Buying your very first car is an occasion that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Now although we all might want to opt for a flashy sports car, it is important to find a vehicle that is going to satisfy your needs first. While Suzuki is not the only manufacturer that produces vehicles that should meet all your requirements, they do have quite the variety to choose from, and within a good price range.
Whether you are in the market for a small frugal city commuter, a compact crossover for the family or a capable off-roader, Suzuki most likely have the vehicle for you. Let us take a closer look at the range to find out if Suzuki is a good choice for a first car.
Space
Suzuki is well-known for its small hatchback offerings, however, it is the Jimny that offers the least boot space at the rear. When all four seats are employed the Jimny will only provide for 85-litres of luggage space. The space but can be expanded should you fold flat the two rear seats. A similar scenario takes place with the Suzuki Ertiga where with all seven seats in use, the model will only offer 153-litre of boot space.
That said, both of those models appeal to very specific demographics with particular needs. When we take a closer look at models such as the S-Presso (239-litres), Celerio (235-litres) and Ignis (260-litres) that attract a wider variety of buyers, we see that Suzuki incorporate respectable luggage space levels while providing ample room for five regular-sized adults inside the cabin.
If you are in the market for slightly larger options, models such as the Swift (268-litres), Baleno (355-litres), Dzire (378-litre), Ciaz (480-litres), Vitara Brezza (328-litres) and Vitara (375-litres) might be what you are looking for. In terms of interior space, the Suzuki Ertiga offers seven seats for larger families, whereas the rest of the Suzuki range will satisfy the needs of a family of five, except the Jimny which only provide seating for four.
Performance
While Suzuki is known for producing some of the fastest motorcycles, when it comes to its car range, most of the offerings is less focussed on outright speed and more on frugality and efficiency. Below we break up the product line-up into four distinctive vehicle categories and list the performance figures of each model.
Hatch
| Suzuki Celerio (GA, GL) | Suzuki Baleno (GL, GLX) | Suzuki Swift 1.2 (GA, GL, GLX) | Suzuki Swift Sport | |
| Engine | 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, petrol | 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.4-litre, turbocharged, 4-cylinder, petrol |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual / automated manual | 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic | 5-speed manual / automated manual | 6-speed manual / automatic |
| Power | 50 kW | 68 kW | 61 kW | 103 kW |
| Torque | 90 Nm | 130 Nm | 113 Nm | 230 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | 14.0 s | 10.9 s | 12.0 s | 8.0 s |
| Top speed | 155 km/h | 175 km/h | 170 km/h | 205 km/h |
| Fuel consumption | 4.7 L / 100 km | 5.1 L / 100 km | 4.9 L / 100 km | 6.1 L / 100 km |
| CO2 emission | 110 g/km | 120 g/km | 116 g/km | 141 g/km |
*This table was compiled with information sourced from www.duoporta.co.za and was correct at the time of writing this article.
Sedan
| Suzuki DZire (GA, GL) | Suzuki Ciaz (GA, GL, GLX) | |
| Engine | 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual / automated manual | 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic |
| Power | 61 kW | 77 kW |
| Torque | 113 Nm | 138 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | 11.7 s | 10.2 s |
| Top speed | 175 km/h | 190 km/h |
| Fuel consumption | 4.9 L / 100 km | 5.5 L / 100 km |
| CO2 emission | 116 g/km | 130 g/km |
*This table was compiled with information sourced from www.duoporta.co.za and was correct at the time of writing this article.
Crossover
| Suzuki S-Presso (GL, GL+, S-Edition) | Suzuki Ignis (GL, GLX) | Suzuki Vitara Brezza (GL, GLX) | Suzuki Jimny (GA, GLX) | Suzuki Vitara 1.6 (GL, GL+, GLX) | Suzuki Vitara 1.4T GLX | |
| Engine | 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, petrol | 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.6-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol | 1.4-litre, turbocharged, 4-cylinder, petrol |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual / automated manual | 5-speed manual / automated manual | 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic | 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic | 6-speed manual / automatic | 6-speed manual / automatic |
| Power | 50 kW | 61 kW | 77 kW | 75 kW | 86 kW | 103 kW |
| Torque | 90 Nm | 113 Nm | 138 Nm | 130 Nm | 151 Nm | 220 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | N/A | 11.6 s | N/A | N/A | 11.5 s | 9.5 s |
| Top speed | N/A | 165 km/h | N/A | N/A | 180 km/h | 200 km/h |
| Fuel consumption | 4.9 L / 100 km | 5.1 L / 100 km | 6.2 L / 100 km | 6.3 L / 100 km | 5.8 L / 100 km | 5.8 L / 100 km |
| CO2 emission | 118 g/km | 119 g/km | 147 g/km | 146 g/km | 136 g/km | 136 g/km |
*This table was compiled with information sourced from www.duoporta.co.za and was correct at the time of writing this article.
MPV
| Suzuki Ertiga (GA, GL, GLX) | |
| Engine | 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, petrol |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual / 4-speed automatic |
| Power | 77 kW |
| Torque | 138 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | N/A |
| Top speed | 175 km/h |
| Fuel consumption | 6.2 L / 100 km |
| CO2 emission | 147 g/km |
*This table was compiled with information sourced from www.duoporta.co.za and was correct at the time of writing this article.
Warranty & Service
While all the Suzuki models listed above come as standard with a 5-year / 200 000 km manufacturer warranty for some the standard service plan agreements differ. Where models such as the S-Presso, Celerio and Dzire is offered with a 2-year / 30 000 km service plan, models such as the Jimny and Vitara comes with a 4-year / 60 000 km plan as standard.
Safety
If you are considering your first vehicle, chances are you haven't spent much time behind the steering wheel. This is why having a vehicle with plenty of standard safety systems are important. All the models mentioned above come with ABS brakes as standard equipment, however, if you want to have the benefit of stability control and brake assist systems, you might have to spend a little extra for higher specified derivatives or a larger model.
A similar trend emerges when looking at airbag quantities. Most of the Suzuki models comes standard with only a driver side and front passenger airbag. Only on models such as the Vitara and Swift Sport do we see the number of airbags exceed two units.
Verdict
Looking at the entire Suzuki range, the vehicles are stylish, well-specified and returns a comfortable drive. More than that, the models are motivated by frugal and efficient engines which will make trips to the fuel station a bit cheaper. With all of those characteristics and the price point, most of the models find themselves in, it makes sense why Suzuki's will make for good first cars.
