Suzuki SX4 Explore - more for less

Do you like saving? Are you happy when you get something for free? We have an opportunity for you directly from the Land of the Rising Sun - Suzuki SX4 Explore.

This compact crossover is Suzuki's best-selling model in Poland. On the one hand, looking at the car itself, its Japanese origin, practical qualities and, finally, the price, this should not come as a surprise - at 48.000 2006 for the basic version, it is even cheaper in its segment than Key Soul. On the other hand, this model has been on our market since 6 years, and that has been a long time. Over time, fashion changes, tastes change, and the car begins to visually age, if you just look at its shape unchanged over the years. Will we see changes?

At the recent show in Paris at the Suzuki booth, we saw a novelty in this segment - the S-Cross model. Despite the announcement of the beginning of sales of this car in the second half of next year, the Japanese do not intend to remove or rejuvenate the proven SX4. Instead, they attract new customers by introducing their new version - Explore.

What's with Explore?

What's so revolutionary about the new Suzuki SX4 Explore? Well, it adheres to the principle of “more for less” and has a lot of additional equipment on board for only PLN 3.000 more than the so far best Premium version. Only this and much more. At the same time, it solves the problem of a large group of picky customers. It’s unlikely that anyone would want to leave a car dealership naked, and even the cheapest cars, after appropriate retrofitting, begin to cost a lot. Example? The competitive Dacia Duster in its basic version costs less than 40.000 PLN, but trying to upgrade it to the level of the SX4 Explore requires choosing the most expensive version, and then selecting all possible additional options in the configurator, after which the prices of the Duster and SX4 Explore are almost equal (i.e. they are approaching 60.000 zł), and the equipment list, which is a horsepower weaker than the Dacia, is still missing some nice elements.

Stylistically, the SX4 Explore is not much different from other versions. I haven't read about it anywhere on the car either. Ten-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels, silver roof rails and an exterior package (bumpers, fenders and sills) are the only distinguishing features of the top version. The direction indicators that went from the front fenders to the mirrors have also changed.

The power of gifts is within

Inside, I found many more gifts. When I sat on the heated seats, turned on the built-in Kenwood multimedia station with a huge touchscreen, started the car without a key, put my hands on the leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, drove out of the compartment using the rear-view camera and thought it was all standard, I appreciated just such idea to increase sales. Giving more to the customer seems to be the philosophy of the Explore model.

Did I mention automatic air conditioning, navigation, ESP with traction control, 6 airbags, the ability to listen to music from USB and iPod, or other little things? It takes a really good breath to read this entire gear list, but I think the longer sentences like this the better. With such abundance as standard, it's easier to forgive the unchanged dashboard and interior design, which was probably not the driving force behind this model's sale in 2006. However, this does not change the fact that the interior is solid - nothing creaks or creaks, and comfortable seats make the journey truly enjoyable.

Some pluses?

Unfortunately, there was a mine on the list of equipment, and this is a Kenwood radio. The connection with the phone is interrupted for any reason, the interlocutor hears my voice twice, the mp3 track does not scroll. I did not want to believe in the latter and spent a lot of time looking for scrolling. Apparently, someone from Kenwood considered this unnecessary - apparently, he had never listened to audiobooks in his life. Previewing what minute of the track I'm currently playing is only possible on the... navigation screen. I am not kidding. When navigation has a longer meaning, the CD player keeps flying in the background, so listening to audiobooks with navigation turned on is difficult. And when the passenger's phone rings and I want to turn off the sound, after “turning off” the track continues to play, only barely audible. Setting the volume to zero causes the CD to continue playing, but silently. Elsewhere I would just rewind for a minute and not bother, but there is no scrolling in this radio. Well, what remains is to go back a whole chapter and listen to the same thing for 25 minutes. Catastrophe? Rather, yes, although this casts a shadow on the Kenwood brand faster than on Suzuki, it still spoils the impression.

Something other? Heated seats. There are two options: "off" or "fry". An intermediate option is called “Heated seats” just. Of course, this is not a big problem, because in practice the heating is used for some time immediately after you have taken your seat. It's just that in the SX4 you turn it off faster, and you may also feel the need to turn it off with your nose. Apart from these shortcomings, the SX4 research version seems to contain useful and recommended gadgets.

No surprises under the hood

Under the hood, one of two gasoline engines (1,5 VVT 112 hp or 1,6VVT 120 hp) can be combined with a manual transmission or automatic transmission, or a diesel engine (2.0 DDiS 135 hp) with a manual transmission. Our test unit was equipped with a more powerful petrol engine, which handled the car well in the city, but required very careful overtaking on the highway. The SX4 is not (with this engine) one of the speed demons - measurements showed that it takes 0 seconds to accelerate from 100-12,9 km/h, while for acceleration from 60 to 100 km/h it takes 13,3 -transmission takes seconds. .dry and with all-wheel drive engaged). None of these results are anything to be proud of, but this car is not designed to be blasted through the quarter mile, but to get you comfortably and safely to sometimes less than favorable destinations.

And that brings us to the 4×4, an accessory that is an optional extra even on the Explore version. In addition, they are not cheap at all, because they cost PLN 8.000. So before buying, you should think about whether you need a drive attached to the rear axle. However, if we decide to buy it, we will definitely not regret it - a higher suspension and a 4 × 4 drive will give us comfort not only on a snowy road, but also completely off the asphalt. Thanks to its off-road behavior, the Suzuki SX4 Explore reaches places where a conventional axle cannot handle.

Driving experience

The SX4 scored its first points a moment after starting the well-suppressed engine. On city streets, the car behaves perfectly: a relatively high driving position, excellent visibility and a raised suspension make it easier to move around the city. I had even more reason to be happy when I wanted to park - the body length of 4,15 for the city is just right.

Coming out of the concrete jungle, the Suzuki didn't perform as well on the road. The five-speed gearbox has such matched gear ratios that the engine speed increases significantly even at speeds above 100 km / h, and it becomes noisy in the cabin. I have already mentioned the lack of strength under the right leg. So I quickly ran to where the SX4 put a smile back on my face – off the beaten path. Suzuki SX4 really deserves to be called a crossover. The suspension absorbs bumps well, and the relatively stiff suspension and attached second axle add confidence in handling.

At the end

And finally, a few words about operating costs. Highway fuel consumption of 6 l/100 km is a satisfactory result, but 10 l/100 km in the urban cycle exceeds today's environmental expectations from a not-so-fast B-segment car.

Summing up: Suzuki SX4 Explore is an interesting offer in its segment - both in terms of price and equipment. The only significant drawback of this model is that it is already old and can be seen here and there. However, adulthood also has its advantages - the design is proven, and the price is becoming more attractive - just for those who like to save money and get as much as possible for free.