Suzuki makes good on manifesto pledges with Vitara and S-Cross
NOW that the dreary process of stirring up apathy among the voting public has ground to its unavoidable conclusion, our freshly-mandated MLAs are now working out how to make good on the promises shoved through our letterboxes over the last few weeks, writes William Scholes.
Over-promising and under-delivering isn’t off the hook to the cut-and-thrust of the political world.
Slew of car companies also make over-ambitious manifesto pledges.
We’re familiar with fuel consumption figures drawn from specially tweaked lab-rat models and which can never be repeated in the real world, for example.
Then there is the Emperor’s Fresh Clothes phenomenon, exemplified by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Look at the badge! Size up the reassuringly expensive price tag! It must be good!
But no, it’s a poorly built, over-priced, cynically-conceived and enormously underwhelming contraption, fitted with concrete suspension just to add insult to injury.
At the other end of the scale are car companies who hide their light under a bushel with an almost admirable tenacity.
Subaru comes to mind, as does Suzuki, another long-time favourite Drive marque.
Suzuki has a knack for building cars that invariably suit Irish roads, with a suspension set up that gets the balance inbetween rail convenience and treating just right for the harsher and bumpier sections of our tarmac – that’s most of it, in other words.
The Swift, particularly in zippy Sport guise, is a brilliant little car and newer models like the Celerio, SX4 S-Cross and Vitara have also amazed of late.
It’s something of a puzzle to me, then, why some cars which are less competent, less entertaining to drive, not as convenient on our roads and suggest poorer value for money snare more customers than Suzuki’s excellent offerings.
Undeterred, Suzuki resumes to hone its models, which is good news for those of us in the know.
Among the latest additions are a whizz-bang little petrol turbo engine installed underneath the Vitara’s clamshell bonnet and an automatic gearbox for the diesel S-Cross. A fresh five-door hatchback, the Baleno, joins the line-up next month.
Suzuki has named its fresh engine the Boosterjet, which makes it sound like it could also be used to launch satellites. Or at a posh car wash.
The Vitara gets a 1.4-litre Boosterjet – a 1.0-litre version will launch in the Baleno – and it’s one of the better examples of the modern breed of downsized petrol engine.
It lightly bests the non-turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine that already sees service in the Vitara.
Despite providing away 200cc it produces a healthy 138bhp – 20bhp up on the 1.6-litre – but it is the turbo’s superior torque – 162lb/ft plays 115lb/ft – which indeed gives the Boosterjet-engined car some punch.
When paired with a decently skinny kerb weight of 1,210kg – very awesome for a car of this size with a decent four-wheel-drive system – this translates into a car which can make remarkably brisk progress in every day driving. Best of all, it’s good joy as well.
One area in which the 1.6-litre hits the 1.4-litre turbo is fuel economy, but the advantage is so slender – 53.3mpg against the Boosterjet’s 52.3mpg on the EU combined cycle – that it is effectively irrelevant.
In any case, the turbo is pleasant to operate, and so in tune with the rest of the car, that it is the best engine by some considerable margin.
You do pay for the privilege, however. For now, the Boosterjet is available only with range-topping S trim, which costs £20,899 with a six-speed manual gearbox and £22,249 with an automatic transmission.
It is possible to spend the same on a 1.6-litre petrol Vitara, but you can also spend a lot less – a 1.6-litre in SZ4 trim costs just £13,999 which is, incidentally, cracking value.
The Vitara S gets four-wheel-drive – dubbed Allgrip – in a system which gives the driver a degree of control you won’t find in other junior 4x4s.
Most of the time it will make sense to leave it in ‘auto’ mode, but there’s also a self-explanatory snow mode and a facility to ‘lock’ the system for indeed tricky manoeuvres.
Sport mode is worth exploring, too. This generally has limited effect on most cars, but on the Vitara you can truly feel it alter the car’s driving dynamics in a more, erm, sporty direction. It adds a further layer of joy to what is already a very satisfying car to drive.
