Suzuki Alto – First Steer
July 21, 2009 by Alborz Fallah
2009 Suzuki Alto – First Steer
The schedule said I needed to be at Brisbane airport at 9am, it was 8.45am and I had just missed my exit. This would be understandable if Brisbane wasn’t my home town. I’m definitely not a Monday person.
Finally at 9.20am and I arrived at Suzuki Queensland headquarters to begin the drive day in a new Suzuki Alto.
There were at least four different colours to pick from and I’m a new age man who enjoys a chai latte once in a while but surely they wouldn’t make me drive a pink one? They did.
Perhaps it was my punishment for being late. Either way my Twitter status was promptly updated to reflect my new pink ride and off I went.
I have nothing against pink cars, so long as they are Italian and powered by a twin-turbo V10 engine. Alas, here I was, inside a “hot” pink Suzuki Alto propelled by a mighty 1.0-litre engine with 50kW of power and 90Nm of torque (less than pretty much any new 1.0-litre motorbike). It was going to be an interesting day.
The drive program consisted of going from Brisbane airport to the University of Queensland, then to Indooroopilly Golf Course followed by a trip to Red Cliff and back to Brisbane airport. Roughly about 130km of inner city roads mixed with highway driving.
The men from Suzuki were adamant that we must experience the car in real world conditions and that is exactly what the 1.5 hour drive provided.
There is something to be said about Suzuki, they are a brand that has quietly gone about producing great cars and not boasting about it. As I mentioned in my Suzuki Swift review, there seems to be more Swifts on the road than Commodores and Falcons put together. Well that may soon all change with the Alto set to take centre stage.
Suzuki claims the Alto will get a combined fuel economy figure of 4.8 litres of 95RON fuel per 100km, which as I will mention later, is relatively inaccurate.
The Alto is a no nonsense car, if you’re after something that will get you from A to B without trouble and as cheaply as possible, I’d be surprised if you could find a better car. Specially one that starts at $12,490*.
Front seats can easily accommodate two large adults, rear leg room is lacking but is usable by two adults for short journeys, I wouldn’t recommend four adults in the Alto for long distance drives.
The base model comes equipped with six airbags (dual front airbags, side airbags and head-protecting side curtains), anti-lock brakes, Electronic Brake Distribution, electric front windows, remote control door locks, air-conditioning and a reasonable stereo that will play MP3s and has an auxiliary input socket.
Suzuki Australia says it has fought hard to get the highest level of safety put into every Australian delivered Alto. The Australasian New Car Assessment (ANCAP) testing program has given the Alto a four-star rating, which for a car so tiny, is pretty good.
There are two variants for the Alto, the first is the GL, which comes with the already mentioned features for $12,490*.
The range topping GLX ($14,490*), adds electronic stability control, front fog lamps, colour-coded exterior mirrors; tachometer, six speaker sound system, seat height adjustment on the drivers seat and alloy wheels.
Both variants will be available with a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, which adds $2000.
Technicalities aside, I was in the first car to head off towards the University of Queensland, bright pink and with an attitude – we were on a mission. I’ll admit, I’d never driven anything with such a small engine before so I was expecting it to feel relatively ordinary.
With only 50kW, acceleration is nothing to write home about, 0-100km/h takes 14 seconds in the manual (17 seconds in auto) but you’d never pick it because it really doesn’t feel that slow if you keep it in the right gear.
Suzuki believes they will sell an equal number of automatics and manuals, and although I didn’t get to drive an auto, I suspect the manual would be the better choice if you want quicker acceleration.
My co-driver and I decided that given this is meant to be a real world test, it would be best if we drove the Alto like 18-year old teenagers, air-conditioning on, stay in low gears for power and try and use as much fuel as possible.
Some other journalists were turning off the engine at lights to save fuel, we would have none of that, the aim was to try and use about 6-litre per 100km instead of the 4.8-litres specified.
Before I give you the final fuel economy figure, I want to discuss some other aspects of the Alto. The car is produced in India but is based on Japanese designs and components, so I would not be worried about quality control (given how simple the car is, not much can go wrong regardless!).
The ride is pretty much how you’d expect it, easy to steer with a great turning circle (4.5 metres), rather stable for its tiny wheels and you really can’t complain about cornering agility, given the price.
