S-Presso a bargain hunter's prize

The S-Presso takes you places even when there is no road.

I LIKE to think of myself as a bargain hunter, but my family just call me a scrooge. “Whatever”, I reply, for both descriptions qualify me to recognise good value for money when I see it and good value was what I saw when I looked at the specifications of the Suzuki S-Presso. Now, on paper anything can be made to look good, and I keenly awaited my turn in the S-Presso GL+ that Suzuki South Africa’s lent to the media test fleet to see what this upright little crossover from India is like on tar. And on gravel roads. And up grassy slopes. 

 For I took little car to Mbotyi on the Wild Coast to pit it against some of the worst roads and steepest hills SA has to offer. The executive summary: It runs on fumes, it is very stable on corrugated dirt roads and in cross winds, and people say the S-Presso is very cute, even sexy. 

Consumption 

Mbotyi Bay is a steep kilometre down. The S-Presso climbed the hill with ease, thanks to 180 mm ride height.

My worst fuel consumption in the new Suzuki S-presso was 18,6 km per litre, with four people and their gear for a week of fishing at on the Wild Coast. My average fuel consumption in the S-Presso was 21 km per litre. 

At one point on the highway, I got this up to 24 km/litre, giving me well over 600 km from the tiny 27-litre petrol tank. To put this in perspective, the old Suzuki 250 cc motorbike I rode in the 1990s was heavier on fuel! 

Suzuki even added a handy shelf on which to rest fishing rods.

High seats 

Grandma was much gratified by the high seats in the S-Presso, which make getting in very easy for old hips, while giving a high-seated driving position. The back bench also has more than enough knee room, but with a body length of only 3,565 metres, this does mean the 239-litre boot requires some clever packing to fit a week’s fishing supplies and groceries in there. 

 The back bench has seatbelts for three people, but they need to be skinny people if they want to sit comfortably. 

 

It follows the 4x4 bakkies 

The 4x4 blokes were at first dismissive about the tiny car’s chances on the deeply rutted, “often as not slick as snot” tracks that are the norm on the Wild Coast. But after twice driving up the lookout hill to see where the bites might be, our wide-eyed gilly professed to be impressed by the little car’s big power. 

It is not really big power. The 998 cc engine makes only 50 kW and 90 Nm. But Suzuki’s engineers managed to first add a lot of lightness to the S-Presso. It has a kerb weight of only 750 kg, which gives it that all important good power to weight ratio that so many truck owners on Fields Hill have no clue about. 

Then the clever engine management has the torque kick in from a low 3 500 rpm. This allows you to engage third gear for most city traffic speeds and save a lot of fuel in fifth gear on open roads. Before taking on the corrugated dirt roads, I checked and was gratified to see the full size 165/70 R14 spare wheel in the rear with the jack handily placed under the driver’s seat. 

Clearly Suzuki knows a thing or two about driving on South Africa’s roads, where drivers dare not set out on a long journey without a spare tyre. 

Which brings me to the only gripe I have with the S-Presso after a week of long drives over rutted dirt road and often no roads — the fuel gauge in the tiny tank works like that in cars from the 1980s. 

It sits on half full forever then suddenly plummets to empty. 

 For the rest, I rate any of the S-Spresso models a bargain, especially at the prices Suzuki is asking for the automatic models. 

These prices include a three-year or 100 000km warranty; a two-year or 30 000km service plan; a modern cabin with an aircon made for India’s humidity, so you can expect frost bite if you leave it on too long in S’afrika, and an audio system that links in three key presses to a smartphone’s Bluetooth. S-

Presso prices 

GL R139 900 

GL+ R144 900 GL+ auto R158 900 

GL+ S-Edition R152 900 

GL+ auto S-Edition R166 900