CAR REVIEW: Suzuki Celerio
The Suzuki Celerio was launched this year in the very competitive A-segment hatch category, offering a few ‘best in its class’ scenarios – which would make it the perfect car for zipping through city traffic or squeezing into tight parking spaces. However, is it enough to be set apart from the array of similarly-specced cars out there? I took Suzuki’s new compact car out for a week’s worth of driving to find out, and the results were quite surprising.
The design ignites somewhat mixed reactions. At best, the car was described as ‘cute’. It carries some visual relation to the Toyota Etios and its predecessor, the Suzuki Alto. To be fair, there are a lot of other cars in this segment at the same price that are visually more appealing. However, don’t let that put you off just yet.
Around the roads of Cape Town the Celerio brings you from point A to point B with little effort. The 1-litre engine combines ample urge with high efficiency, ensuring zippy performance and fuel consumption. The maximum power of the Celerio is 50 kW at 6 000 r/min, combined with a torque of 90 N.m at a relatively low 3 500 r/min – which gives the car that extra power while driving, which isn’t a very strong characteristic in the mini-hatch A-segment. Depending on model, the claimed fuel consumption figure of the Celerio is as low as 4,6 litres/100 km, with an associated emissions rating of 108 g/km. That means you can easily drive more than 750 km off a single 35-litre tank.
The new small hatch is on offer with a manual and a five-speed automated-manual transmission or ‘Auto Gear Shift’ ( this allows for clutch-less gear changes and increased fuel efficiency). It’s inherently a five-speed manual transmission like any other, but coupled to a unit that hydraulically controls its working. A creep function is also part of the package making stop-start traffic situations easy.
Two Suzuki Celerio models are on offer, namely the base-spec GA and the full-spec GL model. Both are offered with a five-speed manual transmission, but the automatic gear shift transmission is only available in GL trim. Dual front airbags and ABS are standard.
Things that you may expect are standard on the Celerio model such as dual front airbags and ABS, as well as power steering and aircon. However, the GL model, which comes out at R20 000 more, comes with far more comfort specs as the GA model. Four audio speakers, Bluetooth connectivity, security alarm, central locking, electric windows, foglamps, remote-control door locks, and USB port are all part of the package when you pick the GL model. You just have to decide if another R20k is worth spending. If you have the extra cash, we say go for it!
There are a few glitches that I noticed while testing the handy little vehicle from Suzuki, one of them is the excessive road noise and vibration. Even thought the car is sturdy on the road, the road noise and rattling sounds did bother me quite a bit. The engine on the other hand was not disappointing at all – the 1-litre engine brought me over Sir Lowry’s Pass without any hassle and with quite a bit more speed than I expected.
Price Range:
Suzuki Celerio 1.0i GA MT (no service plan) – R109 900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0i GA MT Alloy (no service plan) – R112 900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0i GL MT – R124 900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0i GL MT Alloy – R127 900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0i GL AMT – R135 900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GL AMT Alloy – R138 900
With everything said, the Suzuki still features best-in-class space and superior quality interior. Even though the exterior of the car is not quite appealing, the interior very well makes up for that. However, there are cars with more satisfying road manners in the class.