2014 Maruti Suzuki Celerio Test Drive Score Sheet

Shift This

Maruti Suzuki brought the Automated Manual Transmission to the Indian market with the Celeriohatchback. And even they’ve been surprised with the response to the AMT!

The Automated Manual Transmission is an interesting transmission. It’s cheaper than a traditional torque converter automatic, and it doesn’t sap power from the engine and reduce fuel economy either. And, of course, it’s nowhere near as expensive or complex as either a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) or a DCT (Dual-Clutch Transmission).

But, believe it or not, it has its roots in the world of Formula 1. You see, the single clutch automated manual was developed in the high-tech world of F1 racing. The first road car, meanwhile, to feature such a transmission was the Ferrari F355. But modern Ferrari’s have since moved on to dual-clutch gearboxes – well – because they’re far more comfortable to operate. You see, these single-clutch sequential gearboxes – when transferring a couple of hundred horsepower to the wheels – would jolt the occupants with enough force to loosen a filling or two. But with just 67 horses and 90Nm of torque produced by the 3-cylinder 1.0 litre K10 engine in this case, the engineers at component giant Magneti Marelli were faced with a much easier task when tuning the gearbox. And so the AMT performs quite well in the Celerio.

Yes, there’s a slight lag when changing up on part-throttle. And yes, the transmission is geared towards fuel efficiency – so it hunts for fifth gear all the time, and leaves you out of the torque curve quite often. But all you have to do is be a little more firm than usual with the accelerator pedal, and you find that the transmission downshifts on cue and the Celerio responds very well indeed. On the track, we used the transmission in manual mode – and found that it worked surprisingly well. In fact, the only liability was the fact that the car struggled for grip on its narrow tyres – other than that, it actually performed quite well for an entry-level hatchback. And it’s a hatch that’s got quite a spacious interior, built to quite a high-level of quality and design.

On the whole, the Celerio is a very competent machine – so it’s no surprise to see the AMT version flying off the shelves so far. But whether it’s just a flash in the pan or a sustained trend is something that we’ll just have to wait and see.

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