Few budget cars are better suited to the cut and thrust of urban driving than the Maruti A-star and the Hyundai i10 – but can the Maruti outshine the Hyundai. AutoCar (Jan. ’09) takes a quick test to find out…

Carrying far more weightage than a mere punch up between a couple of city cars, this battle pits two small car producing giants as well as their engineering and design philosophies. This, simply put, is nothing less than a battle for supremacy. A face-off for the ownership of the best small car title in India…

Design & Engineering
While the i10 is a less radical version of the Santro’s tall boy design philosophy, the new A-star is less practical. It is low slung compared to the i10; its nose is rounded with high-mounted headlights and a low-mounted grille and ‘pop-out’ turning lights encased within the headlight cluster stand out. The car’s designers have also given prominence to the wheel arches and the rising window line as a result of which the rear window is almost triangular. Thus the rear door and boot are small clearly indicating that rear passenger comfort and luggage space are not areas of priority.

In comparison, the i10 is built with much more attention to the rear seats and luggage space. Its wheelbase is 20mm longer than the A-star and there is 225 litres of luggage capacity to the A-star’s 129 litres. It’s not as sporty looking as the A-star but conventionally correct proportions and crisp detailing mean this design is likely to age more gracefully.

Under the skin the rivals are pretty similar. Front-wheel drive, transverse motors and independent front suspensions with torsion beam rears, discs at the front and drums at the rear are responsible for braking, with ABS available on the A-star only, and both cars use column-mounted electrical power steering systems.
Interestingly, a commonality is the fact that both cars are made in India for a global audience. While the i10 is exported worldwide, the A-star is marketed as the New Alto in Europe.

Interiors

Enter the A-star and you are greeted by a modern looking cabin. The high-mounted vents are in your face, but they allow for a high-mounted music system, an illuminated shelf and a large storage area at the base, perfect to stack your CDs. The entire dash has an attractive ‘V’ shape and the use of three shades further embellishes it. What seriously lets the entire design down though is the cheap quality of fitments and plastics. Also the driver’s seat is a bit low but is comfortable enough. What you miss however is steering wheel or seat height adjusts.

The i10 on the other hand actually feels better built on the inside and more grown-up. One does not get the feeling of being cooped up in a basic econo box, which is primarily down to the design, colours and material used. Unlike the A-star, this car uses light, space-enhancing beige with black. It has an adjustable steering, its central console-mounted gear lever is conveniently placed and the manner in which most of the controls function gives the interiors an up market feel. The driver’s seat comparatively has better visibility and utilization of space. On the downside, the i10 could have had better headroom and more width.

The A-star ZXi offers more equipment for your money though. It comes with four power windows, ABS, airbags, a CD player and remote locking for only Rs. 35,000 more than the top-end i10 1.1. Hyundai offers none of these, even as options.


Engine, Gearbox & Performance

The K10B that powers the new A-star is a brand-new high-tech motor. Bristling with modern technology, this three-cylinder engine not only has four valves per cylinder, but also features twin overhead camshafts for better valve control. Despite being 90cc and one cylinder down on the Hyundai, it still makes a similar 66bhp. The A-star feels light and agile to drive and displays a good turn of foot too, say AutoCar testers (Jan. ’09), when you ask for some extra performance, revving freely beyond 6000rpm.

However the motor isn’t perfect. It does get thrummy after 4000rpm and the midrange isn’t as strong as that of the i10 either. There is also some degree of jerkiness when negotiating stop/start traffic as the three-cylinder doesn’t run smoothly. The A-star has a lighter clutch as compared to the i10 and has a dead pedal that the i10 lacks.

In the flat-out sprint, the Suzuki is faster than the Hyundai despite having a smaller engine. 0-100kph in the A-star takes 15.30 seconds and the car manages to pip the i10 to 140 too. The i10’s stronger midrange however shows up the in-gear slog where it clearly pulls ahead of the A-star.

The Hyundai iRDE motor is well known for its torque nature. It has a smooth and refined motor and is even better to drive in traffic than the A-star. Idle is near-silent and vibration-free compared to the A-star.  This three-valve per cylinder unit pulls cleanly and silently from very low engine speeds and acceleration in the midrange is very strong too. On the gear front, the i10’s central column-mounted gear lever is slicker to use. The next gear is only a flick of the wrist away and it’s much lighter to use too.

On the Road

Taking advantage of the stiffer chassis, wide track and high profile tyres, Maruti seems to have found the ideal setup – the A-star’s blend of comfy ride and agile handling is impressive for this class of car.

While the i10 is nice and light to drive in traffic, its relative lack of body control gets irritating at high speeds. The A-star is genuinely fun to drive. The steering has a bit of a dead zone in the straight ahead, but once you push the car harder and load up the suspension the A-star really displays poise, balance and confidence rarely found in a car of this class.

The i10 may have provided for easily the best driving experience in its class when launched and it remains a car with admirable driving manners with a well setup front suspension and similar levels of steering feedback as the A-star, but the Suzuki is more entertaining to drive.

Fuel Efficiency

Surprisingly the A-star is only marginally better than the i10 in city traffic giving out 12.1kpl to the i10’s 12.0kpl. The A-star is not as drivable at low engine speeds and you have to downshift to a lower gear more often. On the highway though the A-star has a clear advantage and overall come out on top.

Verdict

The compact A-star with its buzzy and willing motor, easy handling and agility is a great city car. It is superbly equipped, has funky interiors and fuel efficiency is good. The rear seats however are cramped and luggage area is seriously compromised. But then again – it’s not a family car.

The i10 is cheaper by Rs. 35,000 and is short of equipment but is definitely the more practical of the two. It has a strong and smooth motor, far better interiors and crucially offers more space and comfort.

Thus the i10 comes out as the more complete car to win this test.

	Maruti A-star ZXi	Hyundai i10 1.1 Era
Price	Rs. 4.62 lakh, on sale now (On-road, Mumbai)	Rs. 4.27 lakh, on sale now (on-road, Mumbai)
Engine capacity	3-cyls in-line, 998cc	4-cyls in-line, 1086cc
Maximum Power	66bhp @ 6200rpm	66bhp @5500rpm
Maximum Torque	9.17kgm @ 3500rpm	10.1kgm @2800rpm
Acceleration	0-60kph – 6.08sec, 0-100kph -15.30sec, Top Speed -161kph	0-60kph – 5.95sec, 0-100kph -15.55sec, Top Speed -149kph
Economy	City – 12.1kmpl, Highway – 17.1kmpl, kpl (overall) - 14.6kpl	City – 112.0kmpl, Highway – 16.3kmpl, kpl (overall) – 14.15kpl
For	Fun to drive, Equipment	Space, Refinement
Against	Cramped interiors, Tiny boot	Lacks equipment
Verdict	8/10	8/10