Gone are the days of average families of four having big braais with three sides and road trips just for the heck of it; in SA everyone is feeling the pinch.
So when it comes to buying a new vehicle in a flooded market of options, certain boxes need to be ticked, including pricing, economy, technology, space and reliability.
And, fortunately, Time to Torque experienced all of the above during our test with the Suzuki Across GL.
While the compact SUV has its quirks, including being slightly underpowered for its size, the total package at a competitive price puts it among the top picks for that family of four.
But let’s look at these factors in reverse order, with reliability of the brand being spoken for long before the arrival of the Across as Suzuki has been a mainstay of the SA market throughout the decades.
With regards to space, the Across is deceptively adept in this department as it may not seem that big from the outside, but the box shape build and proportions provide acres of head, leg and arm room.
And with its dimensions of 4,360mm in length, and height of 1,655mm and 1,795mm, it rivals the brand’s larger looking Grand Vitara in size and, surprisingly, provides a bigger boot at 347l.
The boot proved its practicality during our school runs as the electric tailgate swallowed everything, from hockey, rugby and school bags to trombones and groceries with ease.
It was also during these school runs where the vehicle drew the most attention with moms, dads and U9 rugby players all coming in for a closer look.
The Across is easy on the eye, with a pair of sleek LED headlights, joined by the stylish silver strip, underpinned by LED fog lights and the seamless contours of the two-tone front.
The side view introduces the Across go-anywhere element, with big wheel arches surrounding 17″ alloy rims and providing 210mm of ground clearance and functional roof rails.
A striking rear with an LED light strip runs the length of the hands-free electric tailgate but we still would have preferred a solid light bar to bring it all together.
Nevertheless, the allure for the modern family is the future-focused and functional cabin that plays host to a suite of technological upgrades, with some old school practicality such as physical buttons to adjust climate controls and stereo volume.
Aesthetically, the cabin is a mix of comfortable cloth seats, good quality plastics, neatly integrated with leather armrests that flow into the dashboard and finished with accents of silver and bronze trim.
And looking at the third aspect being tech, the Across does step it up; even the baseline GL variant coming standard with a host of features, including a reverse camera, rear parking sensors, cruise control, four USB type-C ports and a wireless charging pad, among other features.
The easy to use 10.1-inch infotainment system is integrated with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and is complemented by a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.
Safety features include six airbags (front, side and curtain), as well as ABS, EBD, ESP and hill hold control.
Automatic models are also equipped with an electric parking brake with brake hold.
Speaking of transmissions, the automatic six speed we had on test was not necessarily the smoothest of shifters as at times we struggled to find the correct gear to push the 1.5l petrol engine’s 76kW and 137Nm of torque.
As a result one should not be overlooking the GL’s five-speed manual version.
In terms of its performance, the vehicle did well as a daily driver in the urban traffic-bound setting, but would not be classified as quick off the mark and does tend to be sluggish on the uphills and overtaking.
However, the C-Segment SUV player is not meant for the races but rather for comfort, and it proved as much, with the vehicle feeling grounded when we got up to triple digits in the Gqeberha “breeze” and poised in corners on the outskirts of the Bay, all the while speaking to the point of economy with an average of 6l/100km.
Overall, our opinion of the Suzuki Across remains the same as the initial impression at its launch in March.
The vehicle does make sense with its mix of new technology and old school functionality packaged together in a spacious offering, albeit lagging on power.
That being said, the piece of mind that comes with the badge is backed by competitive pricing starting at R349,900 for the Across 1.5 GL 5MT. The GL 6AT is priced at R372,900,
The range is sold with a four-year/60,000km service plan and a five-year/200,000km promotional warranty.
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