There are a few things worth mentioning though, firstly on the base model the boot doesn’t open from the inside, you must use the key (so the car must be off). Speaking of the boot, it isn’t really that big (but then again, when have you ever really needed a big boot?)
Like the Suzuki Jimny, if both driver and passenger are tall adults, the gear stick tends to get a little too close to the passenger’s leg meaning you’ll be making contact when changing gear. Nevertheless you can quickly get used to this and adjust.
Given our drive route included numerous hills, I quickly learnt that I had to be in the right gear to make it to the top, there is just not enough torque to pull you up a hill in third regardless of how much of a run up you get. Again, this is a characteristic of the car that any buyer will adjust to after just a few days.
So, about 130 kilometres later and we were anxiously tallying up the fuel economy figures. The test was conducted as effectively as possible, before we left, all cars were filled up with fuel to the point were there was literally no more room. We would then refill them to the same level and measure how many litres of fuel each cars used.
The man from Suzuki asked me how many litres I thought I’d used for the 130km journey, about eight litres I replied, (giving the 6.0L/100km rating we were aiming for). So you can now imagine the look on my face when the fuel figures came out, we’d used 4.55 litres of fuel, giving a fuel economy figure of just over 3.5L/100km.
I sat there for a few minutes, admiring the results, I didn’t really know what to say.
After all, what can you say when you’ve tried your best to get 6L/100km and all you could do was 3.5? I didn’t know if I should’ve been disappointed or happy. I was just amazed. With a 35 litre fuel tank, that actually means you can do around 1000km without stopping!
Well, there you have it folks. I’m happy to claim this is the most fuel efficient car I’ve ever driven, not only does it beat the new Mini Cooper Diesel, but it also beats the brand new super-complicated Toyota Prius.
No doubt CarAdvice will do a full review on this car in due time, it officially goes on sale August 1, but in the mean time, if you’re after a small car that will get you from A to B safely and as cheaply as possible, go give the new Suzuki Alto a go.
Print it: 
Our local dealer already has these in stock and tells me they have sold 3 already. It looked to be a good little car. I’d take one over a Kia Rio (probably it’s closest rival on price) any day.
I bagged out the power earlier, but 50kW is more than you used to get from older Hyundai Excels which were fairly popular back in the 90’s. I still wouldn’t buy one, but I would understand why other people would. I will nit pick one point though, are you sure the turning circle was 4.5m? I struggle to do that on my motorbike. Given the car is what, 3.5 – 4 m long, that means the front wheels must turn near 90 degrees.
Hi Tom,
I think Alborz must have stated the inner turning circle (or where the inside wheels would run).
Wall-to-wall, as more commonly measured, sees the Alto turning circle come in at 9.2 metres.
Hope this helps, Matt.
I don’t think this will fail FrugalOne, but I don’t think it will be the success they want it to be.
Tom, i agree, i can see why people would buy this type of car, but I also wouldn’t buy one as I need a larger car as I drive longdistances to co camping ect. and need the room.
F-O you are an opinionated git! Have you even seen the car to qualify your bold statements about the Indan build quality? Ever heard of Maruti and the volume of cars they assemble in their modern factories? As the reporter stated the Alto is assembled using Japanese components just like Thai built Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans.
You compare it to the Getz but has the Getz ever achieved 3.5l/100km? To compromise to a small car the n.o 1 priority would be fuel economy first not build origin or percieved build quality. Would you like to compare the Getz to a Swift?
I think Suzuki has a better reliability record than Hyundai over the past 20 years and having owned Suzuki’s I can attest that they have been amongst the most reliable and bullet-proof cars I have ever owned and to think that they would tarnish their reputation on a volume selling Alto is crazy.
I think the pricing should be drive-away but thats what negotiations are for. What Suzuki needs to do is offer a 5 year warranty.
I think its a great little city car that will face stiff competition soon, so in the short best of luck to Suzuki.
Lets see:
- unbeatable value for money
- 4 star safety
- 3.5l per 100km
- room for 4 humans
If it had stability control Wheels would probably give this Car of the Year 2009!!!!
(ha ha!!)
JJ
Entering into a market that is already saturated by better established competitors you have to wonder is Suzuki gambling too much on the Swift success? IMO the on road price of the Alto puts medium cars with better specifications with in reach. I will bet the only market Suzuki eat into will be the punters who are already looking to buy a Swift.
