India's Alto ego

Suzuki's new Alto comes from India where, DAVE MOORE observes, they put together cars very tidily indeed.

The new Alto is a soft-edged wedge of a wee hatch with a rising design aspect at window-base height that makes it look modern and attractive.

It's a three-cylinder one-litre bargain-basement offering from the makers of New Zealand's favourite motor car, the Suzuki Swift.

That's right, according to sales figures just out from the Motor Industry Association, October saw the Suzuki Swift as the top-selling passenger car, followed by the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Falcon.

Admittedly, that's probably a bit of a spike, but even the year-to-date figures have the Swift in third place, behind the Toyota Corolla and the Holden Commodore.

The Alto returns to New Zealand after a short holiday from our market. One reason for the break was that the Alto could not be landed cheaply enough from traditional sources to form much of a gap between it and the entry-point Swift, which already asks a compelling $18,300 in its least expensive form.

So the new model, which has only been here for a couple of months, has been imported from the Maruti Suzuki factory in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi, where the car has proven a real boon for the company.

Maruti Suzuki in India has exported more than 100,000 examples of its Alto model - also known as the A-star - in just under a year of production, making the diminutive wee hatch its most successful model yet. So well thought of is the model that Nissan also markets a version of the Alto, called the Pixo, made at the Indian factory.

In fact, after the success of the Alto for its maker, Maruti Suzuki - which is India's largest carmaker - it plans to boost overall output by up to 75 per cent within six years. This will bring production to about 1.75 million units a year. Which counts for nothing if they don't build them well. I have to say that, for its $16,990 price tag, there's no sign of any penny-pinching in terms of fit and finish, though the absence of an electronic stability programme is disappointing.

It's something that Suzuki, Honda, Toyota and others will have to think hard about for their entry- point cars if, as seems likely, the Government decides to make such devices mandatory. As I say, Suzuki is not alone in this.

But the good points do make up for its absence. There are half a dozen airbags should the unthinkable happen, and though it's an unashamedly small car, the Alto's 880-kilogram dry weight means that it's heavier than most 1.6-litre cars of not so long ago, and it feels a whole lot more substantial than many larger cars.

Cabin material choices appear bright and durable, and the patterned seating cloth with maroon or pale gray accenting is a huge step up from the rather plain stuff used on Suzuki's popular SX4, for instance.

The car's sound system is integrated into the confluence of the dash and centre console below two air vents, and is a classy unit that affords its AM/FM radio CD and MP3 output to be controlled by just 10 good-sized buttons and a centre rotary dial. I've seen units with 20-plus match-head sized buttons that can be confounding.

Ihave to say that, for normal commuting speeds, the speaker performance is more than adequate, but for open road 100kmh cruising, your favourite music may struggle a little against background road noise.

Three simple rotary dials take care of the car's standard air conditioning, with prod-buttons for "AC on" and the rear window demister, and a two- way air-source slider.

Panel gapping is nice and regular, and the paint on three cars that I ran my eyes and hands over looked lustrous and felt pleasingly smooth.

Remarkably, I didn't need the full extent of the Suzuki's front seat movement to get comfortable behind the wheel, despite my 1.88m (6ft 2in) size, and there was even enough space behind that seat in which to comfortably settle a full-grown adult.

Luggage space is snug with all seats in use, but sufficient for day-to- day running to work or the shops. Once you rearrange the rear seats, which split-fold 50:50 - this doesn't take much effort - you can make extra room if you need to do some weekend hauling for the garden, or want to take holiday stuff away for two or three people.

One of the first things readers ask when calling me about a new small car is: "How well does it go on the open road?"

Well, not badly at all in the case of the Alto. The reason is that under its nose is a pleasingly "thrummy" three-cylinder one-litre motor, seemingly able to be thrashed to within a revolution of its life all day without ill-effects.

I say "seemingly" because one other thing missing from the wee fellow's manifest is a rev-counter, though typical of triple-cylinder power units is a complete absence of stress. No matter how hard you push them, they just come back for more.

The 50-kilowatt triple settles into a pleasant drone at 100kmh and, though hills will cause you to pop down a cog, or maybe two if they're steep, and the radio will need to be opened up in terms of volume, the small three-cylinder engine sounds better than fours when such conditions require a few more revolutions.

On fairly skinny 155/65R14 tyres, the Alto is not the most inspiring handler. It needs more rubber, to be frank. But the car goes where it's pointed, and offers safe understeer should you arrive at a curve with more speed than planned.

Easing off the throttle helps tuck- in the understeering nose, though it would be nice to have an electronic stability programme there to help- out occasionally.

Ride quality is not too bad at all, though like the car's handling, it would probably be improved with a nice set of alloy wheels with more substantial rubber around them.

Otherwise well-equipped, with air-con, all those airbags, a decent stereo and a grown-up feel almost everywhere, it's hard not to bond with the Alto, which as the equal- cheapest new car on the New Zealand market (the other is Kia's Picanto). It is a nice alternative to a used import with twice the thirst and emissions levels.

It might be a city car as such, but it's an honest one, that will cross the country easily enough and with advertised economy figures in the 5-litre per 100-kilometre area (that's close to 60 miles per gallon), you can feel pretty smug as an owner, even though you're unlikely to win many traffic-light sprints.
But that's not what sensible modern motoring is all about, is it?

AT A GLANCE

SUZUKI ALTO

* Drivetrain: Transverse front- wheel-drive in-line fuel-injected 12-valve 996cc triple, producing 50kW at 6000rpm and 90Nm at 4800rpm. Five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.

* Performance: 0-100kmh in 15.2sec, 4.8-5.5L/100km, 113-130g/km CO2.

* Dimensions: L 3500mm, W 1600mm, H 1470mm, W/base 2360mm, F/track 1405mm, R/track 1400mm, Weight 855-880kg, Fuel 35L.

* Pricing: Alto manual $16,990, automatic $18,500.

* Hot: Pretty looker, characterful engine, quality inside and out, cheap to run.

* Not: Lack of an electronic stability programme and rev- counter, road noise, too close to Swift on price.

* Verdict: Frugal newcomer fits well into Suzuki's line-up and into modern motoring society.

- © Fairfax NZ News