Suzuki Alto returns
06/07/09 13:51 Filed in: Road tests
I've always had a soft spot for small engined cars. Ever since my student days when I tried to extract maximum performance from my 875cc Hillman Imp with just the merest whiff of petrol.
I was driving along a favourite B-road in the Suzuki Alto, when my brain made the connection back over the years. The Alto with its one-litre, three-cylinder engine thrives on the same sort of driving. Keep the momentum going whenever possible, rather than scrubbing off unnecessary speed that will take time and fuel to regain.
The Alto was also the first three-cylinder car I had driver for some time. I had forgotten how they have an off-beat engine note. Sit at tickover and you can actually feel the slightly unbalanced tickover very gently rocking the car on its suspension. It's not uncomfortable, just unusual.
There is also an off-beat thrum to the engine as you accelerate. Again, not at all unpleasant, just different. For such a wee power unit, It's remarkably willing engine and delivers reasonable performance.
The 0-60 time is 13.5 seconds, but, if anything, it feels quicker. As you would expect the economy is strong and – although there was no way to check my consumption – a combined consumption figure of 64.2 mpg suggest good economy should be well within reach.
Frustratingly Suzuki engineers have fought to reduce the CO2 output, but have just failed to squeeze it into the free car tax bracket by just three grammes. The official CO2 emission figure is 103 g/km.
Back to my B-road. My first drive had been a cross city drive to a meeting. The driving position is tall and you sit on, rather than in the driver’s seat. So, when it came to time to choose some back roads that would avoid the rush hour traffic, I feared this car would not be the most enjoyable to drive on a twisty country road.
But, after only quarter of a mile driving along the twisty blackstuff, my mood was good andI was reminiscing in my mind about those student days.
The original Suzuki Alto grabbed a niche in the market by being the only small hatchback to be offered with automatic (indeed, if my memory is not playing tricks, you could only get in the UK in automatic form). It is appropriate then, that the new Suzuki Alto proudly boasts the option of a fully automatic gearbox.
Also, the original Alto was a four-door car and, again, the new one stays true to that heritage. That makes the Alto more accessible than three door hatches and the interior is remarkably spacious for such a small car. Thinking of small Japanese cars I have driven in the past, I expected a lack of refinement about the ride. But the Alto proved surprisingly good at soaking up the bumps.
Suzuki is forecasting between six and seven thousand Alto sales for the year and currently around half of their 2,100 sales for June and July are for Alto.
The new Alto range starts with the SZ2 (whatever happened to the SZ1?) at £7,245. My test car was the top of the range SZ4 at £8,460. The extra money brings you safety equipment like ESP as standard, alloy wheels and split folding rear seats (in place of single piece folding seat backs on the lower models).
I was driving along a favourite B-road in the Suzuki Alto, when my brain made the connection back over the years. The Alto with its one-litre, three-cylinder engine thrives on the same sort of driving. Keep the momentum going whenever possible, rather than scrubbing off unnecessary speed that will take time and fuel to regain.
The Alto was also the first three-cylinder car I had driver for some time. I had forgotten how they have an off-beat engine note. Sit at tickover and you can actually feel the slightly unbalanced tickover very gently rocking the car on its suspension. It's not uncomfortable, just unusual.
There is also an off-beat thrum to the engine as you accelerate. Again, not at all unpleasant, just different. For such a wee power unit, It's remarkably willing engine and delivers reasonable performance.
The 0-60 time is 13.5 seconds, but, if anything, it feels quicker. As you would expect the economy is strong and – although there was no way to check my consumption – a combined consumption figure of 64.2 mpg suggest good economy should be well within reach.
Frustratingly Suzuki engineers have fought to reduce the CO2 output, but have just failed to squeeze it into the free car tax bracket by just three grammes. The official CO2 emission figure is 103 g/km.
Back to my B-road. My first drive had been a cross city drive to a meeting. The driving position is tall and you sit on, rather than in the driver’s seat. So, when it came to time to choose some back roads that would avoid the rush hour traffic, I feared this car would not be the most enjoyable to drive on a twisty country road.
But, after only quarter of a mile driving along the twisty blackstuff, my mood was good andI was reminiscing in my mind about those student days.
The original Suzuki Alto grabbed a niche in the market by being the only small hatchback to be offered with automatic (indeed, if my memory is not playing tricks, you could only get in the UK in automatic form). It is appropriate then, that the new Suzuki Alto proudly boasts the option of a fully automatic gearbox.
Also, the original Alto was a four-door car and, again, the new one stays true to that heritage. That makes the Alto more accessible than three door hatches and the interior is remarkably spacious for such a small car. Thinking of small Japanese cars I have driven in the past, I expected a lack of refinement about the ride. But the Alto proved surprisingly good at soaking up the bumps.
Suzuki is forecasting between six and seven thousand Alto sales for the year and currently around half of their 2,100 sales for June and July are for Alto.
The new Alto range starts with the SZ2 (whatever happened to the SZ1?) at £7,245. My test car was the top of the range SZ4 at £8,460. The extra money brings you safety equipment like ESP as standard, alloy wheels and split folding rear seats (in place of single piece folding seat backs on the lower models).
blog comments powered by Disqus