai i10 Cd is 0.33.The performance and fuel efficiency of the car is improved. The shock absorbers are large and road noise in low but in lower speed the noise can be heard.
Special features
• Suspension: F: MacPherson Strut R: Isolated Trailing-link
• Power windows, Power Steering, Remote central locking
• Power:67 Bhp @ 6200 rpm, Torque:90 Nm @ 3500 rpm
• Length:3500 mm, Width:1600 mm, Height:1490 mm
• Driver & Passenger Airbag
• Anti Lock Braking System (ABS) that are Front Ventilated, Rear Disk
• Kerb Weight: 860.00 kgs
• Fuel Tank: 35.00
• Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD)
• CD player with 4 Speakers
• Dash-Mounted Tachometer
• Turning Circle: 4.50 meters
• Remote Boot & Remote Fuel Filler (Boot Space 129 ltrs)
• Rear Defogger with Rear Wiper/Washer
• Fog Lamps are present
• Ground Clearance:170.00 mm
• Tyre Size:155/80 R13
Positive and negative specification of the car:
Positive specifications of the car
• Stylish small look
• Power Windows
• Keyless entry
• New attachments like CD player, Sunroof
• Fuel efficiency, high mileage
• High security system
• K-Series engine is powerful, gear shifting is easy, pickup is good, tyres are comfortably broad.
• Car is comfortable to drive even for high speeds.
Negative Specifications of the car
• A-star is not better than Hyundai’s i10 in interiors looks and the tail lamp cluster is unimpressive.
• Makes noise in low speeds, low fuel.
• Price of the car is high in small car range as the market of small cars is coming with low prices.
• For drivers and passengers above height 6, it’s small.
• Mileage is less than the claimed by the company of 19 kmpl.
Cost of A-star
A- Star comes in price range of Rs 3, 46,775 to Rs 4, 11,775. The starting prices for the three variants on roads is
LXI: Rs 390000/-
VXI: Rs 425000/-
ZXI: Rs 470000/-
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