24 Dec 2013
New Suzuki SX4 S-CROSS - A fuel economy champ
Fresh from its European launch, the versatile S-Cross is emerging as a class-leading car when it comes to fuel economy.
With only delivery kilometres on the clock, one of the first examples of the new model S-Cross to arrive in New Zealand has returned outstanding fuel consumption results.
On a 235 kilometres drive from Rotorua to Auckland, a two-wheel-drive version of the petrol-engine 1.6-litre S-Cross LTD with CVT automatic transmission averaged a remarkable 4.6 litres/100 kilometres (61.4 miles per gallon), travelling at between 80 and 100 km/h where possible.
This was 10 percent better than the official extra urban (open road) figure of 5.1 litres/100 km achieved by the S-Cross. For the combined cycle simulating both city and open road motoring, the factory quotes a figure of 5.8 litres/100 km.
The test was conducted by motoring journalist Donn Anderson who has long-time experience in fuel economy driving and has set economy records in New Zealand and Britain.
This latest drive was on State Highway 1, and including travelling through central Hamilton during rush hour.
With the 50 litre fuel tank capacity, the S-Cross has the potential to drive from Auckland to Wellington and return half way back to Taupo, without refuelling.
“On a rural drive, the Suzuki has a fuel range of over 1,000 kilometres, and on my Rotorua to Auckland drive the car consumed less than 11 litres of petrol,” said Anderson.
“This is near diesel-like economy, and remarkably the constant velocity automatic transmission is just as frugal as the 5-speed manual gearbox model.”
In fact, in the urban cycle that involved town and city driving, the CVT automatic S-Cross is marginally more economical than the manual version.
“The latest CVT in the S-Cross has a seven speed manual mode controlled by steering column paddle shifters but I found it better simply to leave the transmission in automatic mode,” said Anderson. “On some easy sections I selected cruise control which is also highly efficient.”
Even though the S-Cross is larger than the first generation SX4, it is a remarkable 23 percent more economical. Part of the improvement in fuel economy stems from a 10 percent reduction in overall vehicle weight and a smaller capacity engine.
The use of high technology materials has resulted in the S-Cross LTD CVT trimming the scales at 1,155 kg, compared to 1,285 kg for the older SX4 LTD CVT.
None of the S-Cross petrol rivals can match the Suzuki’s low fuel consumption results.
Public launch for the new SX4 S-Cross is scheduled for 18 January with pre-launch interest indicating that the model will be a strong seller within the Suzuki line up.