A-Star (ZXi) Driven

Like the exterior, the cabin is a step forward too for a small Maruti. The driver’s seat is really quite comfortable, there’s no seat height adjustment or adjustable steering sadly, but there is plenty of travel on the front seats. You can really slide the seat back and stretch your legs out and that’s a refreshing change. There’s a lot of the Swift in the interior, things like the steering wheel, gear lever and knobs and buttons but more on that later.

 

 

On firing up the motor, there is a hint of shudder and vibration at idle and though it’s not obtrusive or jarring like a diesel, it’s something you would rather not have. This slight roughness is down to the fact that the motor is a three-cylinder unit, and it is the three’s natural vibrations that are difficult to get rid of. And that’s despite the fact that this is a brand-new all-aluminum, twin-cam motor. However, tap the throttle and the mild rocking or vibration disappears immediately. The motor is now honey smooth and hugely responsive, even just off idle; this means the A-Star feels alert and ready to skip forward. You can short-shift and the motor will still yank you forward in traffic, even with just an inch of throttle travel. It feels as or more responsive than even a Santro and that’s pretty unreal.

~LiKe.No.oTheR~

The steering is light and pretty direct, the brakes are well weighted and work well, and the gearbox is actually better than that on the Swift. It’s somewhat lighter to use and doesn’t baulk like the Swift’s unit.

With its stiff new chassis, Swift- like front suspension and tall springs, this new Maruti small car rips ups yet another well earned Maruti stereotype. Light footed through rough patches, well composed over even large bumps and giving an impression that it has been robustly engineered, the A-Star skips very happily over the broken stretches of tarmac. There is an underlying layer of stiffness for sure and you do feel some bumps at times, but this also means body control over bumps is very good.

According to the company, the rear seats in this car segment are used very rarely in and as a result space and comfort is only just about enough in the new car. Headroom is tight, the rear seat is narrow and then the back rest short. The high sides of the car and the large headrests up front also make the rear seat pretty claustrophobic. However, underthigh support isn’t too bad. What is horrendously insufficient is the boot. Barely large enough for a  couple of soft bags, this boot doesn't hold much even if you fold the rear seat. The A-Star is well specified on the safety front with two airbags and ABS.

Bottom line