Frugal One.
I’m going to call you out on that one.
Don’t take Indian products at face value as poor quality.
Just like Korea, you’d be surprised what they can build and build well.
Have you ever been to India? Car’s there are built for Harsh environments. Humidity, Heat, Terrible Roads and Cows aimlessly wandering through traffic. Cars in India NEED to be reliable and need to be fuel efficient; or it will indeed be an orphan and you don’t want that in the Indian market- their allegiance to cars is second only to Cricket. Fuel prices there are perhaps cheap to us but expensive to them. You should see how many new swifts are getting around there. Hundreds of thousands. I lost count on day one I was there visiting.
This car will sell well. People want City run abouts that are easy to park, cheap on fuel and not as expensive as a Prius. They may also be brand blind and see the Alto as Japanese made (even if thats not entirely true) and superior to its Korean competitors for this reason. The general consumer is not a Car Connoisseur like you or I ..I think it’s going to do very well in it’s market. Suzuki are the quiet achiever as Alborz said.
Micro cars like this already has an established market in Japan where the government gives a lot of tax incentives for consumer to buy cars under 1.0L engine capacity. It is what it is, a city car built for commute in highly dense and congested area. Speed and excitement is totally out of the window, this is all about utility and efficiency.
I wonder how this is going to perform in Australia as we have quite different roads. Still, only time will tell…. Kudos for Suzuki for being brave enough to experiment.
If this car had a 1.2L engine, that would ofcourse hurt the fuel economy a lil bit, but at the same time it would make it a lil faster!
I drive a Mitsu Mirage and well being an old car with a 1.5L engine it’s not fast – 0-100 takes about 12.5seconds … but 14 just sounds a bit too slow!
having said that I dont have any doubts about the reliability and built quality of these lil suzuki’s.
Perhaps they could introduce a 1.2L engine, already fitted to Suzuki Splash in India and Europe (in India its called Ritz) to give us an Alto Sport variant, hehehhe
What a great little A to B machine. Much better than a scooter (not better than a motorbike!). The only down side is you can’t park it to the side of the footpath, a downside that will be quickly gotten over on the first rainy day. Great value at $12490!
Sounds like a decent little car, excepting the lack of stability control on the base model (I wouldn’t mind paying for it, but since they bundle it with a lot of junk you don’t need – like alloy wheels – it is effectively a $2000 option).
I’ve always liked small cars – one of my favourite cars was a 1985 Nissan Pulsar panelvan with a 45Kw 1.3 litre motor. That motor was a beauty, and the power was more than adequate for the car.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it being built in India either – they probably build cars much better than they do in South Africa.
frugal one…. buddy, why do all your comments sound so bloddy racist whenever you open your mouth about an indian or a korean car, im sure you can talk sense so why dont u.
cheers
Great little cheap car but I think the Splash would have a much better chance over here as it has larger engines and a better finish.
i was at UQ yesterday and saw these i quite liked the blue one
I like what it does, but I find it quite ugly from the photos.
What if a 4-star (even 5-star or 6-star:) ) safety rated tiny-tot run head on into a half-star safety rated truck with no airbags and no crumble zones… Who will get squashed into a pancake?
This car looks nowhere near as good as the Swift!
Looks kinda weird IMO.
Best of luck Suzuki, you deserve every sale with this car.
Seriously CA, bring back the voting thumbs!!!
I agree with Alex, the Splash would be so much better over here: not to mention better looking! I suppose the Alto is cheaper to produce and sell. Sigh.
Geeze I can’t see anyone buying the base model when it doesn’t even come with a tacho.
Too expensive for a little econobox. Great car though pity those greedy buggers at Ateco are trying to rip off the public with those prices!………How does $12500 drive away sound?
Too bad it looks nothing like the concept here
http://www.caradvice.com.au/wp.....ptside.jpg
$2000 too expensive in todays market I think.
Small, simple, light drop in a 1.3 and you have what the old Swift GTi was.
