In my world preconceptions are dangerous, having missed the official launch which was cancelled because of the current pandemic, what do you expect when you know that the new "cheapest' car available in SA has just arrived on the driveway?
Enter the new baby of the Suzuki SA range, the S-Presso. First impressions on approaching the car are dominated by the very different little block grille, the very short, narrow and high stance and a bright and cheery sight overall.
The Solid Red colour of the test car adds to the bright nature and is repeated throughout the interior as well. The central instrumentation and infotainment screen, the ventilation vents and door panels are all trimmed in matching bright red.
Suzuki have left you in no doubt that this is a funky little city car. I initially thought that it's most suited to city driving conditions only so was very pleasantly surprised by how capable and sure footed it feels on freeways and even through my favourite mountain roads through to Hartebeespoort. Obviously, it's no racing car but certainly handled the drive, bends and hills without missing a beat. Hills may require a downshift or two, but the light and easy 5 speed manual box make this a simple task.
The test car was the top-spec S-Edition which adds wheelarch cladding, front and rear skidplates to the exterior and the infotainment screen with reverse camera and Android Auto to the basic recipe found on the GL or GL+ versions. 180mm ground clearance adds to the effect.
All versions are powered by the familiar engine from the Celerio range. A 1L 3 cylinder giving 50kW and 90Nm. These figures may sound modest, but with a kerb weight of only 770KG and the strong yet lightweight platform, this is the secret behind the very adequate performance. 2 Airbags and ABS braking with EBD are standard across the range.
Considering that a large portion of my test driving was open-road and freeway, conditions that I would not believe are the ideal for this car, our overall fuel consumption showed as 5.1L/ 100km. Much of this covered cruising at 120 with the little engine buzzing away a bit noisily, but quite happily.
One factor of the tall and narrow design is that you need to be comfortable being shoulder to shoulder with your front passenger and rate the car as a 4 seater. Boot space of 239L is competitive for the market segment.
The base GL version is priced at R134 900 with the S-Edition as tested at R147 900, the cheapest car crown is in the bag. A 2 year/ 30 000km service plan is included as well.
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