Maruti Celerio EZ Drive Automatic Manual Transmission working

The soon to be launched Maruti Celerio promises to be a massive success already. The A-Star replacement promises to provide a whole host of features and improvements over the A-Star and more. And to add to that, the EZ Drive clutchless manual transmission will debut with the Celerio.

The Maruti EZ Drive gearbox is an ingenious way to introduce automatic transmission in a budget car, that will make the Celerio the least expensive ‘automatic car’. So, what is EZ Drive and how does it work? Here are the answers.

First and foremost, EZ Drive, which is the commercial name used by Maruti for the automatic manual transmission, is a manual 5 speed gearbox that’s fitted with a hydraulic mechanism that engages the clutch and shifts the gears for you.

The brains behind the hydraulic ‘arm’ are an electronic control unit and transmission control unit. These electronic units make the mechanism select the proper gear based on the acceleration and the engine rpm.

Considering EZ Drive is a regular manual gearbox connected to an addition electro-mechanical fitment it costs less than a conventional torque converter automatic gearbox or continuously variable transmission to manufacturer.

Another advantage the automatic manual transmission has over a conventional four speed automatic such as those found in most Indian hatchbacks and compact sedans is that the mileage remains the same as the manual variant. Maruti Celerio (automatic and manual) has an ARAI certified mileage of 23.1 km/l.

Maruti Celerio sounds like the perfect affordable automatic car, at least on paper. The only remaining factor that could play spoil sport is pricing. But we believe Maruti, being the cost sensitive brand it has always been, will price the Celerio between INR 3-5 lakh range, which should seal the deal.

see also Maruti Celerio launch.