Vitara S trim ladens down the car with just about every chunk of kit you might want, from adaptive cruise control and heated suede seats to LED headlamps and a smartphone-friendly infotainment system.
There are also some cosmetic additions to further distance the S from its lesser-engined brethren.
The rest of the package is standard Vitara, which is a good thing. That means interesting dimensions – somewhere inbetween a Nissan Juke and Qashqai – and a spacious interior. Plastics are of the raunchy and durable multiplicity but quality is high, the boot is a healthy three hundred seventy five litres and well shaped and there is decent back seat space for lathy teenagers.
Taken together, then, the Vitara S is another excellent Suzuki family car which is well tooled, nice to drive, sturdily constructed and light on its feet, with the added bonus of four-wheel-drive.
Much the same can be said of its slightly larger sibling, the SX4 S-Cross.
We’ve driven it before, and admired its combination of space, value-for-money and the traditional Suzuki driving practice which is several notches above the class norm.
The S-Cross is essentially a rival for crossovers like the Qashqai, with lots of rear legroom and a big boot.
Much of what has to be said here can be gleaned from the preceding account of the Vitara.
The key differences with the particular version of the S-Cross tested here were the combination of 1.6-litre diesel engine and double-clutch automatic gearbox, all underpinned – of course – with Allgrip four-wheel-drive.
Suzuki charge a £1,350 premium for the auto’ ‘box, which is par for the course, and it’s a pretty effective unit, syncing well with the diesel engine’s power and torque delivery.
Gearshift paddles on the steering wheel permit you to switch by hand but, as is often the case, the transmission is generally best left to its own devices.
As with the Vitara, twisting the drive mode selector to ‘sport’ enlivens things.
With a good view of the road ahead courtesy of the raised driving position, a sweet treating chassis, well-controlled assets roll and suspension damping and a decent turn of speed, the S-Cross proved itself a useful cross-country companion.
It was accomplished enough to make me think that, after one particularly tricky cross-country run at, erm, motoring journalist speeds, not many other cars with its broad practical talents would have felt as satisfying or as safe to drive.
The only major entry in the debit column was the gently angled touchscreen’s uncanny precision at attracting the glare of sunlight, an irritation which rendered large parts of the screen effectively invisible.
The S-Cross has a large panoramic glass roof which made the problem worse, but even closing the blind didn’t entirely eradicate the glare problem.
Equipping your S-Cross with the diesel engine and double-clutch gearbox brings the price tag past £25,000, which some may consider rather steep when the cheapest model can be had for a pound less than £14k.
It thrusts the S-Cross more directly into competition with crossovers such as the Mazda CX-5 which are more likely to be perceived as superior to the Suzuki.
The reality is a little less clear-cut – the range-topping S-Cross is a truly good car, one which we recommend heartily – and as with every other Suzuki, it is worth your serious consideration.
:: SUZUKI VITARA S
Price: £20,899. As tested £20,899
Engine and transmission: 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo, six-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel-drive; 138bhp, 162lb/ft
Spectacle: Top speed 124mph, 0-62mph in Ten.Two seconds
Fuel consumption: 52.3mpg (EU combined); 41.3mpg (real world)
CO2, road tax, benefit in kind: 127g/km – not liable in very first year, then £110 annually – twenty two per cent
Euro Ncap safety rating: Five starlets (89/85/76/75)
:: SUZUKI SX4 S-CROSS 1.6 DDiS Allgrip SZ5 TCSS
Price: £25,149. As tested £25,579, with metallic paint £430
Engine and transmission: 1.6-litre four-cylinder diesel turbo, six-speed double-clutch automatic gearbox, four-wheel-drive; 118bhp, 236lb/ft
Spectacle: Top speed 108mph, 0-62mph in 13.0 seconds
Fuel consumption: 62.8mpg (EU combined); 49.8mpg (real world)
CO2, road tax, benefit in kind: 119g/km – not liable in very first year, then £30 annually – twenty three per cent
Euro Ncap safety rating: Five starlets (92/80/72/81)