Maruti Alto K10 - Click above for high resolution picture gallery
Car tested: 2010 Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 VXi
Price OTR Mumbai: 3,69,714/-
The Maruti Suzuki Alto is the highest selling car in India but the company was not satisfied by the way few buyers discounted it for being old and slow. Enter the Alto K10, which is essentially a control + C and control + V job of the engine from the A-Star, but is it? Not really as the Maruti Alto K10 also gets a minor facelift to its aged exteriors and interiors. Does this make the Alto K10 an alternative to modern machines like the Hyundai i10 and Chevrolet Beat? We find out.
Exteriors - 
The Alto K10 is 125mm longer and 55 kgs heavier then its F8 sibling, which is something you won’t really notice, what you would however notice is the new headlights, grille, bumper, fog lamps, mirrors and tail lamps. Although all this is nothing revolutionary, it is a welcome change considering the company had a price target to meet. The Alto K10 looks modern with these changes, but does not really stand out of the crowd (which the Beat does). Door mouldings and body coloured bumpers gel well with the overall design of the car. A chrome strip now runs on top of the front grille, which is now larger.
The full wheel cover design seems to have been inspired from the Swift wheel cover. They look decent.
The rear tail lamp design seem to have some sort of inspiration from the Chevrolet Spark.
Interiors – 
The Alto K10 gets a slight improvement in interior design. The car now features much better instrument cluster which has an addition of a tachometer and digital odometer. The center console remains the same. One of the best things about the Alto K10 is the 3-spoke steering wheel, which feels very comfortable to hold. Also added is internally adjustable controls for the rear view mirrors, which is not really a big deal but goes well with the overall appearance of the car. We loved the mirrors on the old Alto 1.1 as well.
The Alto K10 gets blue fabric seats and door inserts, which might just get hidden if you opt for seat covers. However plastic quality still continues to be on the poor side.
Aesthetics aside, the Alto interiors are more spacious than its predecessor, a huge improvement but its still not enough. For the driver, your knee will hit the center console and the story is worst when it comes to ingress. However this is not a K10 specific issue, as the 800cc Alto is no different. At similar prices, other cars in the competition give you more space on the inside.
Air conditioning, too, is far better than the earlier version. The cabin cools faster but the rear passengers still feel the heat.
Ride, Handling and Braking –
The Alto K10 featured a re-tuned suspension owing to its extra weight. The ride of the Alto is very decent on low speeds but as we gather momentum, the stiffness of the suspension becomes very apparent. Featuring upsized tyres (155/65 R13), the Alto K10 is still seriously under-tyred. This becomes very apparent when ever you start braking or come to a corner. We went with high expectations about the K10s handling (owing to its light kerb weight of just 760 kgs) but we were slightly disappointed. Any time you brake, the car starts making noises (tyre noises to be exact) and starts sliding all over. ABS should have been offered, atleast as an option. Handling is no different as the tyres spoil the fun there too, giving up grip too early and easily leading to massive understeer. Yes, the Alto could have handled way better if Maruti had decided to give it fatter rubber. However, that would have compromised the mileage which happens to be close to 20 kmpl.
The Alto’s steering is very light and makes it a boon to navigate at low speeds. A turning radius of 4.6m ensure you seldom need to reverse at U-turns. As the speed increases the drawbacks of the steering become quite evident, which becomes totally lifeless and inspires absolutely no confidence.
We also need to make a special mention about the gearshift quality, which is the worst we have come across in recent times. Although cable operated, the gar shift is not at all smooth, specially third gear which is a pain to get into and that blunted most of our 0-100 kmph runs. The shift quality is very rubbery and we really felt there was Boomer stuck inside the third gear cog (checkout the video on the sidebar to see how difficult third gear is to engage).
Performance – 
Probably the most significant reason why a Alto 800cc buyer would look at the Alto K10 is the performance and the K10 does not disappoint. Armed with the same specs as the A-Star, the K10 motor in the Alto produces 68PS of power at 6200 rpm and 90NM of torque at 3500 rpm. All this might not sound exciting but when you factor in the weight of this machine, you realize it has a power to weight ratio of 88bhp per tonne.
The Alto K10 moves and it moves you with utmost urgency. This car is fast and there are no two thoughts about it. Acceleration in any gear is amazing and there is no lag of any kind. Infact, the K10 motor addresses one of the biggest flaws of the 800cc Alto, lack of power. Contrarily, there is abundance in the Alto K10. The engine is very refined too and is makes very little noise below 4000Rpm. Once you cross 4000Rpm, the K10 motor is quite audible which isn’t a bad thing. 100kmph is easy in this car and it can cruise there all day long without making a fuss.
Conclusion –
The Alto K10 is a move in the right direction by Maruti Suzuki. It has a lot of short comings, but the major flaw of the Alto has been answered, it is no more sluggish and never feels out of breath, something which the 800cc Alto could never boast about. It is the fastest car you can get at that price point and is economical too. The performance of the K10 motor very well makes up for all its short comings and if some one wants a pocket rocket, this is it. Add some good rubber and a few short comings of the Alto K10 will be resolved. There is truly no alternative to the Alto K10 and Maruti Suzuki have opened a new segment, the econo-hot hatch one.
