This is the new Maruti Suzuki Celerio and as per Maruti Suzuki’s claims, this will give you a fabulous mileage of 26.68 km/l, depending on the variant, which makes it one of the most fuel-efficient car that you can buy in India. On top of that, the second generation Celerio, which comes after 7 years of the first Celerio being brought to India, has a starting price of Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom). And to be honest, this is perhaps enough for you to be convinced that this is the right choice of car to buy. However, if you want to know more, well, you’ve come to the right place.
WATCH MARUTI SUZUKI CELERIO FIRST DRIVE REVIEW:
Now, I want to start off with the design of the car. While it’s a subjective matter, for me, it looks way better when you see it in real life and you also notice that it does have a good amount of road presence too. The big change is the fact that the new Celerio has swapped the boxy and sharp design language for a curvy look and I quite like that. The car we drove is the top-spec ZXi+ variant so you get to see things like the larger 15-inch alloy wheels and the fog lamps on it as well. Do note, though, that the unit we tested came with Yokohama tyres.
The new Celerio comes with several great features like the keyless entry however, I want to point out that the button that you press to unlock the doors while the key is in your pocket, that button is placed quite oddly on the door. Usually, you see this button integrated into the door handle in other cars, but in the Celerio, that’s not the case. And the same situation is going on at the boot lid as well. However, after spending some time with the car, you won’t really notice it.
Also, the new Celerio is now built on Maruti Suzuki’s new Heartect platform which also underpins the WagonR in India, and as a result, Maruti Suzuki has been able to squeeze out quite a lot of space. On the outside, the Celerio has become quite a bit wider and it also has a longer wheelbase. While this simply makes the car look bigger from the outside, the real changes can be seen on the inside.
I drove around in the Celerio for a couple of days and quite a lot of that driving time was spent with my DOP as my co-passenger at the front and that brought my attention to two things – first, there is a lot more shoulder room between the passengers and second, there is a lot more knee room available for both the front passengers and these factors alone go a long way in giving you that increased sense of space.
Other changes include an all-black theme for the cabin with silver accents giving it some contrast.
Other notable things that I would want to talk about include the seats which are quite comfortable but it does not have adjustable headrests, neither at the front nor at the back. As for the quality, everything’s put together quite well but there are a lot of hard plastics all around but I guess, given the price tag, you should expect that. What’s really different, though, is the placement of power window switches which are operated by the buttons that are placed below the infotainment system and for the rear windows, their controls are actually placed behind the handbrake lever. So there is a bit of adjusting that you have to do. Lastly, the driving ergonomics are quite good too thanks to the fact that the driver seat and the steering wheel are both height adjustable and on top of that, you have good visibility as well.
The new Celerio also comes with a push-button engine start/stop and gets the latest 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system which also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and the car has a good audio experience as well as the top variant has four speakers.
There is also a semi-digital instrument cluster and there are steering-mounted controls too. The top-spec variants also get electrically adjustable and electrically folding mirrors.
As for the rear seats, there’s a decent amount of space on offer with a great amount of legroom. However, passengers taller than 6 feet will want more headroom. You can squeeze in three people if you want at the rear seat but it will indeed be a squeeze. What’s good is that the new Celerio also has a big luggage space of 313 litres making it quite practical.
But now, let’s get to the driving experience of the new Celerio. It is powered by the updated K-series engine which helps you get that drool-worthy fuel efficiency. But while you are driving it, you will also realise that the engine feels smoother than before and is also less audible at idle. This is a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine that makes 67 PS of power and 89 Nm of torque. This engine is clearly not tuned for performance as it gives preference to efficiency and it translates to a driving experience that is best when the car is driven with a light foot. While the power is delivered in a linear fashion all the way to 5,500 RPM, you will feel the need to shift down for those quick overtakes on the highway.
And this brings us to the gearbox. The Celerio comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox and also, offers the choice of a 5-speed AMT transmission on all variants but the base model. The AMT transmission-equipped variants come with a premium of Rs 50,000 and also gets a segment-first hill-hold assist.
The new Celerio has a soft suspension setup which enables it to tackle bad patches of roads with ease but there is quite a bit of body roll on fast corners. The car feels stable at highway speeds and the brakes have decent bite and feedback as well.
CHECK OUT OUR DETAILED IMAGE GALLERY OF THE MARUTI SUZUKI CELERIO HERE
But at the end of the day, the Celerio feels the best as a city car and overall, it is a more practical offering than before.
And I should mention, once again, that all of it comes with the highest fuel-efficiency claims in the market and a competitive price tag as well. To sum it up, Maruti Suzuki has knocked it out of the park once again with the new Celerio which has got the basics covered and has done them well too. So if you are looking for a hatchback with high mileage and the ease of an automatic transmission in a budget, this is a great option to go for.
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