Personal experience & comparison of Wagon R VXL 2019 with Alto VXL AGS 2020

[Massive_One]

i agree with you. If you buy a hatchback solely for city driving and that too not used on it's full potential, i.e., using the power of 1300cc and occupying all four seats quite often... and especially when you have a sedan also at home, it doesn't make much sense to buy another 1300 cc hatchback.

a 1000 cc or lesser car is justified in such situation, but overall, if one has to buy a hatchback for long and short routes combined, i think swift isn't a bad choice after all!!

[sayedarsalanali]

Coming back to Alto vs Wagon R comparison

Cabin Space
Wagon R for sure is the winner in this category as it has wider body with tall boy design. The vehicle is very good for people with 5 family members using it as main car. The head room and the leg room are very good - rather the best in class.

But Alto surprisingly comes with a lot of interior space too. With the Alto's front seat adjusted to provide maximum space in front, I can comfortably sit on the rear side with good leg space ( I am 6'2" tall). So you can say volume wise Alto is good for 4 adults comfortably sitting (2+2)

[sayedarsalanali]

i agree with you. If you buy a hatchback solely for city driving and that too not used on it's full potential, i.e., using the power of 1300cc and occupying all four seats quite often... and especially when you have a sedan also at home, it doesn't make much sense to buy another 1300 cc hatchback.

a 1000 cc or lesser car is justified in such situation, but overall, if one has to buy a hatchback for long and short routes combined, i think swift isn't a bad choice after all!!

Yes, Swift is a fun to drive car with a lot of power at your discretion.

[sayedarsalanali]

Power

Though Wagon R itself doesn't feel very powerful or responsive itself but also doesn't feel under-powered while driving in city with 3 - 4 adults in the car. The car performs alright under the speed of 70 - 80 kmph, and the engine power feels ok to pus it to higher speeds but the stability of the car and absence of safety features never allowed me to push the car beyond the speed of 90 - 100 kph (that too even on Shahrah e Faisal Karachi).

Alto instantly feels under-powered when you fit 4 adults (weighing 400 - 420 kg in total) with AC on. Also the car is a bit noisy from engine and you feel like listening the engine cry . But if you ignore the engine noise and continue driving the car and cross 30 - 40 kph with the above mentioned load, the car performs ok upto 70 - 80 kph and after that you feel the car's power limit is reached.

[chinyoti]

Swift was a all time favorite, but I had to drive a swift once, I still wonder where was all the power, the m13a isn't a very powerful engine. Maybe torquy since it comes with the Jimny.

The k12 would have been a fantastic engine for that car. I recently swapped a L13A on a city that came with L12A it gave me 13.5 kmpl on testing period.

[sayedarsalanali]

Handling & Stability

The driving position of Alto is better as compared to Wagon R in my opinion and the lower center of gravity makes the car handle better. Then availability of EBD and ABS enhances your confidence on the stopping of the car. I always considered Wagon R as box on wheels and drove it with utmost precautions, I started driving the Alto with same mindset but with 2000 kms and 2.5 months i feel alto is better to drive.

In the power section I mentioned that even though the power is there, the stability issues of the vehicle acts as constraint to unleashing the full potential of the engine of Wagon R.

[sayedarsalanali]

Bhai I never liked the Swift, neither before I owned it nor after owning it. Car is powerful and handles well as compared to other Suzuki cars. We kept the car for nearly one year, I will give the devil its due.

Any day I will select Honda City 1.3 (2009 onwards) over Suzuki Swift and if you talk about best handling vehicles I drove in Pakistan , I will go for Daihatsu Charade.

[sayedarsalanali]

Fuel Average

As discussed in earlier comments, Wagon R used to give an average of 10.5 - 11.5 kmpl in city driving with AC and 12.5 to 13.5 kmpl with AC off and applying hypermiling techniques where applicable.

Alto gives around 16.5 - 17.5 kmpl in city driving with AC on if you are driving the car normally and goes upto 18 - 19 kmpl if you driving with light foot and keeping your eyes on the average meter. (I do this by keeping the instantaneous mileage display on, this helps in covering up the unavailability of RPM meter to some extent and also to extract higher fuel average from the car.

[sayedarsalanali]

Build Quality

Both the cars are more or less of similar build quality. Much better than what Pak suzuki used to offer with Mehran and old cultus (upto 2016)

[centos]

Both cars have terrible body roll.

[chinyoti]

WagonR was my first personal Pakistani car after keeping a Vitz 2008 for 5 years, and before that a 2002 Vitz for 6 years. (Kept it since 2006 to 2019) my father drove it later.

The built quality is quite okayish I don't mind. Drove it around 35,000 in an year. WagonR is a office car I get to keep it but its driven by almost everyone, since I am car less so I get to bring it home.

Being a multi person driven the car has been a true work horse. Had been into a not so major but a front hit accident. Was fixed at a Suzuki showroom.

Fortunately after the hit didn't start the cars so the engine saved,

Changed tires to profile 165/80r13 after 35000kms now it has alot better handling. Before that always shaky a little acupressure would shake her away.

Recently complete a Lahore karachi trip responded wonderfully.

Personally I never liked it. I am never comfortable taking driving to friends, it doesn't feels presentable (not that I am being na shukra) alhamdullillah for it.

But it feels an advanced Suzuki hiroof nothing beyond that.