Whats Cool
* Engine performance
* Mileage
* Service
* Resale
Whats Not So Cool
* Gear shift quality
* Braking
* Plastic quality
* Space
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 Specifications : -
* Engine: 998cc, 3 cylinder, 12 valve, all aluminum K10B
* Power: 68PS @ 6200rpm
* Torque: 90Nm @ 3500rpm
* Transmission: 5 speed manual
* Top Speed: 150kmph
* 0-100kmph: 13.50 seconds
* Fuel Consumption: 15-16 kmpl (City), 19-20 kmpl (highway)
* Fuel Type: Petrol
* Suspension: Mcpherson Struts with Torison Type Roll Control Device (Front), Coil spring (Rear)
* Tires: 155/65/13 Tubeless Radials
* Brakes: Ventilated Disc (Front), Drums (Rear)
* Safety: iCats Immobiliser
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 : -
* Overall length x width x height: 3620mm X 1495mm X 1460mm
* Wheelbase: 2360mm
* Front/Rear Track: 1295/1290 mm
* Ground clearance: 160mm
* Turning Radius – 4.6m
* Fuel Tank Capacity: 35 litres
* Kerb Weight: 765kgs
Loading ...
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
a very truthful review. gearshift sucks bigtime. i test drove it and settled for the beat, a lil espensive but good quality and 3 yrs chevrolet promise makes life easy.
First of all awesome review with very good pics. Makes the Alto look really hot. I love how Maruti has priced this so well, so people on a budget can get a pocket rocket.
What Maruti could have done is given this car another variant like Sports with alloys, fatter rubber and sports exhaust.
excellent review motorbeam, i really appreciate u have not been biased and told us that the gearbox is how, bcoz i heard ppl say its slick like swift.
Rohan, how is the Beat? Is it faster than the Alto K10? I dont think so.
Firstly fantastic pictures, they do justice to the car and shows it very clearly. I find the Alto to be cute but the K10 takes the cuteness to a fast cuteness which is amazing as very few cars are cute and fast. e.g beetle is cute but not fast so maruti has struck right notes with the Alto K10.
Ok, it might do 150kmph, but the Alto is crazy unstable. Maruti needs to adjust the stability of this car before making it go faster, otherwise it will be very scary for everyone.
The 2nd last picture (of the engine) with the larger air intake is awesome. Love that pic :)
Maruti should sell this as the base Alto itself, that would make their line up fill tu modern.
the k10 edition makes the aged alto look modern, hatts of to maruti for pulling this off.
Firstly fantastic review there, with awesome pictures to boot. I test drove the Alto and my opinions about it quite similar to yours. The car is quick but the overall experience lacks polish, fast in straight line and scary other times. Gearbox is about getting used to and the AC is a chiller. Weirdly Maruti quality has fallen terribly, otherwise the Alto does chill quite alot and even with the AC on, the acceleration does not blunt something which the 800 Alto suffers from.
I totally agree with Akshay, the 800 Alto looks pointless infront of the K10, K10 FTW.
wWhy is there no power window at rear’; if this is top model?
Nothing new in k10, all seem to be borrowed from other maruti models.
The instrument cluster is real cool, they could have gone for digital like bike too.
What difference is this for a woman to drive compared to the normal alto.
Is it true that there is truly no alternative to the Alto K10? On the other side you write – It has a lot of short comings? In your opinion Alto K10 beats Hyundai i10 and Beats but in my opinion Alto K10 is as horrible to drive as Alto 800 – very unsafe. May be Nano is a better city car?
Manoj, there is no alternative to a performance hatch at that price. Alto beats i10 and Beat in terms of performance. Yes, when it comes to safety the Alto is just as good or bad as the 800 but when it comes to out right performance, the Alto K10 is way superior than the M800. Also its way faster than a Nano but the Nano is quite good in the city.
The new Alto K10 does not have the Rear Doors fitted with the Door-Close Switches (the switches that activate the cabin light if either of the rear door is not closed properly.) Only Front Doors have these switches. So, if the rear doors are not closed properly the driver may not be aware of it. This could lead to some mishap. Maruti should look into this and do something to ensure the safety of its customers.
Jitender: Isnt there a Door Ajar Warning telltale in the K10 cluster to indicate that any of the doors is open?
The courtesy light may not be a replacement for this warning.
Any K10 owners know if this telltale is present in K10?
A great wealthy post. Excellent. I think its quite good to hear that Alto is the highest selling car of the suzuki.
hi, thanks for the information shared. I heard that K10 model, the engine is made of aluminum in general it will be iron and ALTO 800cc having engine made of iron. Since now the new ALTO K10 has very good features and it will come in a reasonable price. When I inquired last week the dealer said that now the current cost for K10 is 384000 in hyderabad may be we might get 20000 discount.
My only question is about the engine, is it ok if the engine is made of aluminum ? can we go ahead and buy the car ?
Subbu, yes its perfectly ok. Don’t worry about engine internals, the K-Series engines are very good.