As reported last week, Maruti Suzuki updated the Alto K10 with the new safety compliance norms as per Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 145. The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 has 3-point seat-belts on the front and two 3-point seat-belts and one 2-point seat-belt for the rear passengers. The updated Alto 800 has started reaching dealerships and it comes with safety upgrades like a drivers side airbag, ABS, EBD, a seat-belt reminder for both driver and co-driver, over-speed warning indicator and reverse parking sensors. Higher variants will also get dual airbags.
The exterior gets some cosmetic changes on the front bumper and grill and Maruti Suzuki has badged it as ‘Alto’ instead of ‘Alto 800’ and no other changes are observed. The interior gets the same dashboard and steering wheel as the Alto K10 and now comes with dual tone black and beige dashboard, upholstery and door pads. The car comes with the old Alto 800 instruments cluster, instead of the Alto K10. The car comes with a basic music system with USB and AUX.
The Maruti Suzuki Alto is expected to be powered by the same 796cc engine with a maximum output of 47.3 HP @ 6000 RPM and 69 Nm of torque @ 3500 RPM. It is coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The small car is 3430mm in length and 1515mm in width and 1475mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2360mm. The Maruti Suzuki Alto weighs in at 695 kg (kerb) and has solid discs at the front and a drum brake setup on the rear. It can seat 5 people and has a fuel tank capacity of 35 litres. The suspension on the Maruti Suzuki Alto is a gas-filled McPherson strut and a 3-link rigid axle suspension on the rear and has 145/80 R12 tyres and steel rims.
The Maruti Suzuki Alto competes with the likes of Datsun Redi-Go and Renault Kwid, both of which are updated with new safety standards. The current Alto 800 standard costs INR 2,81,928 Ex-Showroom, Mumbai. The updated version is expected to cost INR 20,000 – 25,000 more than the current Alto 800.