Re: Suzuki S-Cross 1.6 Alpha 6MT Driven
Comfort and Ergonomics
Anyone who has driven the Celerio AMT (I haven’t driven manual ever) will recognize the steering wheel in first sight itself. Typical Maruti trait and part sharing is also quite evident; but don’t mistake it with low quality. The leather wrapped steering wheel is very nice to hold and feels really comfortable too. The cabin is well laid with well cushioned front seats which are near perfectly sized for any medium sized adult. XL size people may find the seats a bit smaller but then which car has so big front seats?
Ergonomics are by far the best one can see in any car at the price point. From any car, I mean any car. That may sound like a big statement especially when there are ergonomic kings like Jazz and City around but believe this Corolla owner (I guess Corolla is superior to nearly everything under 25 lac in terms of ergo), everything is placed very well and driver don’t need to stretch himself to reach any button or lever, nor is anything hard to operate or use. Everything is well under the reach and in 4-5 days of ownership itself, most of the owners will start using some features and adjustments without even having to remove their eyes from the road.
Seats are nice and large with good cushioning and so is the space. The friend sitting behind me was happy with the leg space and seating even after when I pushed my seat to the last point on rails. Don’t mistake the front seat space here, barring a few 6+ footers, no one will need to push his/her drivers’ seat all the way to the back on rails. All in all, the space is good and five medium sized adults on board will not have anything to complain.
There is a small issue and that is with NVH. Crank the 1.6 and the entire vehicle vibrates and it happens every time. Engine noise is always inside the cabin and one can any time tell that there is an oil burner pulling this car. 1.3l is a different story though, the engine is silent and there is lesser noise filtering inside the cabin, but the 1.6l engine makes its presence felt inside the cabin and that also quite well. Don’t mistake it to be poor NVH, it is actually acceptable and can rival the Duster, new XUV and new Scorpio. Still anyone getting inside after driving a Creta will be disappointed by design, interior ambience and NVH.
ORVMs’ are nice and wide and provide a very good coverage of whatever is going on behind the car and equally pathetic is the IRVM, better use IRVM as a gossip mirror like in most of the modern UVs and rely on the ORVMs’ for the rear view.
Features I haven’t paid much attention and hence can’t write anything home about.
Driving Experience: Engine and Performance
1.3l DDiS:
Our national engine; this 1248 cc tall stroke engine with its bore*stroke count being 69.6*82mm is a torquey (For its size), reliable and frugal engine. Doing duty in the likes of Ertiga, Ciaz, SX-4, Linea and what not; I was quite assured that this engine will manage to keep S Cross also competent in terms of performance and it hasn’t disappointed me.
Tall stroke and a high compression ratio gives this engine a good low end grunt and believe me; this one is more drivable in the crowded city roads as compared to its 1.6l sibling. The performance is ample and this engine has got enough grunt to keep any common joe happy. There is very less to complain and the 100 kph figure is actually attained really quickly leaving quite less to complain. Since I haven’t driven this one for more than 2 kms, so won’t write much about it. But this one is actually good and by no ways sluggish at least.
1.6l DDiS: ![[evil]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Evil.gif "Evil [evil]")
This is how it works: ‘Remove the pin, wait for a moment and BOOM’. 
I am not talking of a hand grenade but the grenade that MSIL has installed under the hood of this crossover. Anyone who has driven the likes of GT TDi (1.5), Verna, Creta, or even the mHawks will be taken by surprise by the way this engine darts the S Cross forward when in the meat of powerband. I can bet that if the surface isn’t well laid then the S Cross may even go out of control under hard acceleration with tires losing the drip in first or second gear.
Numbers suggest that this ‘near square’ cylindered engine produces 320 Nm of twist with engine revving at 1750 rpm and that’s where the party trick lies.
The clutch is on a heavier side if compared to the 1.3 but is nothing like worrying and can be actually lived with. Gearbox is better than the 1.3 with lesser notchiness and very accurate shifts.
