Suzuki Alto - Surprisingly Good and Refreshing

For a thing that comes from India, you'd expect it to be quirky in design like a Mahindra Scorpio or basic-utilitarian like Tata's pickups. But the Suzuki Alto isn't anything like that.

It's a future-proof car designed by Suzuki, incorporating European styling preferences, money-saving features and environmental considerations.

Slightly smaller than the ever popular Perodua Myvi but lighter, the Alto looks refreshingly stylish and promises to get you from point A to point B in safety and comfort while saving on fuel.

Say what you may about an eco-friendly, fuel saving car, but if looks butt-ugly, no one's going to want to buy it unless he or she really doesn't care about looking silly in a butt-ugly car. So, for a car to sell, it needs to be stylish and eye-catching.

As style preferences go, European style preferences tend to help cars sell better than those that adopt other style preferences. Hence, it is smart of Suzuki to adopt contemporary design elements found in popular European small cars epitomised by the Fiat 500.

More than that, the Alto has a very low drag coefficient of 0.30 and its body is strong enough to earn a 4-star Euro NCAP rating (according to Suzuki). At the same time, the body uses a lot of high-tensile steel, resulting in a good weight-to-power ratio, which makes the Alto feel nippy and sip (instead of guzzle) fuel.

Most important of all, the Alto comes with airbags (including curtain airbags for side-impact) as well as anti-brake lock system (ABS) with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and brake assist - these are crucial for you to avoid accidents.

All this and more for about RM51,000+, which is about RM6,000 more than the smaller Viva Elite of comparable specifications and about RM5,000 cheaper than the Myvi of similar specifications.

Personally, if I were in the market for a small new car, the Alto is probably what I'd go for.

Primax 95 Really Agrees with My Ford

I believe in paying less for more. With PETRONAS Primax 95, I'm getting exactly that.

Although two notches below RON 97 fuel, Primax 95 gives just as much gusto when used in my Ford Focus S2.0 - the engine doesn't need RON 97 fuel.

What's more, the cleaning additives in Primax 95 as well as its combustion improver makes hard revving in my Ford smoother.

Previously, the variable valve timing transitions would be somewhat rough and even audible. Now, it's almost imperceptible - I just floor the throttle and keep my eyes focused on the road ahead.

Unfortunately, there are some cars that won't take well to RON 95 fuel. Among them are the venerable Suzuki Swifts.

No wonder they were being sold at a hefty discount about a month or so ago.

Anyway, if you plan on switching cars, be sure to ask if the car you're eyeing can take RON 95 fuel.

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Addendum: By the way, the Focus in the picture is not my Ford (no brainer there). It's a race version of the Focus S2.0 which, I hope, I can turn my baby into, someday.

A Moment's Glory Followed by Almost Certain Death...

Among the things that I hardly ever feature at my Grinner's Cars Malaysia Blog site are super bikes. It's not that I don't like them or I'm not fascinated by them. I fear them and I don't want my kids to take to them.
As a boy, I was obsessed with them, until my first bike accident at 13 years old. Riding my bother-in-law's Suzuki scrambler, my dirt-biking adventure was cut short when I crashed into a deep gully.
Although I wasn't seriously hurt, it was really, really painful.
Of course, that single incident wasn't enough to throw me off bikes, but it was one of the major incidences that built up to it, like the super bike crash that killed a taxi passenger and the bike rider back in the 1980s in front of the then Asiajaya shopping complex (now Armada Hotel).
Recently, I saw a super biker breathe the last breaths of his life after he was knocked down by a Honda CRV through no fault of his own. Only minutes before that, the old chap looked super cool cruising slowly in front of the bank I was at.
"A moment's glory, followed by almost certain death," was the thought that went through my head when the bank guards rushed to his aid.
Surely enough, shortly after that, the old super biker laid silently in corpse position with his hands placed in Muslim prayer over his midriff.
No, no bikes for me or my kids. I'd rather they take the bus, LRT, or taxi.
I'd even go into debt just to buy them cars if this would keep them off bikes.