[Aston Singh]

Excerpts from Autocar India's review

"The top-spec S-Cross Alpha variant comes with keyless entry and go, a six-speaker touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone integration, satellite navigation, auto climate control, Bluetooth, automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, projector headlamps and disc brakes all around."

"Great highway cruiser, sitting comfortably at 100kph in sixth gear at just 2,000rpm."

"Leather covers not just the seats (where it gets contrasting double stitching), but the steering wheel, gear lever and the door pads as well. "

"In fact, from the inside, the sensation you get is that this is a car engineered for the discerning European market, not something watered down for India, thanks to the solid, quality feel of everything you touch."

"The upshot of the slightly firm set-up is that the S-cross is very stable out on the highway, and really quite good at going round corners with minimal roll. "

[volkman10]

Autocar's test drive report. ( S Cross-1.6)

Seen purely as a premium car, it ticks most of the right boxes – it’s well equipped, has a strong engine, a high-quality cabin, loads of space and pretty good comfort as well. Maruti, as always, is sure to price it aggressively too, which should give it a big advantage. So while it may not wow customers with its road presence or styling, like most cars from Maruti, it’s the sensible things that should draw buyers to the S-cross – space, practicality, value and, of course, a hassle-free ownership experience.

Ride:

Dubbed the DDiS 320 (for its 32.6kgm or 320NM of torque), this engine makes a solid 118bhp and is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Start it up and you’ll find it’s decently refined, though not quite in the league of Hyundai’s 1.6 from the Verna and upcoming Creta.

The clutch is light enough and gears slot in authoritatively, though not with a buttery smoothness. What is smooth is the way it gets off the line, but then you soon realise that it feels a quite sluggish before the turbocharger kicks in. That only happens at around 1,800rpm, at which point the full force of that 32.6kgm comes in strong.

It takes a bit of acclimatization, and you have to learn to work the gearbox around the spiky power delivery. Also, the gearing tall, which only accentuates the lazy responses at lower revs.

The upshot is that it makes for a great highway cruiser, sitting comfortably at 100kph in sixth gear at just 2,000rpm. Even overtaking manoeuvres at these speeds don’t take more than a small flex of your right foot, thanks to a really strong mid-range. The S-cross will continue to pull till about 4,500rpm, though at this point, you will get a significant amount of diesel drone.

The ride quality is also pretty good. Though the set-up is noticeably firm, it manages to smoothen out most of what our roads can throw at it, and only gets better as you go faster.

Sharp bumps will register a solid thud in the cabin, for sure, but smaller irregularities get ironed out pretty easily. The upshot of the slightly firm set-up is that the S-cross is very stable out on the highway, and really quite good at going round corners with minimal roll.
This is where you’ll be happy for its classification as a crossover rather than an SUV; it really feels like a large hatchback in the handling department. The steering is not perfect – there’s a vagueness at the centre that makes itself felt at highway speeds, and you might find yourself making corrections to keep it in line.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-rev...ve-392011.aspx

[pannags]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

The 1.6 L engine is a pleasant surprise! But still can't get over the looks - may be it looks different in flesh.

The Suzuki fan in me, having seen reviews in Europe is eagerly waiting (and hoping) that the car looks good in flesh.

I too hope that the S-croos looks a bit more solid and has a higher stance than the pictures depict. I'll be happy if it about the same as the Avventura.

In the meanwhile, I was talking to a friend who is in Yokohama, Japan, on a business trip. Having sighted the S-Cross recently, he mentioned that it looks somewhat smaller, but better than the pictures depict.

I wish I get to TD the car and read the always-looked-forward-to TBHP review, before the sales folks at Honda ask me to confirm my pre-booking for the Jazz.

[sandeepmohan]

Jeez, this thing will be a missile on wheels.

Is Maruti manufacturing this engine or is it again sourced from Tata-Fiat's Pune plant?

It is funny that Maruti gets hold of this engine before Fiat can, for its own cars.

[Aston Singh]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Jeez, this thing will be a missile on wheels.

Is Maruti manufacturing this engine or is it again sourced from Tata-Fiat's Pune plant?

It is funny that Maruti gets hold of this engine before Fiat can, for its own cars.

Fiat's 1.6 MJD engine is being imported from Italy. S cross is the first car to get it in India, none of the Fiat models come equipped with this engine.

[printh]

Forgive my ignorance ,going by the 120 bhp and 320 nm torque figures ( almost in the leagues of Jetta/octavia) coupled with a relatively lesser kerb weight and 6 gears , shouldn't the 0-100 kmph timing and engine speed at 100 and 120 kmph be lesser or almost on par with the figures of Jetta / octavia??? Isn't 0-100 kmph in 11.3 seconds and engine speed at 100 kmph a bit high ?

