Maruti Suzuki Celerio AMT Review, Images, Price and Specs: Geared Well!

Engine and Transmission

Powering the Celerio is the K-Next Engine with Drive-by-wire and is a 3 pot 1.0 liter unit. The main upgrade is the inclusion of the Drive by wire tech. Christened as the K10B, the engine develops 67bhp of max power at 6000 RPM and 90Nm of peak torque at 3500 RPM and is mated to 5 speed manual and automated manual transmission (AMT). Since we drove the AMT variant, which will be available in only the LXi and VXi trims, we will explain the AMT in detail. In a typical 3 pot manner, the motor is quite vibe-y at idle, and some vibrations trickle inside the cabin, but never are bothersome. The thrumming of the engine gets pronounced once past 3000 rpm, but does not sound harsh in any way.

As many of you may know, conventional automatic transmissions use a torque convertor. But, the AMT does not use the same. Instead, it depends on an electronic control unit (ECU) that manages actuators to control the clutch engagements for the gear shifts to happen. Press the brake pedal and shift the gear lever into D, release the brake and the car moves, just like normal automatics. With no accelerator inputs, the car will chug along at 10 kmph. This 5-speed gearbox unit is also shared with the manual, which is why Maruti is able to price the AMT variant so competitively in comparison to conventional automatics. Also, the AMT variant has the same ARAI rated fuel efficiency of 23.1 kmpl as of the manual Celerio variant, which sounds terrific on papers. While in the city, the MFD gave a readout or 13kmpl, which for an Automatic is fantastic, we say.

Transmission Performance

In D mode:

With a light foot, the car shifts gears quickly to aid fuel efficiency. The ECU upshifts at the 2500 rpm if the car is driven with a light foot. When cruising at 50-60 kmph, press the right pedal, and there is a slow response from the gearbox to downshift, and it can drop to the second cog to give the car the ordered punch. Keep your feet buried and the transmission will perform up shifts late (@5000 rpms).
This mode works very well while driving around traffic, and should be a boon for the people who are travelling long distances every day for work in dense traffic. With its cost-effectiveness the system should also appeal to ladies who drive to work, as a hassle free and cost effective alternative to the manual transmissions which can get quite irksome in bumper to bumper traffic. On the downside, however, at crawling speeds the gear shifts feel a bit erratic especially when the ECU decides to upshift into the 2nd gear and you lift off to slow down, this is further compounded by the fact that the shifts aren`t lightening fast.

In Manual (M) mode:

Shift the gear lever to left and you can use the gear lever to manually perform upshifts and downshifts. Push backwards to upshift and forward to downshift. In the manual mode, you can even hold on to a gear to have some fun. This mode will be very useful while weaving through twisties as well as for overtaking on highways.

If you slow down to a low speed in a higher gear, the gearbox will downshift on its own at a low RPM threshold. Even though this offers morefreedom and selecting the gears at any occasion, we did not use this much preferring to leave the car in the D mode most of the times. In our personal opinion, the maximum fun of a manual mode, of an automatic transmission can only be exploited with steering mounted paddle shifters. All said, the `manual mode` still beats a `manual transmission` by negating the much hated clutch pedal and offering the same control.

Whether driving in manual or D, the Celerio makes light work of driving, which is nothing less than a chore in densely populated metros like Mumbai. The ease of use and the sheer simplicity makes the Celerio an EZ Drive indeed.

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