[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by audioholic

However, I don't think someone should put their money based on my claim or recommendation. I personally would never want to put an advisors hat no matter how accurate my claim may be. I just share info that I know.

Thanks for clarifying.

Initially when Hyundai released the Santro AMT, I test drove the car and was mightly impressed with the smoothness as it comes with electric actuators. But after going through Hyundai Santro thread - there are several reports of AMT failure. But in general the overall feel,smoothness of shifts of the Hyundai AMT felt better to me than Marutis.

Have you heard anything about Maruti (via Magneti Marelli) planning to bring in electric actuators for their AMT?

Originally Posted by jomson13

1. People did not know how AMT cars should behave at the time of buying. Most of them would not know the difference between the AMT and the CVT's on offer.

In my case, I knew the difference but still no other car checked all the boxes as much as the Maruti Ignis at that price point. The closest competition was the Tata Tiago which again comes with the same AMT Module. The i10 Auto was the smoothest AMT among my test drives, but at that point of time (mid 2017), Hyundai was not giving ABS on its Automatic cars

Apart from that like you have rightly said, the i10 with its TC would have given abysmally low mileage figures.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Initially when Hyundai released the Santro AMT, I test drove the car and was mightly impressed with the smoothness as it comes with electric actuators. But after going through Hyundai Santro thread - there are several reports of AMT failure. But in general the overall feel,smoothness of shifts of the Hyundai AMT felt better to me than Marutis.

Have you heard anything about Maruti (via Magneti Marelli) planning to bring in electric actuators for their AMT?

Electric actuators are smoother since the precision of control is higher. Hence the clutch control is far smoother. Gearshifts will be more or less the same. What I am interested to know is how electric actuators will fare over time. When the clutch gets hard, the actuator must have enough strength to cope up with the increased hardness. Hydraulic actuators are very efficient this way, and have the highest power to size ratio. With electric solenoids or motors, they should be of adequate capacity which makes the unit bulky, as on the Hyundai. I have seen the Magneti AMT work during calibration and the actuators are lightning fast. You can make an electric device fast too, but whether it can maintain the same speed under different loads is a question only the long term performance can tell.



The Magneti AMT unit is quite well established and has a legacy of its own in other countries as well. I dont see them switching to electric so easily unless they are completely sure of it being a better alternative to the current hydraulic system. The Magneti units have not stranded people on the road off late. It was in the initial batches of the Celerio when the unit used to get stuck and could not shift to any gear. But off late, I have not heard of this issue from anyone I know.

[Taha Mir]

Hello all, im thinking of purchasing a used 2016 alto amt with an odo reading of 27k kms. It'd primarily be used for errands in the city and driven by my sisters.
What is the general consensus now about this car? Are the software/TCM issues fixed? I'd obviously want this car to be a reliable one with least number of visits to the A.S.S.

[jomson13]

Originally Posted by Taha Mir

Hello all, im thinking of purchasing a used 2016 alto amt with an odo reading of 27k kms. It'd primarily be used for errands in the city and driven by my sisters.
What is the general consensus now about this car? Are the software/TCM issues fixed? I'd obviously want this car to be a reliable one with least number of visits to the A.S.S.

I don't think the reliability is a problem, most of the experiences here have been about people unhappy about the 'performance' and getting this corrected under warranty.
Having said that, you must definitely check the service history for any work done on the clutch / AMT unit

[nik0502]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone installed a gear lock in AGS? I have a Wagon R AGS. I want to get a gear lock installed. I visited a local accessory shop and he showed me a piece but it had a 1.5 feet long metal sheet for fitting and it would be visible inside the cabin. I wasn’t comfortable with this so skipped it. Just wanted to check if there is any good option in the market

[ChrisTJ]

I've been driving a swift petrol equipped with AMT for the last 21k kms. Here are my likes, dislikes and observations.

Likes:

1. Convenient- It frees up your left leg and driving in stop and go traffic is a lot less tiring.
2. It makes you drive in correct gear. I see many drivers overtaking vehicle in front 'reaaaally' slowly because they're in wrong gear and shifting down is too much work.
3. Upshift speed is almost similar like an average driver on a casual drive. Shifts are faster between 3000 to 4000 rpm.
4. Downshifts are fast. A lot faster than an average driver manages. It blips the throttle to rev match. - I LIKE THAT.

Dislikes:

1. Inconsistent. Sometimes shifts are smooth, sometimes jerky.
2. Upshifts are slow. Especially on first two gears. Not suaited for spirited driving.
3. At higher rpm( above 4000) the upshifts should be faster and seamless in a such high revving car but it's not. Shifts are bad at high rpm, takes twice as much time to shift compared to what it manages between 3 and 4k rpm.
4. Won't let you upshift under 2000 rpm in first two gears, even in manual mode. This is bad. If starting off from a downhill road, there's no need to rev till 2k rpm in first gear.
5. Again, if you're in 2nd gear and on a downhill road as soon as you apply brake the rpm falls to 1500, it downshifts to 1st gear. Now if you let go off the brake, the gravity pulls the car and the rpm shoots up because you're in 1st gear - You look like a noob.

Regarding the 4th point above, you can select 2nd gear and roll
off from a standstill in a downhill road but with 4 people onboard, I don't like doing it.

The solution would be to set the shift point to 1500-1700 rpm in first gear in manual mode. Or give complete control regarding the up and downshifts to the driver in manual mode.