Engage the first gear, being a high displacement engine; the S Cross starts charging ahead without any much effort, engage second and it still keeps on charging ahead and then I slowly and cautiously press the accelerator with an eye on the rev needle. Once the revs reach near 1500, the turbine starts shoveling some air in the manifold and the power build up starts. I stop at 1500 for a second or two and floor the accelerator in one go. The rev needle suddenly starts moving ahead and then BOOM! The guy sitting next to me couldn’t hold on himself and is stuck on the seat, so is my friend on the rear seat who was in the middle of both the front seats a few seconds back and all three of us laughing like monkeys
The tires seem to beg from grip and the S Cross charges ahead with an unmatched urgency all the way to 80 kph where the power build is again low with rpm needle nearing the redline.
Once more, then we slot into third. Let the revs fell to 1250 and start again; there is slow progress again till 1400-1500 and the power build up starts. In fact there is plenty of power between 1500-1750 itself. I go easier on the gas and let the revs fell again to 1200 and floor the accelerator again with my eyes on the road and mind trying to make out for how long does the party continues. Come 1300 and the progress is still slow, come 1400 and its better than 1300, come 1500 and some progress starts coming in, come 1600 and the accelerator becomes super responsive and after that I couldn’t observe anything before 4000. It’s like a giant spring pushing us all forward at 1700 rpm itself and such a cracker of performance keeps going on till 4500 rpm after which the power starts tailing off again and where is the speedometer? Well, it’s already between 120 and 130 when be backed off the throttle in 3rd gear even before the power starts tailing off.
Similar was 4th gear and then came the fifth cog in which the S Cross does 100 kph with rev needle hovering around 2250 and then we press on. 120 came in no time with rev needle around 2750. The engine is still responsive and the vehicle charges ahead without any hesitation to 140 which came with rev needle slightly lower than 3250 mark and then 160 with rev needle between 3500-3750 mark (Still in the meat of powerband, things can’t get sweeter) and then the guy from NEXA said “Sir please slow down, you guys are the first one to push it till this speed else it’s 100 max”. Then I said that 6th is still remaining and we go straight to 70 kph and engage the 6th gear.
In 6th gear at 1250 rpm the speedo needle is slightly ahead of 70 kph (71?) and I floor the accelerator. This is where even a Bolero guy will overtake you. The progress isn’t dead (It’s still fine actually but after enjoying the turbo zone, it seems to be dead) and slowly the rev needle starts climbing again and so does the speedo. Slowly we reach 1500 rpm in complete serenity and power again starts building up. Exactly at 100 kph, the rev needle is slightly ahead of 1750(1800 rpm?).” Wow, at 100 kph one is exactly at the starting point of the wide powerband!” and then I floor it again and the progress is strong as always. The engine again starts pulling eagerly making some sweet sounds with 120 kph coming around 2150 rpm, 140 kph coming in at slightly above 2500 rpm and 150 kph coming at 2700 rpm.
After driving Creta, Duster, Terrano and Ecosport all I’d say is that once at 1750 and the innocent (Innocent == like me) S Cross owner in his innocent S Cross will leave them all in the dust of his car with them questioning themselves and their cars; such a ballistic is performance.
For once we even doubted the figure of 0-100 coming in 11.3 seconds as the S Cross felt way quicker (ala Optra Magnum 2.0 TCDi or GT TDi 1.6?). And with such a performance, going by my previous experience; the FE should vary between 15-18 kpl overall for this engine.
Summary
- 1.3l or DDiS200 in itself is packing enough of performance for regular day to day driving and is having a better city or low speed drivability too.
- DDiS200 will also be more economical in terms of FE too as per the initial reviews
- DDiS320 is more tuned for outright performance and is aimed at enthusiasts.
- DDiS320 is not a very safe proportioning given the fact that it has enough torque steer and there is no ESP or TCS to help gain the traction; if lost on loose surfaces
- DDiS320 needs a bit of getting used to and once done, then it rewards the driver on each and every drive, this is where it even justifies (for only enthusiasts) its ridiculous price tag too.
![[clap]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Clap.gif "Clap [clap]")
, thumbs up for the same. I have also got my hands on this ‘crossover’ from Maruti Suzuki two days back and here are my observations (I even drove a Creta also for making out the exact differences):![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
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