Small economical cars sound very good in theory but when
you're inside one driving on the roads in heavy traffic there's always a
small part of your mind thinking 'this really doesn't feel like a very safe
car, I really don't want to crash in this'. Well the Suzuki Alto is one
small economical car that also promises to be very safe.
In fact the
Suzuki Alto has a lot more going for it than
safety because its one of the cheapest cars you can currently buy. New cars
seem to be getting cheaper and cheaper and the price point of the Suzuki
Alto is quite phenomenal. The other major point to note is this car's fuel
economy. Its amazing - just 4.8 liters per 100km. On paper then the Alto
looks like a very good small economical car that has great safety.
The
Nissan Pixo, available in Europe, is the same car as
the Alto, as is the
Maruti Suzuki A Star in India. The
Suzuki Alto is a good looking little car with design features that are up
to date with the latest styling trends. It definitely doesn't look like
a cheap car. The interior is less convincing though. Its not awful, it just
looks cheap, but then this car is cheap and there's got to be compromises
somewhere.
Another compromise is to be found under the bonnet in the form of a 1.0
liter 3 cylinder engine that's not particularly smooth. It is however extremely
fuel efficient as already mentioned and if you work the gears hard enough
to keep the revs in the right range, its quite lively. It helps that the
car only weighs 885kg because the engine does only have 50kW of power. The
engine requires premium fuel which will bump up fuel costs a little bit
but at mpg your fuel bill is still going to be ridiculously cheap. The engine
outputs a low 113g/km of CO2 so its very environmentally friendly too.
The Suzuki Alto drives and handles well enough on the road. Its tiny size
means its a great city car - easy to fit into small parking spots and get
through gaps in traffic, and it also has a very tight turning circle. Probably
the main disadvantage of the car is rear passenger space which is extremely
tight. You don't expect small economical cars to have heaps of space but
this car is worse than most of its competitors. Only 2 people can fit in
the back and its probably best if their children as headroom and legroom
are both severely restricted. The boot is also tiny and again even though
you don't expect much room its smaller than the majority of its rivals.
Safety is a real strong point of the Alto compared to its rivals and considering
the Alto's rock bottom price full marks go to Suzuki for not compromising
in this area when it would have been easy to do. The Alto comes with 6 airbags
as standard - front, sides, and curtains. Anti lock brakes and good crash
test results further improves safety and the Alto has received a 4 star
ANCAP safety rating for its efforts. Stability control is optional on the
base model but standard on more expensive models.
Features are good for a budget car and include central locking, air conditioning,
electric windows and CD stereo with that all important aux input for iPod
connectivity.
Overall if you don't need much in the way of boot or rear passenger space
this car is one of the
best small economical cars on the
market. It can't be beaten on price and has super low running costs thanks
to its frugal engine. Insurance of course will be minimal for this type
of car. When you factor in its superb safety you end up with an excellent
car.