RC Recommends: The best beater car!
We all look down at the alto because of the image elders have created about it but let me tell you it is one of the best fun cars for the money you pay.
Choosing your first car at 18 can be a really tough choice for an enthusiast like us. Being a responsible child you need to make sure you get the perfect car for your age and experience. If you plan on taking your car to college it should be frugal, something nice and cheap to run. Let me tell you all these conditions don’t go hand in hand. If you want a nice car it can’t be cheap to run and if you want a frugal vehicle it can’t be nice. You either have to sacrifice one to get another. Being in a nice car can have its disadvantages as well, you’ll constantly worry that someone might scratch your vehicle, service costs and fuel costs, which will restrict the fun that you can have with a cheap fun car.
I won’t tell you all cheap cars are fun but if you do your shopping well you will end up with an experience that you’ll remember forever. How do you choose a cheap fun car? Duh, ask us!
We have a car for you, it is super duper fun, super cheap to run and also frugal. It has one of the best small capacity naturally aspirated engines in our market, it handles decently well and can be serviced by anyone who knows owns a rachet! The icing on the cake is you can find one in great shape for a mere 1.5 lakhs! 1.5 lakhs for a car is an insane deal.
You may have guessed it, yes it is an alto k10! We all look down at the alto because of the image elders have created about it but let me tell you it is one of the best fun cars for the money you pay.
The k10 name stands for the engine it has, a 1.0 litre 3 cylinder petrol engine that puts out 67bhp and 90nm of torque which might seem very less but remember the car only weighs 765kg which is way less than yo mama😉
The k10 motor has the typical high revving characteristics like the older Suzuki G series engines. The peak power is made near the redline which means you’ll have the rev the nuts of the engine to gain momentum which makes even city commutes fun. The 5-speed manual transmission is slick and rowing through gears requires very less effort. The handling is decent for a car focused on fuel economy.
As a young enthusiast, the Alto K10 can help you learn more about driving and maintenance compared to a modern car. There is no traction control, no anti-stall, no reverse camera and no onboard computer telling you when to shift. It is a pure manual experience that will help you build a strong foundation in driving. You can learn many advanced driving techniques like rev-matching downshifts, hand brake turns and heck even the basics of rallying in open spaces on Sundays and driving efficiently on Mondays! The car will always be ready for whatever you throw at it if you maintain it properly.
Talking about maintaining the car here is where you will really love the car, the general maintenance of the Alto K10 is similar to maintaining an r15. While the r15 needs service every 3 months or 3000 kms you can service the Alto twice a year or at every 6000kms to keep the car in its best shape possible. On average, the service cost comes to around 3 to 4 thousand max which is extremely cheap when compared to a motorcycle nowadays. Even major part replacements are not something you need to worry about as parts are also very cheap. You can drive and abuse the car until it gives up and scrape it which will still be profitable as you’ve gained valuable experience from the car that will help you enjoy your newer car.
The types of emotions you get while downshifting and rev-matching before entering the corner and gassing out while exiting are unexplainable. The key to enjoying the k10 is by keeping the revs high rather than upshifting early. The motor is very rev-friendly and supports you in all kinds of nasty stuff you do it. This is how a naturally aspirated engine should feel, unlike the newer k series motors. Suzuki has dulled down the k series motors to make them appealing to the mass market fuel efficiency-oriented customers since the discontinuation of diesel engines started.
If this article convinced you to get an alto you need to check the below mentioned before purchasing the car.
Make sure the car has no rust as these cars are made with the not so good material to keep costs down. One of the common issues are worn-out clutch as the car is primarily driven inside the city in bumper-to-bumper traffic by relatively new drivers.
Check the suspension as most of the altos are parked and are only driven once a week or two.
Check the service history of the car and only get the car if it has been maintained at Suzuki.
Check for repainted panels and crash bar repair, mostly people who get an also tend to be new drivers and they might have been in minor crashes.
Once the car is purchased make sure to replace all fluids including the windshield washer fluid.
Check the suspension, if it is due to replacement try to replace it with OEM struts.
Replace the spark plugs and air filter.
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