SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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We get attitude in Suzuki’s 2015 Ciaz GL

Not quite twins

Posted: 2 May 2015

Pics by Suzuki@motorpress

The cheat sheet
Price: R179 900
Engine: 1373 cc, chain driven DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder
Power: 70 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 130 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11.5 seconds (Car magazine test)
Maximum speed: 165 km/h (DriveArabia test)
Real life fuel consumption: About 6.1 l/100 km
Tank: 43 litres
Luggage: 480 litres (VDA)
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 3 years/60 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals

Recently introduced to SA buyers, Ciaz (pronounced See-ahz) has been around quite a while as Maruti (India) Suzuki’s sedan version of the familiar SX4 hatchback-crossover. And if you must know, the name is an acronym for Comfort-Intelligence-Attitude-Zeal.

But it’s more, although some might say less, than that. It’s built on the same platform although with a slightly longer, 2650 mm, wheelbase than the newly revamped SX4, but that’s about where similarities end. Faces are familial although details differ - the closest similarity seems to be in the bonnet panel. Ciaz is also longer, narrower and lower than its hatchback sister.
 
It uses Ertiga and Swift’s 1400 cc, K14B engine rather than SX4’s 1586 cc, M16A motor. And it’s aimed a notch or two down-market, with our entry-level Ciaz GL test car priced at       R179 900 versus the least-costly SX4 GL’s R265 900. Different cars for different buyers, or sisters but not quite twins, one might say.

As a price-leading medium family saloon it has most of the features one needs, including a huge boot with comfortably low sill, a fully sized spare wheel, almost limousine-like legroom at the back, a strong body structure, two airbags, ABS brakes with EBD and EBA, electric windows all ‘round with one-touch for the driver, and powered wing mirrors with turn-signal repeaters.

Central locking, tilt-adjustable steering wheel, a filtered automatic air conditioner with repeater vents for those in the rear, an MP3- and WMA-compatible six-speaker radio and CD player with input sockets and Bluetooth, repeater buttons on and behind the steering wheel for music and hands-free phone, immobiliser with alarm and an onboard computer look after the rest.

Items we haven’t mentioned, but you get when paying R20 000 more to upgrade to GLX specification include leather trim, front fog lamps, folding function for the outside mirrors, alloy wheels with bigger, lower profile tyres, push button starting, added chrome detailing, rear reading lights and front footwell lamps, back window sunshade and a sunspecs holder. And the driver’s chair gets elevation adjustment – probably worth a few bonus points of its own.

Our 6’1” tester was uncomfortable with just two fingers’-width of free headspace in the GL and only noticed the big square button, that releases the boot lid from inside, on the day we gave the car back. He was simply too tall to see it during normal driving. The problem extended to the rear where he found that, despite the generous legroom mentioned earlier, he had a choice of sitting with neck bent, or slouching, because the roofline is too low. It did appear that the seat’s mounting platform was a little higher than necessary but who knows what mechanical things, lurking underneath, make it impossible to lower it by a few centimetres?

While back there, he appreciated the supplementary aircon vents, fold-down armrest with cup holders, grab handles for all passengers, usable door bins and the magazine pockets. The seatback is fixed, but many saloons are like that. In a nod towards cost cutting there are just two built-in head restraints and the third seatbelt is a manually adjustable lap strap.

Other expense reducers include drum brakes at the rear, flimsy trunk carpeting and very Spartan boot lid and operating hardware. On the positive side, the trim details you see most often are well made and neatly fitted.

Maximum power output is 70 kW at 6 000 rpm and its torque peak is 130 Nm at 4 000 revs; with much of that available somewhat lower down the rev range. Drive is to the front wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox, while a four-speed automatic can be had with the GLX for a further R15 000 over its manual equivalent.

Weighing in at 1 020 kg the power-to-weight ratio is a useful 68 kW/ton, ensuring brisk performance, lively response and good fuel efficiency. The view outward is clear and it turns in 10.8 metres. In plain English, the Ciaz GL is well-equipped, nimble, comfortable and light on fuel. It’s no rocket but has all the power needed to comfortably haul family and kit between work and home, leisure activities and school.

Test car from Suzuki Auto SA press fleet


Please note that pics are of GLX version

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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