Somewhere between enormous touch-screen distractions and badge-laden bakkies we lost the essence of motoring… but sometimes it bubbles back up to the surface in the most unexpected way.
Let me state this immediately: Suzuki’s new XL6 is neither an automotive revelation nor a ground-breaking novelty in any way. But what it demonstrates quite nicely is that versatility and frugality need not be boring; in a fairly subjective way. It’s a boxy people mover with a miserly engine but still manages to exude a modicum of charm…
If you think back to people movers of days gone by, an alarming majority of them resembled a motorised bread box at best, and while this compact Japanese MPV doesn’t exactly shine in the design or proportions departments, it was peppered with sufficient details and design touches to keep the viewer interested.
“Colour is awful” or “wheels are too small” were some of the more obvious remarks we had to endure beside a few less nasty indications that its styling might be a tad too aggressive for what is essentially a 1.5L airport shuttle with a slush-o-matic. Yup, I’m sad to report that this vehicle relies on a prehistoric 4-speed automatic transmission for changes in momentum.
However, I’m reasonably delighted to tell you that it works in most situations (more on that later), at least it’s not a rubber-band CVT, and the XL6’s two trim levels are available with this auto’box or a snappier manual equivalent. Speaking of snappy, the humble 77kW / 138Nm motor is so eager to please that we noted brief wheel-spin during performance testing.
Suzuki South Africa doesn’t publish any 0-100km/h performance figures – quite possibly because nobody cares – but we were all-too happy to test the sprinting ability of this maroon metallic example. Our best 0-100 time was 11.91 seconds, although I have to add that it was aided by an extremely fresh tail wind.
Turning around and heading into the gale-force South Easter resulted in 13.54 seconds, which cemented the deficits of this vehicle’s low-power big-body design. Also, to warn any potential buyers about this gearbox, the four ratios aren’t always enough, especially between second and third gear; around the 100-120km/h overtaking range.
For this reason I would urge any potential purchaser to rather opt for the 5-speed manual derivative, which also brings the added benefit of marginally better fuel consumption. Claimed average petrol use for this 1.5 GLX A/T model is 6.1L/100km from the 45L tank, resulting in a theoretical range of about 740km.
The manual will keep going for an extra 10km.
Exposed to my daily grind of city commuting and running errands around an undulating hillside village, the Suzuki XL6 Automatic became an acceptable automotive companion, with only heavy weight or steep hills forcing me to pogo up-and-down in my seat yelling “come on, let’s go!” Usually in the general direction of the under-geared transmission.
Steering and pedal feel are all on the light and fluffy (read: easy to use) side of the spectrum, while hard cornering and sporty handling isn’t this car’s forte… yet it manages to stay fairly composed and planted until the inside cornering wheel lights up a one-tyre fire.
None of the XL6 models have traction control – because they don’t really need it – but they all have stability assistance. As well as multiple brake assist systems and Bridgestone Ecopia tyres, which helped us achieve a fairly respectable once-off emergency stop from 100km/h in 2.91 seconds and 40.92 meters.
But the rest of our time together was, as mentioned early on, quite an eye opener. The 6-seater XL6 is dressed with most modern trinkets our market demands: touchy-feely infotainment, reverse camera, LED headlights, remote entry and audio controls, powered glass and steering, plus a decent amount of safety and convenience items.
Go for the more basic GL derivative to save a bit of money and/or opt for the peppier manual derivate to land at the base price of just R336,900. This facier GLX Automatic version currently costs R370,900… which is absolutely amazing value for money, if you consider the amount of seats, space and spec you get in return.
This lead me to my initial conclusion about the new Suzuki MPV: there’s an honest and respectable vehicle hiding under its nouveau dress and new-age trinkets (especially in GLX guise), and the almost bomb-proof 1.5L drive train is backed up by a ma-hoosive 5-year/200,000km warranty and not-so ma-hoosive 4-year/60,000km service plan.
