A very detailed review on Blue eyed Tall boy

We brought the all new WagonR VXi model on 18th December 2014 in exchange to our 17 year old Maruti Omni. As we have a long 17 year old association with Maruti Suzuki, we decided to continue the relationship with the most trusted brand in the Indian car market scenario 😊

As we are a tall family & I am 6 feet 2 inches tall boy, so WagonR was our only choice. 

Exterior The exterior is decently designed. The blue eyed headlamps grabs eye balls wherever the car goes and are the first in its class. The new car is almost 80 mm longer than the older one which had a length of 3520mm compared to 3599mm of the new one. This surely increases the leg room to a great extent and makes the car stand apart from its competitors. The VXi and LXi versions have a height of 1700mm along with roofrails. This car has the best head room ever seen in any hatchback. The rear headlamps are bigger and the chrome grill with a WAGONR badge on it surely adds a definition to the car's rear. The front face has sharp sexy cuts especially along the fog lamps which appeals the overall impression of the car. VXi version comes with a rear wiper and deffoger thereby providing a great visual help in cold and foggy atmospheres. 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 Interiors are ergonomically designed. The VXi version offers a tilt steering wheel. The quality of plastics is good and the dashboard comes in beige and black along with silver trims which surely adds a good definition to the interiors of the car. It is one of the biggest dashboards I've ever seen. There is an additional small storage compartment above the glove box to store tin containers of soft drinks. Besides, there are 2 cup holders for the driver and the rear passengers. The car provides the best leg room and the best head room in its class. The front seats has a travel of 240mm which is highly adjustible for short and tall persons.

The boot space of just 180 litres disappoints for those who love to carry a lot with them on trips. The car offers a 60-40 rear sear splitting so that you can fold the seat and store more. But this is not preffered and the low boot space surely disappoints. 

The instrument cluster is attractive. Speedometer and tachometer are analog whereas the odometer and trip meter are digital. The font size is appropriate and neither too big nor too small. However, the car doesn't displays the instantaneous mileage. Also there is no display indication of the unclosed doors as you see in a Swift. The car rings a chime signal if the driver's door is not closed properly. There is no indication of the unclosed passenger's door. 

The most important feature of this car is the basket tray beneath the front passenger seat. You will find this intelligently designed feature only in Maruti Suzuki WagonR. You can use it to store valuables and also as a small basket during short picnics. The in-built music system from Nippon is fair. However, it lacks Bluetooth which is quite essential these days.

Rear parking sensors are also absent & one needs to externally fit them. I would recommend you all to go for Maruti Genuine Accessories in this case as fitment from the roadside vendors may cease your extended warranty of the car. Its always better to pay more to MGA for the rear sensors than to fit it outside and void your EW forever. A rear view sensor with LED display from MGA costed me Rs. 3200/-

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The car comes with 1 lite 3 cylinder light weight aluminium K10B engine with a plastic inlet manifold. Engine delivers a good torque of 90Nm @ 3500rpm. Power output is 68PS @ 6200rpm. The NVH is bad to my disappointment and you hear the engine in the cabin at low rpms. The engine stabilises at high rpms. 

The engine response at high speeds is good. Engine is BS IV compliant with Onboard diagnostics OBD-II & I've heard that it is also E90 compliant. In the subsequent years, cars would use E85 & E90 engines which consists of 85% & 90% by volume Petrol alongwith 15% and 10% ethanol respectively. 

Fuel economy is 15 kmpl in mixed traffic conditions of city and highway along with a minimum AC usage.

Gearbox is improved with new cable shift and detent pin technology compared to the link shift on the earlier model. It facilitates smooth shifting. However I found the top gear to be tough and demanded more muscular force.

Ride Quality & Handling  The VXi model comes with 14 inch wheels. The suspension is good but not the best. You do feel the bumps. The car has a good grip on highways and retains stability even at high speeds of around 140-145kmph. Top speed is around 150kmph. The car has a power to weight ratio of 77PS per tonnes which is not good enough compared to the ALto K10's 88PS per tonnes, which uses the same engine. This could be the reason for the poor pickup of the car. WagonR generally stabilises at a high engine rpm & the engine loves to be revved. 

Final Words The car is a good value for money package and will cost around 4.8 lakh rupees onroad. Its looks like a mini SUV and a perfect car for a small size family with tall members. The service of Maruti Suzuki is the best in the Indian car market and this car fulfills most of the expectations of a middle class buyer. 

Areas of improvement NVH needs improvement. Rear sensors and bluetooth missing.

Good headroom, Good legroom, Ergonomics, Economy, PriceNVH is bad, poor pickup