Already installed the Hella chrome series horns, which sounds exactly like Creta’s Bosch horns.
BHPian Tony2298 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Hello everyone hope you all are doing great!,after reading the title you might be thinking who is this boy and those who know that it was a PR strategy by MSIL for their 2nd gen WagonR launched in 2010 they might be thinking when did a bread-box shaped, simple tiny hatchback can become somebody’s beloved but you know what, it simply does, so much so that I’m willing to retain it for as long as possible.
Buying the blue-eyed boy
Its a story dating back to end of 2011, my dad was using a 2001 MS800 EX MPFi model(a pretty rare and performance oriented machine for its time), with newer, modern cars on the street we felt the need to upgrade our ride too.
Surprisingly it wasn’t MSIL but Hyundai which initially was our preference thanks in no small measure due to the fact that we were also owning a 2000 Hyundai Santro and I had recently bought a 2009 i20 Asta both of which were terrific, the model which suited my dad was the i10 Sportz 1.2Kappa, and even though I liked the TD my dad wasn’t very convinced, maybe due to his long experience with MSIL.
Additionally I also convinced my dad for Volkswagen Polo 1.2MPi Comfortline model which was just a little out of his budget but was a terrific car with such an emphasis to build quality and safety but sadly my mom wasn’t very convinced about the cozy rear seat experience and my dad was also wary of the high service costs, thus with an heavy heart I had to cross out the Polo as well.
Apart from that we tried cars like Ford Figo, Chevrolet Beat, Maruti’s own Swift Dzire, Ritz etc but all were crossed out for some reason or the other and my parents settled for the WagonR only, I personally remember getting the booking done and opted for the Baker’s chocolate shade as I felt it was kinda unique but got a hell lot of scolding at home as both of them didn’t like brown due to which later the colour was changed to Breeze Blue, also I really tried to convince my dad to upgrade to Vxi(O) with dual airbags and ABS but dad didn’t pay up extra 35,000Rs or so extra citing he would never drive beyond city limits and since it wasn’t my personal car I couldn’t argue much.
Still, I clearly told them that I’ll be fitting accessories of my choice and even if it meant paying extra I would be doing that from my wallet to which they thankfully obliged. MSIL was kind enough to throw in 20,000INR worth of free accessories which was a lot back then. The first accessory I liked were the alloys but those costed 5,000 apiece meaning whole freebie amount would go in that alone, to which I decided to buy the alloys separately from my own wallet, apart from that picked the standard set of seat covers, mats, carpets, body cover, door visor, idol, parking sensors etc
We took the delivery on the eve of Dhanteras of 2012 on very unique date of 10/11/12.
Initially when we bought the car home I personally admit I wasn’t too happy with WagonR and planned to get rid of it after 5years and gift my dad a good new car like Vento but as time progressed I started appreciating the WagonR for what it is, a no-nonsense, practical, cheap to maintain, fuss free hatchback.
Even though the car is not at all comfortable at highway speeds, has poorly controlled NVH and kinda poor A/C cooling even today I do not find any reason to upgrade this car, I’ll explain you why.
First of all, my dad has stopped driving altogether as seeing today’s traffic he becomes a touch too paranoid(naturally so) raising his BP which could be quite dangerous considering he is a senior citizen apart from that he just wants to relax and take life slowly after completing his almost 40long years of hardwork as a metallurgical engineer from IIT Kanpur and just goes out for his timely health checkups, so the usage has come down drastically for the WagonR limited to town running, therefore it makes much more sense to retain and use it than selling it out just because its 12years old, additionally my dad being an engineer has a good habit of maintaining his car to the T and thankfully I’ve inherited this from him therefore the WagonR is in perfect condition, its always serviced from the same ASC its been visiting for the past 12 years, additionally I’ve had gone one step ahead now by sourcing MGP Shell Helix 5W30 oil as ASC used to stock only EcStar(basically Servo) 0W20/16 BS6 oil only. I’ve had posted about the service experience recently in Team BHP, would be cross-posting it here too, https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn…ml#post5500172
Additionally, as of now where my WagonR is registered there’s no such 15year ban on petrol vehicles(hopefully it stays that way), once the current RC expires(which is still in distant future around late 2027),I would be carrying out the FC renewal and re-passing done too like I’ve did for my i20.
