The Maruti Wagon R has been one of India’s top selling cars for a very long time now. The car is widely used in the commercial sector and has been a trusty steed for those who are first time buyers. Many swear by the cars no-nonsense approach to motoring and the immense amount of practicality it has on offer. So what has changed in new generation 2019 Maruti Wagon R? A lot. This is no longer a car that we are now used to seeing in the traffic as an Uber or something that is going annoyingly slow in the first lane of the highway. The 2019 Maruti Wagon R is here with a host of different updates and new features. It is different from the Wagon R sold in Japan. It is built for India, by India. Maruti has engineered and built a car that is specifically for our country, road conditions and customer needs.
The new Wagon R is also based on Suzuki’s latest Heartect platform. Benefits of the new platform are better dynamics, overall lighter and improved overall safety. The Heartect platform also results in more space in the cabin. The new Wagon R is wider longer and has got more legroom and knee room than before. The car shares most of its dynamics, proportions with Maruti’s NEXA offering, the Ignis. Along with the new platform the new Wagon R continues to get the old 1.0-litre 3 cylinder engine that makes 68bhp and a new much powerful 1.2-litre engine four-cylinder K12 engine. The option of the 83hp engine is in response to the demands of customers wanting more power in the Wagon R. In terms of safety now, the car now comes with ABS and EBD as standard across all variants. Also standard is the driver side airbags, seatbelt reminder for driver and passenger, central locking, rear parking sensors, speed alert system and child-proof rear door locks.
With the overall length of 3655mm, a width of 1620mm and height of 1675mm, new 2019 Wagon R is certainly bigger. Maruti has designed the car to give it a robust look. At the front, the car gets new headlamps which are a departure from the square like headlamps that are seen on the older Wagon R. The headlamps are a unique dual split unit which will make the car look more modern. Could Maruti have offred DRLs and projector headlights on this unit? It would have been a segment first and a really good premium feature to have. But as we know manufacturers like to save features for a facelift and if the Baleno has just got them now, so could the Wagon R and Ignis in the future soon. The car now gets a modern architecture chrome grille. There are new lines on the car too. The bonnet and the side carry these distinctive lines which make the car look bigger and better. On the side, we also see a new design element on the rear, C pillar. The design looks like the car has sideburns on the rear and is also a little bit more distinctive. The rear has a very sculpted look with the big new taillamps which look like they are inspired by the new Ertiga. The chrome strip on the boot now carries the name WagonR on it.