I asked the service center if they can change the shift points but according to them it's not possible.

I thought the whole point of the manual mode is to give the driver full control. I understand this is kind of a fail safe system because one can stall the car if shifted too early, but being a automated clutch system, it can be prevented by system applying clutch and avoid knocking or stalling.

I hope Maruti will come up with an update(probably not) then it'll be a much better system.

Note: I do feel all these points are nitpicking but I like things to be perfect. And AMT is that at this point - something not perfect.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ChrisTJ

I've been driving a swift petrol equipped with AMT for the last 21k kms. Here are my likes, dislikes and observations.

I thought the whole point of the manual mode is to give the driver full control. I understand this is kind of a fail safe system because one can stall the car if shifted too early, but being a automated clutch system, it can be prevented by system applying clutch and avoid knocking or stalling.

Agree with your observations, but in the Celerio, the upshifts are slow at lower RPMs and are then pretty quick higher up the rev band. I think it is to do with the time the engine takes to match the RPMs during upshift. In the K10, the revs fall pretty quickly at high RPMs and the shifts are completed quicker. Its horrible when the shifts happen close to 2K RPM. And yes, if I ever get a tool to tune the transmission, there is nothing like it.

Originally Posted by nik0502

I visited a local accessory shop and he showed me a piece but it had a 1.5 feet long metal sheet for fitting and it would be visible inside the cabin. I wasn’t comfortable with this so skipped it. Just wanted to check if there is any good option in the market

If you are concerned about your car in some specific place where you park, just find the fuse for the transmission motor or pump and remove it after parking. If not, then the fuse for fuel pump or Ignition coil. We will see how your car can get stolen

[RoadMonkey]

Originally Posted by audioholic

The Magneti units have not stranded people on the road off late. It was in the initial batches of the Celerio when the unit used to get stuck and could not shift to any gear. But off late, I have not heard of this issue from anyone I know.

Speak of the devil, the Nexon AMT thread is a reminder of how AMTs still aren't fully reliable in this aspect.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

Speak of the devil, the Nexon AMT thread is a reminder of how AMTs still aren't fully reliable in this aspect.

Yes, but the background of the issue has been mentioned in that thread too as to how Tata did not learn from the faults in the early AMT units compared to Maruti and continued to use the pump as it is, while Maruti localised the pump and worked with Magnetti to make it more reliable. Hence, its more of a Tata issue I believe. Compared to TATA volumes, Maruti has been selling far more AMT cars and if these defects werent resolved and had existed even now, then it would have been a big disaster for Maruti by now since more than half their portfolio offer AMT and the sales of these vehicles have also been on a steady rise.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Yes, but the background of the issue has been mentioned in that thread too as to how Tata did not learn from the faults in the early AMT units compared to Maruti and continued to use the pump as it is, while Maruti localised the pump and worked with Magnetti to make it more reliable.

True!!
I have a Ignis AMT and driven 11000 KM entirely in mad city traffic. No issues so far. Other Ignis AMT users are also there in the forum who are pretty satisfied with the car barring the characteristic AMT issues like jerky shift between 1st to 2nd gear. I think the Swift AMT users are also pretty problem free. If you can live with a AMT car, then newer Maruti cars are definitely to look into, especially with the 4 cylinder engines.

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by audioholic

If you are concerned about your car in some specific place where you park, just find the fuse for the transmission motor or pump and remove it after parking. If not, then the fuse for fuel pump or Ignition coil. We will see how your car can get stolen

Sir

I have been doing that for years. However the car is for my father and I can’t expect him to get into these. Hence I am desperately looking at adding gear lock before I hand over the car to him.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Sir

I have been doing that for years. However the car is for my father and I can’t expect him to get into these. Hence I am desperately looking at adding gear lock before I hand over the car to him.

In that case its tricky to add a gearlock since the shift selector is an electronic assembly and anything that has to be done should be done outside, compared to the conventional gear lock for which holes are drilled in the side. This is the reason I dont suggest adding a gear lock and suggest alternatives.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by nik0502

Sir

I have been doing that for years. However the car is for my father and I can’t expect him to get into these. Hence I am desperately looking at adding gear lock before I hand over the car to him.

If the car is out of warranty then what about a heavy duty key switch in series with the ignition switch in a hidden location somewhere near the OBD port? You turn the key switch first and then the ignition. Even a normal switch would do.

[nik0502]

Originally Posted by archat68

If the car is out of warranty then what about a heavy duty key switch in series with the ignition switch in a hidden location somewhere near the OBD port? You turn the key switch first and then the ignition. Even a normal switch would do.

Had this arrangement in my Gypsy. And the possibility of having a short circuit because of the cut in the wiring always made me nervous. There weren’t many options for Gypsy and since it was a soft top I lived with it however I can’t take that risk in a car which would lock all the doors in case of a short circuit. So not a fan of this arrangement.

[ChrisTJ]

Originally Posted by audioholic

. And yes, if I ever get a tool to tune the transmission, there is nothing like it.

If you ever get a tool like that, I'll be on your doorstep, begging.
I think Maruti is pretty proud of their setup and in no mood to improve the system.

Btw, do you think we can implement a paddle shift system on AMT ? Shifting without taking hands away from the steering wheel is more convenient.

I did try peeking under the shifter but from the causal look I had, it doesn't look easy to disassemble.

Thoughts ?