2019 Maruti Suzuki WagonR : Official Review (India)

[Ivan Leon]

The Maruti WagonR is on sale in India at a price of between Rs. 4.20 - 5.70 lakhs (ex-Delhi).

What you'll like:

• Unbeatable practicality, with a value-for-money price tag
• Spacious interiors. Ingress & egress are effortless too
• 340-liter boot has almost doubled in size (compared to the old WagonR)
• Awesome 4-cylinder 1.2L engine costs just Rs. 20,000 more than the 1.0L
• Suspension offers a more compliant ride than the outgoing car
• Features such as the touchscreen head-unit, under seat drawer & well-priced 2nd airbag
• Maruti's fuss-free ownership experience & excellent after-sales service

What you won't:

• Interior quality is budget grade. The Santro is in another class altogether!
• Thin & tinny sheet metal. Car feels lightweight when driving as well
• Lousy NVH package. Insulation is quite poor
• AMT – although improved – cannot match the Santro AMT’s smoothness
• Road manners make it suited to the city than the highway. Keep your speeds in check
• Some misses like no alloy wheels, missing rear speakers & useless rear headrests
• Superior Ignis isn’t priced too far away, especially after discounts

It was 1999 when the Maruti WagonR was introduced in India. Since then, it has been one of the most successful products from the Maruti Suzuki stable. The car has always been a hit with no-nonsense car buyers in the country.

The car's appeal has always been its practicality and for the third-generation model, the company has simply improved upon it!

Maruti claims to have sold 2.2 million WagonR's till December 2018. Over the last 10 years, the car has managed to consistently appear in the list of top 10 selling cars in India.

On a monthly basis, Maruti has managed to move more than 13,000 units regularly and in better months, it has even managed to cross the 15,000 unit mark. This car has been a true sales champion.

WagonR owners are known for their loyalty towards the brand. While 51% of all customers are first time buyers, 24% are repeat customers!

There's a reason for that. The car is as good as it gets in terms of practicality. The tallboy design, easy ingress & egress, space, tall seating, bi-fuel options, low cost of ownership and Maruti's strong service network are key factors in attracting buyers.

That said, the 2nd-gen had a l-o-n-g run. Nine years is simply too long and the car felt outdated over the last 2 – 3 years.

Like the old car, the new WagonR competes in the B1 segment, which has a new competitor - the formidable Hyundai Santro. The WagonR sits at the top of the segment with respect to sales numbers followed by its stablemate - the Celerio, which has also been a fairly successful model.

The Tata Tiago is the sole car to offer both diesel and petrol options in the segment, and is one of the better-equipped vehicles too.

The outgoing car came with a 3-cylinder 1.0L petrol engine. While that engine has been carried over, this time around, Maruti has also offered the superior 4-pot 1.2L engine on the top two variants.

For a mere Rs. 20,000 more than the 1.0-liter, it’s a no-brainer to pick up the larger engine. It comes with a choice of a 5-speed MT or an AMT gearbox.

Maruti sure has pulled a rabbit out of the hat here! Hyundai didn’t expect the 1.2L option at all. Make no mistake, this is the best engine in the segment.

Since the WagonR is such an important car for Maruti, the company has invested Rs. 670 crores in it. It must be noted that this car is completely different from the WagonR sold in Japan. It is based on the Heartect platform, which is shared with the Swift, Baleno, Dzire, Ignis and the new Ertiga.

Coming to dimensions, it is 60 mm longer and 125 mm wider than the older car. Its wheelbase of 2,435 mm is 35 mm longer too. However, at 1,675 mm, its height is 25 mm lesser than the old car's.

The new car weighs 830 kg (for the 1.2L) and 805 kg (for the 1.0L) compared to the outgoing car's kerb weight of 825 kg. This lightweight nature is evident throughout the time you spend with the car.

The WagonR's build is flimsy & thin. Panel gaps were inconsistent across different cars - especially around the bonnet area. The doors are light, but not as light as the Alto's, while the bonnet has weight for a car of this segment. T

here is some flex on the front fenders and doors when pressed with a thumb (this flex is much lesser on the bonnet, hatch and rear fenders).

The paint quality of the car is good and Maruti is offering some interesting colours like Autumn Orange and Poolside Blue. Conservative options like Superior White, Silky Silver and Magma Grey continue to be offered. The Red colour is sadly no longer an option now.

Coming to safety, all variants of the WagonR are equipped with a driver airbag, ABS + EBD, rear parking sensors, front seat-belt reminder and high speed alert as standard.

Maruti has used high strength steel in this car, which is claimed to improve the safety and rigidity. Well, going by Maruti's track record in safety (rather, the lack of it), we'll only believe the NCAP crash test reports if & when they come in.

Familiar 1.2L K12 engine found in many other Maruti cars. Notice that it doesn't get an engine cover; looks ugly without it. Airbox sits just behind the engine.