1000 K’s on $47.00 nice
Have been a fan of suzuki for quite a while. Just checked out the Alto this afternoon. Looks like an nice and tidy little unit, however, the news and advertising the last few months has been pushing the fact that this car will be a bargain basement car. The price quoted by the salesman was $14990 driveaway for the base model manual. I am sorry Suzuki, but $14990 is not a bargain. I was expecting $12990 driveaway pricing. Now the big issue for the future of new car purchases is that with driveaway prices now a legal requirement that dealer delivery charges will disappear into the eather and become less of a negotiating tool. The simple policy of every future new car negotiation will be if the dealer cannot offer an immediate $2000 discount dont give them the time of day.
The Alto was sold before in Australia – as recently as 1998. It sold for $9,990 at the time, was built in Italy and had – you guessed it – a 1.0L 3-cylinder engine. Fuel economy? 5.1L/100km – not all that much different than the current model’s 4.8L figure. Sales figures show that in it’s best year (1996), only a little over 500 were sold.
want to make a seller? make the swift use as much fuel as this one.
It headlights look a bit too…cute? And the visibility thru the back windows must be really bad for the driver…
Other than that, its fuel economy is unbelievable!!! 3.5L/100km of city driving, so the 4.8L figure must be for Indian roads! lol
The Swift looks pretty good, but maybe that’s because Indians helped the Japanese design it? The great looking Nissan 350z was also designed by an Indian. Maybe the Japs should have let Indians design this one too…then we could have a great looking econobox.
NOT Value for money IMO, too expensive, I guess the price will drop when Proton/ Chery Motors etc poverty models arrive late this year or next yr.
I’d go Kia Rio if I had to buy in this $ range.
LOL
100% correct and relevant post has been deleted, yet my many followers and worshippers are replying to it!
This Zuki is doomed, its to small [these tiny cars have never done any good in AUS] and frankly to expensive, buy a Micra, Barina, Getz before this, beeter and safer AND LESS COIN!
Cheers,
F-0
Don’t be misled – I have just taken an Alto for test drive, thinking what a great little car it is for under $13,000. Until the salesperson told me that there are $3000 worth of on-road costs to be added, making it a not very great little car for $15,500. It drove well for it’s class, a bit bumpy, very short clutch which took some getting used to, and a noisy engine which would get worse with age. I could have forgiven all of those things if I could have bought one on the road for $13K or even $14K, but not for $15,500, even with the amazing fuel economy.
it looks like every other poor attempt at a small car that never sold
suzuki ignis
daihatsu yrv
the last daihatsu sirion
suzuki wagon r
daihatsu pyzar
its doomed already
$10k – $11k drive away is the right price. Even the low IQs or Suzuki fanatics wouldn’t buy 1L car at $15k+. A to B car doesn’t need alloy wheel or some other non-sense extras. Too expensive!!!!
Someone compared the Alto with a truck. It’s the law of physic. The big and heavy Land Cruiser would be squashed into a pancake if it choose to go head-on with a truck. If you’re so worry about it, drive a 20ton truck then. You never have to worry about being squashed into a pancake haha!!
Oh, and you would probably rarely see this car doing 110 on interstate road, but doing 20 – 60 on congested city roads where crashes usually cause minor damages, non life threatening. Moreover, if you can’t control your car at 60km/h, you shouldn’t drive at all.
Tried one a few days ago, the interior ambience is actually quite pleasant! The only doubt is the r14 wheels which may not be the safest in the rain for our road conditions. They look very cute at the front, but seems the designers had quit half way in the program that the factory had to keep the tail of the last gen Alto. Prob. they are good enough for what you pay for: 6 air bags, esp + alloy for about $18K on road for GLX. Would have bought one if it came with start-stop or cruise control.
I think one point that everyone is missing is that the alto has some of the smallest emissions of any car on the road- comparable to the Prius. I also read that it is 85% recyclable… In the current climate where there is so much focus on the impact we are having on the environment this will surely be a big boost to their sales?? Those commenting about the price should take a look at how much comparable environmentally friendly cars go for- it is a whole lot more than 13k. Also as others have said, with fuel prices set to rise above $2L before too long that fuel economy will come in mighty handy…
F-0
What makes the Micra, Barina or Getz safer than the Alto? The Micra and Getz have only 2 airbags, the Barina has 4, while the Alto has 6! Also, Barina and Getz don’t even have ABS as standard, so you have to pay extra for them. The base Alto has ABS with EBD and BA, and 6 air bags. Consider this when you think about the value of this car.