Small high gas mileage vehicles are very appealing financially and environmentally
but far less so from a safety perspective. Well the
Suzuki Alto
is one
good gas mileage vehicle that also promises to be
very safe despite its minute size.
The Suzuki Alto has more going for it than safety though because its also one of the cheapest cars out there. New cars are getting cheaper and cheaper and the price of the Suzuki Alto is amazing. Of course fuel economy is another of the Alto's trump cards at just 4.8 litres per 100km. It appears the Alto is a very competitive small vehicle then.
The Suzuki Alto is known by a few other names around the world. In Europe it is the Nissan Pixo and in India it is the Maruti Suzuki A Star. The Alto is a stylish little car with design cues that are right up to date with the latest trends. One thing is for sure - it doesn't look like a cheap vehicle from the outside. The interior is less convincing. Its not terrible but it does look cheap.
The Suzuki Alto has a 1.0 litre 3 cylinder engine which is not particularly smooth but is extremely fuel efficient as already mentioned and, if you work the gearbox hard enough, is quite lively. It's certainly an advantage that the car only weighs 885kg because the engine only has 50kW of power. The engine needs premium fuel but with its good gas mileage your fuel bill for the vehicle is still going to be unbelievably cheap. The engine emits a low 113g/km of CO2 so is very eco friendly.
The Suzuki Alto is a nice car to drive and its tiny size means its an excellent city vehicle - very easy to park in small spots and get through gaps in traffic, plus a very small turning circle. One of the biggest disadvantages of this vehicle is rear passenger space. Agreed you don't expect small good gas mileage vehicles to have loads of room but this car is worse than the competition. Only 2 people can fit in the back and headroom and legroom are both very cramped. Rear cargo space is also poor even for a car of this size.
As already mentioned safety is excellent and superior to Suzuki's rivals. I think it was a good move not to compromise in this area because I think there's a gap in the market for cheap, small and safe vehicles. The Alto has 6 airbags - front, sides, and curtains - all as standard. Anti lock brakes and impressive crash test results are also in the Alto's favour. Stability control is standard apart from the base model.
The vehicle has a decent list of features including an iPod ready audio system, central locking, air conditioning and electric windows.
If you're looking for a good gas mileage vehicle at the cheapest price and rear passenger and luggage space is not important to you this car is definitely worth considering. It's a strong vehicle in all other areas.