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Autocar's test drive report. ( S Cross-1.6)

The review is clearly done in a hurry in an attempt to be one of the first to reveal the details. About an hour ago, this same review was a 5-6 page review, with a lot of inconsistencies. It has been taken care off to an extent, but not entirely. Wonder what is the deal of coming first and compromising on the quality in the process

[Lij]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

...
It is funny that Maruti gets hold of this engine before Fiat can, for its own cars.

Originally Posted by Aston Singh

...
S cross is the first car to get it in India, none of the Fiat models come equipped with this engine.

Now if in future FIAT does bring the 1.6 MJD to any of its models in India, to the lay person it will be "S-Cross/Maruti ka engine daala hain ismein" !!!

[Aston Singh]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

The review is clearly done in a hurry, in an attempt to be one of the first to reveal the details. About an hour ago, this same review was a 5-6 page review, with a lot of inconsistencies. It has been taken care off to an extent, but not entirely. Wonder what is the deal of coming first and compromising on the quality in the process

Pages 2 & 3 had content from the international model they reviewed. I move to page 2 and it starts mentioning about AWD and driving in London and I am like "Huh"?!

Where's our team-bhp preview?!

[AtheK]

Not sure, why do they even bother for a Base variant like that. It is just shameful. They should have just dropped that version. I know many would want to buy it but then too many sacrifices, better off but a segment lower fully loaded car.

Coming to looks, i think it is decent, nothing groundbreaking but a good balance on conventional styling. How haveing a premium dealership will impact stepfalls is going to be an interesting observation. Maruti had an option to push Ciaz to a customer who was a bit confused with base, but with no presence of Ciaz in the same showroom, they might lose that customer to City(Def a better packaged and overall a better car then Ciaz)

Guess as everyone said pricng will play a big part here, they have to price it sensibly, keeping both the pulse of the customer and the premium brand they want to build in thie hindsight.

Creta has no direct competition here, and should pretty much do much better, a neutral customer would tend more towards the Creta if the price difference Variant to variant is around 70k to a lac.

[MHG]

Rubbish safety kit. Look at XUV500, EcoSport and Creta which are at, above and below in positioning to know what I mean. Where is all that kit which let this car score 5-stars in Euro NCAP ? Most likely it was all done away with to reduce weight and give an ARAI mileage of 22.7 for the DDiS 320 engine

[TaurusAl]

Originally Posted by vibbs

5 variants for 1.6 DDIS!! Wow. I was expecting only on the top variant.
But why no Petrol?

ABS and driver airbags on all variants!!

Correction
5 variants for 1.2 DDIS
3 variants for 1.6 DDIS

Good feature list though.
Giving up VDI and ZDI badges is a good move.
Hoping the pricing is right.

[Ritzvxi]

Excellent product by MSIL, can't wait to drive the 1.6!

How would be the 1.6 maintenance wise,being a completely imported unit would the service cost be more? Would the current crop of service men at the dealerships have a good know how on the engine.

Is anyone on the forum aware about the longevity of the Fiat sourced 1.6?

I for one think that S-Cross if priced even 25-50K lower than Creta (each variant wise), will out sell the Creta by a huge margin. We all know for a fact that MSIL has a far better reach in every nook and cranny of our vast country (If MSIL insists on selling only through Nexa dealerships, they might loose the advantage).

For Pune guys, imagine the number of Swift Vdi's trolling the outskirts (Hinjewadi/Wagholi), village folks with a lot of money would all buy the S-Cross without blinking an eyelid!

Also, I foresee a lot of Swift Vdi for sale after the launch of S-Cross, I am sure many would be eager to upgrade!

I see a great product in offering, after all the hardwork, all that's left for MSIL to do is, price it right, add a sizeable exchange bonus and set the dice rolling!

Only if the S-Cross was launched a little earlier in the year, I would have lined up at the nearest Nexa dealership, replacing the Alto with the S-Cross (Instead of the WagonR).

[rahul412]

Originally Posted by MHG

Rubbish safety kit. Where is all that kit which let this car score 5-stars in Euro NCAP ? Most likely it was all done away with to reduce weight and give an ARAI mileage of 22.7 for the DDiS 320 engine

Hi, what makes you think that weight is reduced? UK version of the cars weigh about 1185 kgs, exactly same as the Indian version. Kudos to Maruti for not using thin metal sheets here. Lets give the credit where its due. It may not have everything but still its a big step in the right direction from Maruti.

[tharian]

This is a welcome change from the usual roll out of cars by MSIL.

I am guessing that the S-Cross would create a good impression like the Swift did ten years ago.

That XUV,Magnum kind of torque rating is to die for on a car.

I am not a fan of the compact SUV segment, but this one with its A-Class kind of look and the 1.6 engine will keep the enthusiast happy .