The third-generation Maruti WagonR is a lot nicer than you expect it to be, indeed it is one of most practical Maruti cars available today

The Maruti-Suzuki WagonR was never a car that you ever called sexy. Back in 1999, when the first version of the car was launched, it came in as a response to the Daewoo Matiz and Hyundai Santro, and well, as far as looking like what it says on a package, the WagonR was a breadbox. The tall-boy design was there so that space could be maximised on a small platform. But practicality meant that you paid a price when it came to looks and both the WagonR and the Hyundai Santro were never lookers.

So three months after Hyundai brought the Santro back from the dead, Maruti has brought in the third-generation of the WagonR. While it might never have scored on looks, Maruti managed to sell over 22 lakh WagonR’s in India in just over two decades making it one of India’s most successful cars. So the newest WagonR had a lot to live up to when it was launched, well it does and how! But first a few clarifications, 0the third-generation WagonR is not based on the Japanese model of the same car, it uses the same ‘Hearttech A’ platform of the Swift, which has some great positives. For one the car is a lot wider, it is also longer but it is the additional 140mm of width that you really appreciate both up front and at the back. At the back in particular the additional space means that the WagonR is a proper three-seat car at the back, as anyone who has been in an earlier WagonR would know, the rear-seat of the car was not what you would have called spacious.

The shared platform also means another positive, which is that the WagonR handles very well indeed. Now handling and WagonR are not words that anyone would put in a sentence together but this car is really nice. In Udaipur, where we were driving this new car there are some back roads to Badi Talab, a lake on the outskirts of the city. These roads resemble a rally special stage and while the WagonR is still a tall car, it went through corners with aplomb. I never thought I’d say this but the WagonR was an absolute hoot to drive.

The engines in the car are the tried and tested K10 and on this generation Maruti has also fitted the bigger K12 engine, which is the one we drove both in manual and with an AMT gearbox. The car, predictably is geared for fuel economy and what economy, while driving the car on highways and inside Udaipur city over 120 kilometres I saw a average mileage of 20.1 kilometres per litre. Sure, it was winter so no air-conditioning, limited traffic and lots of highway cruising but still that is an impressive number any which way you look at it.

Maruti has also given an app that helps you connect to the car and shares all driving and vehicle details on the app including navigation. This is particularly useful on some older devices that do not have support for smartphones using CarPlay or Android Auto. The Smartplay infotainment system has also been updated with a cleaner and better layout and importantly a lot faster as well. This system will find its way into newer Maruti vehicles as they get updated, we will do a full app review in a future column. There are some small niggles here and there, the rear-seat headrests are a bit uncomfortable and while loading lip is low the rear hatch is very high and if you are a bit short the problem is that you might have difficulty lowering the hatch. But these are small niggles to be honest.

So if you are looking for a small Maruti today, in fact any small car, the new WagonR is a surprisingly good bet. Priced at between Rs 4.19 and 5.16 lakh with the K10 engine and Rs 4.89 and Rs 5.69 lakh for the K12 variant and both engine options coming with Maruti’s AMT automatic system called the AGS the car is also priced at a sweet spot against the competition, including the Santro. Indeed, as the new Santro isn’t a real tall-boy anymore, if a tall-boy is what you really want and there is a good case for wanting one thanks to convince, this is it.