Test drove Maruti S-Presso: Might book it instead of Alto for my wife

The car comes with a full-size spare wheel. Even my 5th-gen Honda City doesn't have it.

BHPian CarCraze recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Took a test drive of the Maruti S-Presso.

For the background, I have a 2022 5th-generation Honda City at home. This has been our regular commuter for short trips and highways. Recently my wife who takes her 2-wheeler to her work within Chennai has been posted to a place which is almost 70 km from where we stay. While we were discussing how to make this work, the thought of getting a second car at home just for my wife to travel to work, came across.

Since she is new to driving, she preferred a car with less real estate. Natural choice was the Alto. So I did research what I could on the internet and reached the showroom to have a look at the car in flesh (say metal?). She sat in it, found it OK and then glanced at the S-Presso standing next to it. I asked her to check out how is it. Just when she got in and saw the bonnet from her seating position, she immediately felt this was good as it would be easier to drive than the Alto.

Even though the looks get varied opinions, I can firmly say it has a lot of space for the passengers inside. Yes - it may not be comfortable or safe compared to many, but I believe Maruti has given a very good combination for the amount it asks. The biggest example is the spare wheel, which is full size (even my City didn’t come with a full size). So for all those who say Maruti doesn’t care about the safety of passengers, I would like to quote this one. Given the height of the car and the ground clearance, they had to give a 14-inch wheel compared to the 13-inch given in Alto. We were impressed that the price too had only 20K difference. We went back home and I started looking at a lot of reviews about the S-presso. I found the owners to be happy with the car which comes with the usual Maruti Reliability and maintenance.

A week later, we thought to take a test drive. Informed the showroom to keep the car ready and we reached at about 2.30 PM with the hot weather in Chennai. Since the test drive car was in the sun for a long time, they said to let the AC run for some time before we get it. Just after 2 mins, I said let's get it in as I wanted to know how hot is hot when they meant it. Once I got it, I didn’t feel much of a difference so in a way AC was not bad. But the car was so shabby that it looked as if they had just cleaned a dump yard from it. Nevertheless, I thought this was how they maintained an entry-level car and got in.

When I started the engine and left the brake, the car slowly started moving and I had to press the accelerator a bit to move forward. The perfect kind of slow-start vehicle I would have liked for my wife. We didn't ride on the main road and immediately took a small street with less traffic and I asked my wife to drive. Since the seat was placed high, she couldn’t rest her heel when pressing the brake/accelerator. So I asked to adjust the seat still further towards the steering. We travelled for a few meters and I started hearing sounds from the steering and the back door and I realized the car had already run 30K KMs.

When asked about it the SA said, it has been the same test drive vehicle for 4 years. When I expressed my displeasure, he immediately called the showroom and arranged for the car on display. We returned and took the new vehicle which had run only 24 KMs. It was a difference of day and night. The steering was smooth and the ride was pleasant.

Below are my observations from the test drive

• Bonet visibility is a boon for first-time drivers
• Compact size makes it easier to manoeuvre in the city without any difficulty
• Do not try to overtake anyone with this as you may not get the required torque initially
• All the switches were good enough for the price.
• The infotainment is decent and anything larger that might look a bit big for the car's dimensions
• Contrary to many, I found the suspension not hard at all. After reading the reviews in Tbhp, I made up my mind to face a stiff suspension, but I was surprised at how good they were (I checked the tyre pressure too, it was 33 and 35).
• Turning - I had to rotate one more round than my City to take a left or right turn. For new drivers, this might add up to the fatigue
• New drivers might take some time to find a good driving position as it does not have tilt or telescopic and also the seat height adjustment. They will have to play around moving front and back
• All were hard plastic, but couldn’t complain when we heard the price
• This is the cheapest car with Hill Hold assist. Fantastic!
• It has all the basic features covered like ABS, dual airbags, android auto/apple car play, steering mounted audio and voice controls, electric window adjustment for the front and even speed sensing auto door lock- what else would you basically need?
• IRVM was just a mirror, so you might have to swap with a day/night IRVM aftermarket.
• Under thigh support was very poor, but the space inside allowed me to stretch my legs to counter that. A long drive for adults at the back will be uncomfortable
• Doors were very light similar to what is in the Alto.
• I don’t think the steering added weight with the increase in speed
• The steering didn’t recentre as many had pointed out

Overall, it ticks the needed boxes and we might be looking to book one very soon!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.