Apart from all of this, WagonR is not just a car for us, it has an sentimental value to it, and I guess its natural considering how long this car is been with us, so when we are clearly retaining it I’ve decided to spruce it up just a little bit to keep it up to the times(at least those possible easily).
Have done the following mods and plan to do some for which I may require some help from you BHPians, so feel free to write suggestions and additional jobs.
- Power Horns– My WagonR came with simple single tone disc type horns which barely caught anybody’s attention especially of those errant squid riders and indisciplined 3wheelers, therefore decided to upgrade to dual tone wind tones, chose the Hella chrome series which sounds exactly like Creta’s Bosch horns, the pitch, amplitude all are spot on, I really love this really sweet sounding type horns.
- Powerful lights– This one IMHO was much more required in my car and especially on pitch dark roads during night the throw was grossly inadequate from stock bulbs, the high beams were pathetic, plus if there’s some oncoming traffic you’re completely blinded by its glare and my poor high beams just cannot fight against those psycho drivers, for a long time I searched for some good lights ranging from Philips Racing Vision to Osram NightBreakers but heard mixed reviews about them, after a long research came across a pair of good LEDs which don’t scatter out and provide a good beam with adequate dipper and really powerful uppers without using additional power as compared to stock bulbs, additionally it should be a plug&play type and a direct fit in my car. I went ahead and bought these only when a fellow BHPian praised highly about the same, the lights in question are the Autobahn F5 GPX3, you can look for them in google and order from their website, also they’ve great WhatsApp/E-mail support with 7day return policy and 2years warranty period, please do note I have no any associations with them and a simple consumer of their product. Will be attaching pictures of the light performance for your reference.
Additionally have planned the following mods too:
- Auto Dimming IRVM- When you travel during night you have come across the situation where an unnecessarily speeding car comes honking and incessantly flashing powerful LED Beams towards you causing you eye pain and driving distraction which can be dangerous, sadly the thing is my WagonR doesn’t even come with manual dimming IRVM and no way I can dim it, but I really wish to somehow fit Baleno’s/Brezza’s Auto dImming IRVM to enhance my night drive comfort, I’ve seen people fitting electrochromic mirror especially Honda City’s IRVM into other cars. So I ask fellow BHPians have anybody done this kind of mod if they happen to own WagonR of my vintage and can you please shed light how I can do it. Suggestions and advice really appreciated.
- Colour TouchScreen Stereo system- Sometimes even when you’re travelling in known places you do require Google Maps and during those times I’ve to rely on my cellphone which can be dangerous and obviously distracting, additionally my WagonR doesn’t even have a USB input(it required a very unique Adaptor which was Made In Japan and was never available with my dealer), therefore I have decided to upgrade the stereo to a colour touchscreen system, I’m against those Android screens even though they offer many features because they don’t fit flush and somehow don’t suit my taste I want more of an MGA Approved sort of flush fitting system which is why I’ve finalised on the Sony XAV AX3200(long name yes, but Sony fans like me are used to it viz WH1000XM3, WF1000XM5 etc) attaching the link of MGA website itself https://www.marutisuzuki.com/genuine…90j0m83kd9-670
Lastly, as promised attaching the headlight performance of the new lights.
Blue-eyed boy literally gets blue eyes
Very satisfactory low beams(dipper)
Extremely powerful high beams(upper)
.
If you have reached till the end I’m extremely thankful to you all since hardly people show any love towards these cars let alone such an old one but at the end of the day a true enthusiast loves all types of cars without any discrimination.
Thank you
Tony
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
