I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again, colour is so important when buying a new car. When I was handed the key to the grey Suzuki S-Cross by a young man in Automotive last week, I can honestly say my heart didn’t leap with joy. It was grey, not the dashing blue that you see pictured here.
But the car ‘grew on me’ and during the week and I began to see many redeeming features. It has two silver roof rails and some other nice touches of silver across the back and the glistening alloys brighten the overall look of the car. The official colour is Titan Dark Grey.
The S-Cross was launched by Suzuki as the SX4 in 2006 and this is the third generation with several revamps along the way; this new version is a frugal 1.4-litre booster jet mild hybrid version.
As we get older, many of us get bigger, well our waistlines anyway, but not the Suzuki S-Cross Compact SUV. It’s the same size as the original version launched 20 years ago.
I have written recently on these pages about the new versions of the Suzuki Vitara Hybrid and fully electric e-Vitara. The S-Cross is slightly larger than the Vitara and a bit more expensive.
At the front you get a new design incorporating a raised bonnet line, piano black grille and new LED headlamps. The chunky lights at the back are also impressive as they linked with that silver strip.
The décor inside is a bit dark and basic. But there is a touch of grey on the seats, and a cream roofline also brightens the interior. Once you sit in it’s very easy to feel at home in the S-Cross, no huge screen to open the glove compartment, this is a car with good old-fashioned buttons on the dash and a proper old-style handbrake.
There is a neat 9-inch screen where you can see the list of radio stations available and my version also had a reversing camera, which is always appreciated. And you get a plethora of slave controls on the steering wheel. But in reality, this is not a car that is trying to win a beauty contest.
Lots of storage places in the front for drinks and notebooks, but no place for hands-free mobile charging, but you can of course charge your phone with a lead. You get an old-style key, but the car is started via a button to the right of the steering wheel. The boot is a decent size, officially 430-litres of space and if you want to carry large items the rear seat folds down easily.
Prices start at €35,815 for the Motion Mild version. Review cars always come as top of the range versions and the car I tested will cost you €36,310. It’s a frugal engine with fuel consumption around 52 mpg in old money. Road tax is €200.
I liked it, but I think I would have preferred the sphere blue version, to brighten my day on a dark, wet morning. And if it’s speed you are after the max speed is 180Kmh. I know that Suzuki is a popular brand among old-timers like myself, but I think it would also be a good car for a young couple with children who are coping with a big mortgage and also want to buy a new car.
Suzuki has recently launched their small eSky car in Japan. The eSky, which is about the same size as a Mini, falls within Japan’s strict Kei car regulations. Drivers of Kei cars in Japan get discounts in road tax, insurance and parking. We are not sure if this version will come to Ireland or will be adapted in size for western markets. Declan Maguire from Suzuki Ireland tells me that they will know more by the end of the year.
