India's darling has gone through many changes, some good, some for the worse. How does the latest one, to meet the BS-III norms, affect the long-lived 800?

“The 800 is barebones transport, good only if you can't afford anything else.”

MARUTI 800 AC
List price (ex-showroom,
Mumbai) Rs 2.60 lakh
Top speed 132ph
0-60kph 8.09sec
0-100kph 25.15sec
Kpl 15.4 (overall)
For Price, low maintenance
Against Extremely basic, safety

The 800 seems immortal. Hondas, Toyotas and even Mercs come and go, but the car that put this nation on wheels is always around, in one form or another. And now there’s a new one, readied to meet Bharat-III norms — plus, it’s a six-valve, fuel-injected version, which we haven’t yet put through the rigours of a road test
We loved the five-speed, 12-valve, 140kph MPFi car, made to meet the last emissions upgrade, in 2002, but in the meantime, Maruti has gone back to the old two-valve-per-cylinder motor and four-speed 'box — will this ‘de-specced’ car be as good?
The first signs are positive. The exterior has been freshened up a bit, and looks quite appealing. There are clear-lens headlamps now, with stripey indicators and a fake ‘projector’ for the driving lights; the grille opening is now a simple trapezoid, more modern and cleaner looking than the old ‘smiley.’ The rear lamps have been updated too, with a round indicator element and a smoother look. It’s not a big change, but does add some freshness to a design that’s 18 years old.
The bigger concern is construction. The sheet-metal dies are very old now, which means fit and finish isn’t what it used to be. Panel gaps are wide and the test car we had came with an annoying rattle from day one.
Inside, there’s good news and bad. The cabin is basic, but functional, brightened up slightly with new dials and new-look fabric. Other additions include the dial for the headlight-leveller device (mandatory from August '05). There are cubby holes aplenty, even a dash-top box, and the front passenger gets a little slot instead of an air-con vent. There are complaints of course, of flimsy plastics, useless door-pockets and a dull look, but it’s as much as you can expect for the price, and shouldn’t really be judged by the new standards. However, things seem to have moved backwards, like the cheaper seat material, deleted ashtray and the lack of a parcel shelf — ‘rationalization’ taking its toll. Plus, there’s no tripmeter or left-side wing mirror.
The seats too are different, thinner and narrower, with bolstering, and look distinctly cut-price. Space has never been at a premium in the 800 but it will still allow a family of four to wiggle inside and it’s not uncommon to find six and eight people in the utmost discomfort, so anything is possible.
Safety is a major concern, though. The rear seatbelts are static, and there’s lots of hard plastic and sharp edges everywhere, particularly under the dashboard. The body structure is flimsy and clearly not as solid as its more contemporary siblings.
A summertime test always puts the air-con in focus, and this one didn’t work at all. Only the front passengers get somewhat cool while those at the rear continue to sweat. The slider switch for recirculating/fresh air mode keeps slipping, so you get a pong of central Mumbai pollution when you least expect it.
Now to the engine (F8B) which was brought back down to two-valves-cylinder spec to make the 800 as cheap as possible and differentiate it from the Alto which runs the same engine but with six more valves (F8D). The Bharat-III norms necessitate changes to the engine management so other than recalibrating the ECU, Maruti has added a ‘maniverter’, bringing the catalytic converter closer to the engine, which makes it more effective. There’s also a heated lambda or oxygen sensor in the exhaust system. Maruti has also tried to control ‘evaporative emissions’, the problem of fuel fumes escaping while the car is at a standstill. There’s now a partitioned canister to collect these fumes, coupled with a duty-type purge valve; the point is to clean up all the toxic stuff before it leaves the tailpipe.
Start it up and there’s a thrummy, noisy idle — plus, the car isn’t as solid as an Alto, so you tend to feel the vibrations rather more. Response at the bottom end has definitely been blunted, and we really miss the old, strong lower rev-band. The earlier car used to do the 0-60kph sprint in a very respectable 6.7 seconds; the new one takes 8.09. The Bharat-II Alto, heavier but with the 12-valve engine and five-speed gearbox, does 0-60 in 6.99sec, and does 20-80kph in third gear in 15sec, while the 800 takes 17.29. Get it into the mid-range though, and it works fine — this means, however, that you have to keep slipping into a lower gear to get the response you want. Plus, the more modern five-speed gearbox has been pushed out by the original four-speeder, which has a rubbery throw and lacks a precise feel. A further problem is the aggressive fuel cut-off, designed to save fuel: take your foot off the throttle and the car slows down dramatically, which makes it extremely jerky, especially at pedestrian speeds. This can be quite annoying in slow-moving traffic.
There isn’t much at the top end either, and it’s best not to explore that area, because it gets noisy and thrashy when you push. Overtaking is not the 800’s forte, especially on the highway where the little 796cc engine runs out of breath very quickly. Long distance driving in the 800 is certainly not recommended, which apart from being tiring is also relatively unsafe.
Maruti hasn’t made any changes to the 800’s mechanicals except for a strengthened steering column. The ride continues to be choppy and fidgety and you're always tossed around on any surface that’s less smooth than a billiards table. Grip levels are also not very high and the basic suspension and small contact patch of the tyres don’t inspire spirited cornering. However, there is one area where the 800 shines and that is the steering. The 800’s rack and pinion steering is surprisingly direct and accurate and offers a far better feel than the Alto’s or Zen’s. However, even on such a light car with small tyres, we missed power assistance, especially at parking speeds. Still, it's a great city car, tiny enough to park anywhere, and nimble enough to drive through gaps like a bike.
A serious problem are the unservoed brakes which need a real shove to work, a pain for drivers used to gently dabbing the brakes. Under measured pedal pressure, they’re quite ineffective, taking 16.85 metres to a standstill from 60kph, but stand on them and they lock easily. Not good. Plus, stability under braking is poor, the car jiggling and slewing if you try anything dramatic.
Fuel economy has always been the car’s strong point, and it holds good even today. But the 800 is no longer the class leader it easily once was. With the more basic engine and a four-speed 'box, the 800 is not as fuel efficient as the Alto and loses out to its heavier sibling both in the city and on the highway. The little Maruti still gave a very pleasing 12.5kpl in the city and 18.3kpl on the highway but these figures are no longer its USP. And neither is the price. Pegged at Rs 2.60 lakh, the gap between the 800 and its eventual successor, the Alto LX is only around Rs 35,000. All this leaves very few reasons for buying an 800 over an Alto. It’s barebones transport, made affordable with cheap finance and maintenance and the only rationale left to buy it is only if you can’t afford anything else.