Maruti Suzuki Celerio Review: Manual and AMT Variant Driven – carandbike

It has been more than 2 years since a new generation car coming from Maruti Suzuki, and now that it has been launched it has big shoes as the previous generation of Celerio sold over 5.9 lakh units in the country and 20% claimed market share. in the hatchback segment, and this is important because it shows how popular it was! So when Maruti Suzuki thought of bringing in a new gen model, the Celerio was a no brainer.

Design

The new Celerio is longer, wider but shorter than the old model and is now based on the 5th generation of the Heartect platform. As you can see from its looks, it is designed to be more youthful and the design brings a 3D effect. Moving away from the squarish look works in its favor and you see a single chrome line on these good looking headlamps and grille. It is simple and it gives a smiling face and we are glad that the chrome finish is not there. There are no LED DRLs here so we guess it’s missed but it’s not a deal breaker

Look at it in profile and you’ll see an increase in length but you can also see the stance of the taller guy and the 15-inch tires add up to that.

Now the base model gets 14 inches and the alloy wheels you see here are available only in the top-end variant.

The rear gets droplet-style taillights which are proportionate to the car, they are not too big or small and complete the look of the car.

interior

It has a more contemporary dashboard and is very refreshing. It’s a completely new design with a few things that have been borrowed from some of its cousins. For instance, the steering wheel and instrument cluster comes from the Wagon R while the placement of the power window on the center console is something we have seen on the S-Presso. But it is the 7-inch infotainment system that immediately grabs your attention.

This 7-inch touchscreen system is available in the top-end version. There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, yes wired, let’s not ask for too much anymore! The seats are also somewhat similar to what we have actually seen on the Ignis.

But is there enough space behind?

The wheelbase has been increased by 10 mm and now stands at 2435 mm. So back here is a good place. There are no real amenities for the back seat passengers except this bottle holder and maybe the phone holder. There are no charging points here. But you do get good shoulder room because remember it is a wider car than before and good headroom as well. We would have liked to have kept the adjustable headrest and even the front section here because to be honest, this is what the Wagon R gets and it costs less than that right now!

There is one more aspect that needs to be mentioned here and that is the boot space. That’s a massive 40% increase, to be precise. 313 liters of space is now available here and I will put things into perspective for you. Swift gets 268 liters while its direct rivals Tiago 242 liters and Santro offers 235 liters of space for your luggage.

But now let’s come to the business end of the all-important question. How does it drive?

Engine and Transmission

It is well powered for a car of its size. 66 bhp and 89 Nm. Now I am running the earlier AMT version and it is not peppy but once the needle crosses the 2200 rpm mark there is a good amount of push. But it is at the time of overtaking when you really need to think about your move as it takes a few seconds to react to your input. It was never meant to be sporty and I don’t want it to be just quick reaction time either but the big USP here is that it is the most fuel efficient petrol car in the country and with a fuel economy of 26.68 kmpl Is. The AGS version is much more than meets the eye.

This next gen K series engine is equipped with dual valve timing, dual injectors and cooled exhaust gas recirculation system. While the cooled EGR helps to increase the knocking resistance which basically means that the fuel ignition is controlled and only the required amount is burned for propulsion, the dual injectors help in better automatization of the fuel

The dual VVTs reduce pumping loss and thus these pillars help in increasing the fuel efficiency of the Celerio. Of course, while all of these technologies are very mechanical in nature, what the consumer will notice is the idle start stop and this is standard on the Celerio.

Now the automated manual transmission variant also gets hill hold assist and it proved to be very effective on these climbers and yes it is standard on the AMT variant.

But now let’s move on to the manual transmission variant.

The manual is great to drive as the clutch is lighter and the travel is less. Then there is the gearbox itself which has short throws and when you upshift or downshift you get immediate feedback from the engine. It also gives mileage of more than 24 kmpl.

But there’s one department that really shines… and that’s ride quality.

ride and handling

The Celerio actually deals with broken roads quite well. There is a bit of lateral movement in the cabin when going through deep potholes, but the Celerio really does a decent job maintaining its stability on all roads. This is a huge plus in my book.

Steering weight is also good. It is not artificial and yes very likeable and then there is the turning radius which shows how smooth and easy it is to drive the Celerio on the narrow streets of the city.

the protection

Now many of you may ask us what are crash test ratings and the simple answer is, it doesn’t have a rating yet because it hasn’t been crash tested yet by the global safety watchdog. Maruti Suzuki says that the car meets all the safety requirements mandated by the Government of India and is fine. But the car gets standard safety features like dual airbags, ABS with EBD, seatbelt pretensioners as part of the standard equipment. We still feel that there was definitely more that could have been done in this department.

Price and Rivals

On the price front, the Celerio is mostly at par with rivals like Tata Tiago and Hyundai Santro. It is only the Datsun GO which is cheaper by close to one lakh across all variants.

While the battle for manual transmission is closely fought, in the AMT, the battle becomes even tougher as the price difference between the top-end ZXi Plus variant of the Celerio and the XZA Plus variant of the Tiago is just ₹1000.

Decision

The new-gen Celerio captivates you with the space, engine refinement and even its ride quality, and even really priced as it is so competitive. But does it go the extra mile to convince you that this is the one to go for. From where I really stand, as more could have been done, especially on the security and features front.

0 notes

Whatever we say, however, the Celerio will still be sold by the dozen and that is because of its value offering, be it in the service department or brand equity.

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