Beauty is only skin deep. No one seems to understand it better than the Indian car buying ‘junta’. Case in point is the all new Maruti Suzuki Alto 800. While the entire nation criticized the exterior styling of the new car, the car buyers are surely paying more attention to what lays beneath the arguably insipid exterior.
What else explains the decidedly warm welcome that the car has got from our car market? Only recently, we reported that a Kerela based Maruti Suzuki dealer delivered as many as 200 units of the Alto 800 in a single day and now, it has emerged that the nation’s largest selling car maker has registered more than 50,000 bookings for its new baby.
Such is the response to the new car that at least 10000 bookings were made even before the price list of the new car was announced. Compared to the previous edition of Alto, that now goes out of sale, the showroom inquiries for the Alto were up by 32% over October 2011. Maruti has so far delivered 22000 of the total Alto 800 cars booked. As many as 2000 cars were delivered on the day of Dhanteras.
The new car has been launched at ‘introductory prices’ and is slated to become dearer in a few days.
New Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Price list:-
New Maruti Alto 800 Petrol
• STD – 2.44 lakh
• LX – 2.765 lakh
• LXi – 2.99 lakh
New Maruti 800 Petrol + CNG
• STD – 3.19 lakh
• LX – 3.37 lakh
• LXi- 3.56 lakh
The new Alto 800 is a new design. It is taller, has more cabin space and has more features. The 796cc F8D engine on the new car delivers 47.5 bhp, which is about 3.5 bhp more than the earlier iteration of the engine. Torque is up by a substantial 7nm too. Maruti Suzuki has also worked on the gearshift to make the shift action smoother. The new car also boasts of an ARAI certified 22.74kmpl fuel efficiency which is quite a revelation.
Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Specifications
Dimensions
Overall length 3395 mm
Overall Width 1490 mm
Overall Height 1475 mm
Wheelbase 2360 mm
Tread
Front 1295 mm
Rear 1290 mm
Minimum Turning Radius 4.6 m
Ground Clearance 160 mm
Weight
Kerb Weight
Alto 800 695 kg
Alto 800 LX 715 kg
Alto 800 LXi 720 kg. 725 kg (With Airbag)
Gross Vehicle Weight 1185 kg
Engine
Swept Volume 796 cc
Engine Type F8D
No. of Cylinders 3
No. of Valves 12
Engine Control 32 Bit Computer
Maximum Power 48 PS @ 6000 rpm
Maximum Torque 69 Nm @ 3500 rpm
Transmission 5 Speed MT
All New Cable Type Gear Shift
Suspension System
Front Gas Filled Mc Pherson Strut
Torsion Roll Control Device
Rear Coil Spring, Gas Filled Shock
Absorbers With Three Link Rigid
Axle And Isolated Trailing Arm
Capacity
Seating 5 Persons
Fuel Tank 35 litres
Tyres
Tyre Size 145/80 R12 (Tubeless)
Brakes
Front Solid Disc
Rear Drum