Thanks: Suzuki Kuzey
Suzuki S-Cross assessment
“A automobile that was purely wise now lets some model into the combo. Not excellent, however wholeheartedly good worth for cash”
Good things
Drives deftly, comes loaded with with tools
Unhealthy stuff
The inside is brief on high quality detailing
What’s it?
The outgoing Suzuki SX4 S-Cross wasn’t a automobile imbued with a lot drama or pleasure. It launched wanting suspiciously like a MkI Qashqai, providing the same bunch of expertise however costing the type of cash new that the Nissan commanded on the used market. It was a smart purchase above actually all the pieces else.
However lasting over eight years on sale – longer than the same old five- or six-year lifespan typical throughout the trade – it clearly did a strong job for Suzuki. Nonetheless, the brand new one is right here and appears extra beguiling.
It ain’t fairly, however which crossover is? Rivals just like the Peugeot 3008 and Hyundai Tucson have proved a little bit of aesthetic bravado can go far in such a crowded phase. The newest S-Cross isn’t fairly of their league, however for as soon as it’d warrant a second look as you stroll previous. Within the phrases of Suzuki itself, the automobile “now seems proper”.
What’s new past the styling?
Truly, not an enormous quantity. Suzuki’s stored the recipe intact, providing the brand new S-Cross with the identical mild-hybrid powertrain because the outgoing one.
It sees a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine (which Suzuki calls ‘Boosterjet’, making us assume it was named by a toddler on convey your baby to work day) with 128bhp/173lb ft peaks driving both the entrance or all 4 wheels, relying on spec.
The hybrid bit is extraordinarily gentle; it’s the identical 48V structure as the most recent Swift Sport and doesn’t enable for any emission-free working or suchlike. It apparently papers over the Boosterjet’s low-down turbo lag whereas smoothing out the cease/begin operate in site visitors. A full hybrid will comply with in time.
Suzuki claims 53.2mpg and 120g/km of CO2 emissions for the S-Cross as a base FWD handbook, with these figures respectively dipping and rising as you add an computerized gearbox or 4×4 transmission. Although claiming 46.3mpg and 139g/km in its most decadent trim, the S-Cross shouldn’t entice the ire of Extinction Revolt too abruptly. Not least as a result of with its 9.5secs 0-62mph time and 118mph high pace, efficiency is finest described as ‘tame’. At the very least on paper.
So I solely have one engine to select from?
Yep, and simply two specs as properly. They’re referred to as Movement and Extremely, and the latter is mainly your solely approach to snare four-wheel drive. The Movement prices £24,995 and comes with only a few blanked-off switches. There’s 17in alloys, heated entrance seats, a 7.0in touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a complete bunch of lively security techniques all as commonplace. The one choices containers you may tick are for metallic paint (£550) or the auto field (£1,350).
If you need 4WD, you want to go for the S-Cross Extremely, which prices £29,799 and in addition to a pushed rear axle, provides one other two inches to the touchscreen, a 360-degree parking digital camera (which works very properly certainly), half leather-based seats and a ginormous panoramic sunroof.
What is the verdict?
“Wise SUV lets just a little model into the combo. Not excellent, however wholeheartedly good worth for cash”
The Suzuki S-Cross isn’t a automobile you’d ever love. However if you happen to’re allotting £25,000 (or 200-odd quid a month) on a small SUV, you’re in all probability not in search of a mechanised new member of the family anyway.
It affords a helluva lot of apparatus for a worth roughly equal to the bottom spec of its key rivals, whereas serving up stuff lots of its foes don’t – the mixture of a handbook gearbox and 4WD transmission amongst them.
Its hybrid aspect is so far small, however the efficiency lent to the S-Cross by its sliver of electrification is laudable. This can be a crossover that’s brisk, deft to drive and ought to be a doddle to reside with. It might show arduous to like, nevertheless it’ll be even harder to vehemently criticise.
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