Full Review & many more exterior & interior pics at the link below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/209662-maruti-wagonr-official-review.html

 

[FiestaST]

I don't use this word often but that is "fugly".

 

[joker08]

@FiestaST 4.2 Lakh indian rupees is 420,000rupees which converts to R84000. its the best car you can get for that price.
Its a middle class persons car in India. It is the most popular car amongst uber drivers. Also its a better car than TATA Indica in terms of quality and service offered by the company.
CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is a type of fuel that is available in most cities in India. Almost all wagonr owners get a CNG kit Installed. Which means it runs at a cost of less than R0.30 per Km.

 

[thechamp]

I don't see the point of the height, or could that be a factor in India?

 

[Dan C]

@FiestaST 4.2 Lakh indian rupees is 420,000rupees which converts to R84000. its the best car you can get for that price.
Its a middle class persons car in India. It is the most popular car amongst uber drivers. Also its a better car than TATA Indica in terms of quality and service offered by the company.
CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is a type of fuel that is available in most cities in India. Almost all wagonr owners get a CNG kit Installed. Which means it runs at a cost of less than R0.30 per Km.

Anything is better than a Tata

 

[beans100]

Will we see this in SA though?

 

[joker08]

I don't see the point of the height, or could that be a factor in India?

It was first launched as a higher model to a maruti 800, possibly they wanted to make it look bigger and more spacious but keeping it at a similar cost.

 

[joker08]

Anything is better than a Tata

at that price? I dont think so.
Also, I would like to point out that cars are considered a luxury in India and people want to spend as little as possible on cars.

 

[FiestaST]

The JDM version of the Wagon R is a fair bit different:

 

[Wasabee!]

Pls sir I want to buy car have only 15 000 rupees where buy?

 

[joker08]

Pls sir I want to buy car have only 15 000 rupees where buy?

Get a bike, I recommend Honda splendor, ur whole family can ride comfortably

 

[Hemi300c]

@FiestaST 4.2 Lakh indian rupees is 420,000rupees which converts to R84000. its the best car you can get for that price.
Its a middle class persons car in India. It is the most popular car amongst uber drivers. Also its a better car than TATA Indica in terms of quality and service offered by the company.
CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is a type of fuel that is available in most cities in India. Almost all wagonr owners get a CNG kit Installed. Which means it runs at a cost of less than R0.30 per Km.

R84000 would equate to R120000 after the anc has collected their taxes etc.

 

[ReeceDBN031]

I don't see the point of the height, or could that be a factor in India?

Ever seen the great khali?

 

[thechamp]

Ever seen the great khali?

Good point.

 

[Ivan Leon]

Maruti WagonR scores 2-stars in Global NCAP crash test - Team-BHP

The Maruti WagonR has scored a 2-star rating for both, adult and child occupant safety in crash tests conducted by Global NCAP.

According to the test report, the car offered good protection to the head of the driver and passenger. The protection for the driver's neck was good, while the protection for the passenger's neck was adequate. The protection for the chest region of both front occupants was found to be weak. The protection for the driver and passenger’s knees was found to be marginal.

A front-facing child seat for a 3 year old was not able to prevent excessive forward movement. The 3 year old Child Restraint System (CRS) failed during the test, while the 18 month old CRS offered good protection for the head and chest.

The test car was equipped with a driver side airbag, seat belt reminder and ABS. It did not have ISOFIX child safety seat anchor points.

Maruti WagonR scores 2-stars in Global NCAP crash test | Team-BHP

The Maruti WagonR has scored a 2-star rating for both, adult and child occupant safety in crash tests conducted by Global NCAP.According to the test report, the car offered good protection to the head ...

www.team-bhp.com

 

[Ivan Leon]

The Suzuki WagonR achieves two stars for adult occupant protection - GlobalNCAP

The WagonR achieved two stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The WagonR offers only a driver frontal airbag as standard. Its structure was rated as unstable.

Its footwell area was rated as unstable and pedal displacement showed some risk to the lower legs of the driver.

Head protection for adult occupants was good. Neck protection for driver was good and adequate for passenger.

Chest protection was weak for both front passengers leading to limitations in the SBR points achieved by this model.

Child occupant protection showed poor results mainly for the 3 year old dummy as its Child Restraint System (CRS) broke during the impact and the head impacted the front seat.

Chest protection for the 18 month old dummy was low despite being installed rearward facing.

The WagonR offers standard two Seat Belt Reminders (SBR) in the front seats but its points were not considered for the final rating as the front passenger chest received weak protection. It is surprising that this car is not offering 3 point belts for all occupants.

 

[Ivan Leon]

Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Gets 2 Star Crash Test Rating - carandbike

One of India’s most popular car nameplates – the Maruti Suzuki Wagon R has received two stars in the latest crash tests by Global NCAP. The new generation Wagon R has scored poorly for both adult and child occupant protection.