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Posted on: Jul 15 2008

Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Duo
 
Maruti’s Duo is probably the most important alternative energy car to be launched in India to date. The LPG system has been engineered and integrated along with the rest of the car by Maruti, and this makes a world of a difference. The car’s gas system consists of a toroidal LPG tank, a gas pressure step-down system in the bonnet as well as a system that introduces the LPG into the engine for combustion.:

Design, Engineering and Interiors
The aggressive looking new Wagon R has lost it's gawky looks. Th bigger swept back headlamps, the oversize grille and the chrome strip running across it play no small part in this. The rear too looks far better with the new tail lams and the numberplate that has moved up onto the bootlid. It looks far better proportioned and modern. The car also looks bigger thanks to the re-skinning.

The Wagon R duo ,as the name suggests can run on petrol as well as LPG. Stored in a toroidal LPG tank – basically a cylinder formed in a doughnut-like ‘O’, it holds 22.4 litres of LPG in liquid form. The LPG is stored at a much lower pressure than CNG, at approximately 5 to 7bar, and as a result, the tank does not have to be built super-tough. As the gas tank takes the place of the spare wheel, the spare now has a special but clumsy-looking mount that sits on the boot floor. This limits the boot’s usability and a full-size suitcase will no longer fit in there.

On the inside, the split rear seats found on the old 'Wagon' have been done away with to give the middle passenger more comfortable. However, the narrow body means the Wagon R still works best as a four seater. The dashboard has been upgraded for the better. The new three spoke steering wheel looks and feels much better than the old one, and the rotary air con control knobs are a revelation after the slider units on the older car. The interiors have been spruced up as well with new seat fabrics and splashes of silver garnish. We love the electrically adjustable mirrors available on the top of the line VXi, a feature not found on any of the other small cars. Sadly, plastic quality still hasn't been improved.

Performance, Fuel Economy and Handling
Push a button built into the dash of the Wagon R and it switches to LPG from petrol after a slight hesitation and an audible mechanical click from under the bonnet. Unlike other gas-powered cars, there are no telltale aftermarket add-on switches and the interiors look clean. Start the car, switch to LPG and you’re immediately impressed by the smoother idle on the gas. The higher octane of LPG (between 95 and 105 in India) and the fact that you are mixing two gases — LPG and air — means that combustion is softer and smoother.

While gas-fuelled cars lose power compared to when they are run on petrol, the Wagon R LPG has the best integrated system here and Maruti has actually tuned it so performance and drivability in LPG mode don’t take too much of a hit. Power drops to 54.5bhp from the petrol mode’s 64bhp and torque drops from 8.5kgm to 7.8kgm. But it isn’t all that noticeable, except on the highway when you want a little bit of extra urge at full throttle.

In the city, the Wagon R in LPG mode has enough power for those short bursts, and it’s just as good on part-throttle. This in fact is the Duo’s greatest strength. You don’t feel the need to switch to petrol in normal city traffic. In LPG mode, the car takes 2.5sec more to get to 100kph and again, there is a difference in the in-gear time as well, but Maruti’s aggressive tuning means performance is more than acceptable.

We also noticed a slight difference in the acceleration of the new Wagon R when driven on petrol, probably a combination of the extra weight of the LPG system and the different tuning for greater fuel economy.

We got an average of 8.1kpl in the city running in LPG mode and 12.1kpl on the highway. These figures may not sound like much, but with Auto-LPG prices varying between Rs.23 and Rs.29, there's big savings to be had.

Verdict
With its freshened looks, good use of space and decent comfort, the Wagon R Duo makes for a good city runabout. The new seats are more comfortable to sit on, the dash looks marginally better and there are other small changes too. The gearstick, for example, looks better at first glance, but closer examination reveals shoddy quality. Then there is the superlight steering, fidgety ride, poor body control and edgy handling. These remain unchanged on this new car. This is not a car you want to drive on a highway. And the gearbox remains as poor as ever, very vague and rubbery. Thankfully, Maruti has done a super job with the LPG system. Here’s to more factory-fitted gas cars.
Source:autocarindia.com