Suzuki S-Cross Hybrid review: what the car critics say
The new Suzuki’s S-cross models are well-priced but the hybrid steering is ‘disconcertingly light’
Suzuki’s compact S-Cross SUV is now available in two iterations: as a manual mild-hybrid; and in this new full-hybrid automatic version with a 1.5-litre engine and larger battery, which is designed to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy, said Auto Express. It’s got plenty of kit, is well-priced, and the four-wheel drive option is pretty unique in the sector. However, the automated manual gearbox means it isn’t very smooth to drive.
With just 112bhp, performance is a bit disappointing, said Car Magazine. 0-62mph takes a “pedestrian” 12.7 seconds in the front-wheel drive Motion model, and a “glacial” 13.5secs in the Ultra four-wheel drive (compared with 9.5secs in the mild-hybrid). And the full hybrid isn’t much more efficient either – fuel economy is 54.3mpg and 48.7mpg respectively, compared with 47.8mpg in the mild-hybrid model.
The full hybrid is well-balanced in bends, with a decent amount of grip, but steering is “disconcertingly light”, said The Daily Telegraph. Inside feels a bit cheap: the interior plastics are flimsy and switches look a bit dated, though there’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. It’s roomy enough up front, but a bit more of a squeeze in the back; and the battery takes up a big chunk of boot space – 293 litres isn’t enough for a family car. Price: from about £25,000.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In pictures: Suzuki S-Cross Hybrid
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points Proposed one-time levy would shore up education, Medicaid
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
Train Dreams pulses with ‘awards season gravitas’The Week Recommends Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton star in this meditative period piece about a working man in a vanished America
-
Middleland: Rory Stewart’s essay collection is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends The Rest is Politics co-host compiles his fortnightly columns written during his time as an MP
-
‘Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America’ and ‘Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary’feature The culture divide in small-town Ohio and how the internet usurped dictionaries
-
6 homes with fall foliagefeature An autumnal orange Craftsman, a renovated Greek Revival church and an estate with an orchard
-
Bugonia: ‘deranged, extreme and explosively enjoyable’Talking Point Yorgos Lanthimos’ film stars Emma Stone as a CEO who is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
-
The Revolutionists: a ‘superb and monumental’ bookThe Week Recommends Jason Burke ‘epic’ account of the plane hijackings and kidnappings carried out by extremists in the 1970s
-
Film reviews: ‘Bugonia,’ ‘The Mastermind’ and ‘Nouvelle Vague’feature A kidnapped CEO might only appear to be human, an amateurish art heist goes sideways, and Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Breathless’ gets a lively homage
-
Book reviews: ‘Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity’ and ‘Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice’feature An examination of humanity in the face of “the Machine” and a posthumous memoir from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, who recently died by suicide