The Parsimonious Pint-sized People Mover | 2011 Suzuki Alto K10

**ghosthunter** · May 3rd, 2012 12:47 PM

The Parsimonious Pint-sized People Mover | 2011 Suzuki Alto K10
Words and photos by Niky Tamayo

Perhaps it’s a good measure of the mental state that the Suzuki Alto K10 puts you in, because the very first day I had it, I instinctively put on my old Adidas driving shoes. I haven’t worn these things for the longest time, and last time I was on the racetrack, I bummed it and wore a pair of leather sandals instead. But for the Alto, I pulled my beloved F40 GTs out of the closet and dusted them off. I even polished and laced them properly just for this ride.

It’s even more telling that I raised the Alto's tire pressure from the standard 32 psi up to a rock-hard 45 psi just to get that tiny bit more cornering grip. But what proves it beyond any reasonable doubt is that every time I get out of the K10, I’m grinning from ear to ear....

LINK FOR MORE: The Parsimonious Pint-sized People Mover | 2011 Suzuki Alto K10

SOURCE: The Parsimonious Pint-sized People Mover | 2011 Suzuki Alto K10

**ben_david19** · May 3rd, 2012 04:53 PM

great unbiased review.

**niky** · May 3rd, 2012 05:17 PM

Totally biased. I love the thing to death.

The very first test drive I ever did was with the old 800cc Alto. Not much has changed in all this time... it's still a prehistoric but fun little thing... and still exceptionally economical.

**olidotcom** · May 3rd, 2012 09:03 PM

reviews like this is really what this forum is for. passing on their 'real' experience regarding the ride.

nothing's perfect ika nga.. - may mga topak din ang bawat sasakyan and it also drills down to what the consumer needs and wants.

more power to you sir. and a definitely nice read. :thumbsup:

**baludoy** · May 3rd, 2012 09:17 PM

nice read.

naalala ko tuloy iyong dati namaing 800cc na suzuki fronte. ito na siguro ang latest reincarnation nito.

now that small car was also a miser and we used it to ferry my sister and i from our home in las pinas to our respective schools in diliman and in loyola heights. the one thing that bothered us back then is the fact that it was a bit fragile. but considering the daily journey it used to traverse, i guess it was to be expected

**niky** · May 3rd, 2012 09:26 PM

The K10 is a whole lot more powerful than the old F8 motor. I was genuinely surprised at the economy. Too bad they don't put the 800 anymore on the official price lists, as there is probably still a market for the older car.

**baludoy** · May 3rd, 2012 09:31 PM

^ tama ba ako sa conclusion ko na ito ay descendant ng suzuki fronte? medyo na pa reminisce lang tuloy ako hehe

**niky** · May 3rd, 2012 10:09 PM

The original 800 was a based on the older Fronte/Alto.

**olidotcom** · May 4th, 2012 12:14 AM

i remembered that we have 2 suzuki fronte din.. na benta lang agad in less than 1 year.. kasi daw mahirap yung parts.. (that time) nakaka tuwa pa na yung emblem nya na naka lagay sa ibabaw ng hood was the 'release catch' para sa hood.. you just need to press it down.. hehehehe...

btt - siguro kung tapos na payments ko sa van ko.. its a big possibility to have this one as a daily driver.. (since it can compete with a prius sa gasoline consumption)..

**niky** · May 4th, 2012 10:34 AM

Actually a great time to be in the market for personal-sized cars. You have the super-economical ones like this, the Celerio and the Eon (review coming up), the ones that pretend to be big cars on the inside, like the Spark, Picanto and i10, and then the cheap subcompacts that are really bigger inside than old Civics and Corollas, like the Accent and the Rio.

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If parts for the Fronte then were hard... I wonder how hard parts are now for the Honda Today? There's a guy in our town who drives one around... and though I find the tiny car (with its 600cc motor) fascinating... it's a scary ownership proposition... unless you can replace suspension and motor parts with stuff from Honda Scooters...