- To hit the streets next year
- India’s first mass-market flex-fuel car
Maruti Suzuki has taken the opportunity at the Bharat Mobility Expo 2024 stage to showcase the Wagon R Flex Fuel. First seen at the 2023 Auto Expo in Delhi, the Wagon R Flex Fuel is set to hit the streets late next year.
The Wagon R Flex Fuel (FF) is re-engineered to use any ethanol-petrol blend as fuel and will eventually help reduce tailpipe emissions. Although the show car’s exterior remains unchanged over the standard Wagon R, the 'Flex-Fuel' decals are hard to miss. Even the cabin gets the same fluorescent embellishments as the ones seen on the decals.
The powertrain in question is the familiar 1.2-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine that puts out 88.5bhp and 113Nm and it will be available with a five-speed manual as standard. But we could expect an automatic down the line. More importantly, this powertrain is made to be compatible with an ethanol-petrol blend between 20 per cent (E20) and 85 per cent (E85). With this, the Wagon R FF will be kinder to the environment by 79 per cent but we also expect it to deliver similar levels of performance as the conventional gasoline-powered Wagon R.
To run effectively on the flex fuel, the powertrain has received a few modifications including ethanol sensors to measure its ethanol percentage, heated fuel rails for cold start assistance, and an upgraded engine management system apart from a robust fuel pump and injectors.
We expect the Wagon R FF's production version to go on sale by 2025. It might carry a slight premium in pricing over the standard one and it will become the first mass-market flex-fuel car in India.