Fuel average is a real turn off, I don't know how do people manage 16kmpl on this car ?

Buying decision for alto, our 2002 Vitz was aging and the car had issues everyday. Since it was being by my father I wasn't comfortable he facing issues everyday. Got the engine repaired, didn't like it sold it purchased Alto. My father since then has been driving the 2011 Corolla we have at home.

He is never comfortable using the AGS, my mother and wife and my sister on the other hand love the Alto and its AGS they don't care as long as it doesn't have a clutch.

I particularly leave all other cars and drive the Alto at night. I love taking it here and there. But the car comparing to WagonR is a lower category car.

The car doesn't has power

You hesitate taking it on motorways.

Feels delicate

Not sure how reliable is a AGS transmission

Shifting 1 to 2 gear is very uncomfortable. If you aren't used to AGS pickup or crossing a tight speedy spot can be very dangerous.

Once your used to the AGS it gets slightly better.

WagonR is a different category from a Alto, just like a yaris is to a Corolla. Just like you can get altis Corolla like features in a yaris for 28 lack but Corolla with similar features is around 40 lacks.

Same way Alto with better features is cheaper then a WagonR.

WagonR being hi is actually better then having a Jeep at some places we drive in karachi. I love people taking care of their cars and me zooming out with out caring.

But if the question is having a single car. WAGONR is a better, powerful option else both WagonR and Alto are secondary car options.

When ever I drive my younger brother 2014 Vitz, it's a whole lot different story. You feel out of the world just sitting on the driving seat.

[sayedarsalanali]

Glad you mentioned the AGS

For the prospective buyers of Pak Suzuki Wagon R, Cultus and Alto AGS version please note that they are not the conventional Automatic cars.

AGS is Suzuki's version of AMT or Automated Manual Transmission and it behaves a bit different from the normal automatic transmission. My first experience of driving an AMT was with Fiat Linea and then with my Alto. I have adjusted with the AMT provided that I have two manual cars and two automatic cars other than the alto and frequently get hands on cars of friends and family if they are in some kind of trouble. The only thing I am still struggling with AMT is the lag of gear shift from first gear to second while the car is on Ramp (my apartment's car parking is 12' below the road level so we have to use the Ramp while leaving or coming back to home.

[chinyoti]

You have to take it out on manual mode, it does that even when coming out of the mall parking.

These small things are okay for us, but very difficult to make adults understand these behaviors.

[sayedarsalanali]

Agreed

[sayedarsalanali]

Both of us have very similar experience with the cars, and you very well defined the comparison as that of Corolla and Yaris. Still the conclusion from my side is as following

Conclusion

Wagon R comes with a 1000 cc engine that has been tested and proven in Pakistani environment since 2014. Car comes with plenty of space that fulfills the need of 5 family members. AC performance is quite nice and you can enhance it by getting heat reducing window films installed on all windows including the windscreen (after getting the films installed I can say i felt at-least 20% improvement on the cooling).

Alto comes with a lot of accessories and options, which is very surprising from Pak Suzuki. But still they managed to skip the rear view camera which you need to get installed separately either from their dealerships or from outside. The 660 cc engine still has to prove itself in Pakistan's road conditions - but with 60k kms warranty this is not the thing that bugs me. The fuel average is excellent provided i get this on using the normal petrol (my cousins japanese alto of same shape with ene charge gives 21 - 22 kmpl but it requires Hi-Octane petrol).

So if you are planning to go for a hatchback just because you missed the budget of buying a sedan you should go for Wagon R, Swiftt, Cultus or Kia Picanto (as per your budget). Or you need to give car to your Domestic Driver, again I will recommend to opt for manual Wagon R.

But if you are planning to buy a hatchback for your personal use to drive in city specially during rush hours, Alto AGS is a really very nice option.

P.S. I am really happy with the Alto till now and think that it will stay with me for a few years unlike its two predecessors who spent a year each and i started planning to sell them within a week of purchase.

[sayedarsalanali]

Some Pictures of the Wagon R to make the thread interesting:

[chinyoti]

I have managed the meter displaying 17kmpl but never managed to complete the tank alone, since it's being driven at home it managed 15-16kmpl driven only 4100-4200 kms since purchased in October.

I guess il drive it more in quarantine days. Due for a 5,000 km service.

[sayedarsalanali]

Out of the 2000 kms driven till date 90% of the time car was driven by me and remaining 10% by my younger brother who also drives like me, and since we are continuously monitoring the fuel averages of all the cars from last few months we are keeping a log of refueling time, amount, quantity and meter reading. When we get time we load it to excel and get the fuel average. We also try to get the car's refilled at a specific fuel level so that the readings don't vary a lot. My current average for Alto from beginning till date is 17.9 kmpl

[sayedarsalanali]

Another interesting thing that I noticed while driving the car on instantaneous fuel average display is that the car (Alto) gives very poor average in 1st and 2nd gears (partially) where the average is between 4 - 7 kmpl in first gear and 6- 12 kmpl in second gear. The average improves rapidly from 3rd gear with figures reaching 18 - 24 kmpl and then upto 34 - 38 kmpl on 4th and 5th gear and it reaches the highest average of 50 km/l when the car is decelerating or going freely and you are not pressing the accelerator.

[chinyoti]

This dinky can manage 20/21 easily if you drive on a signal free route. 18-19 to be safe.