Suzuki

Celerio

The fun and funky five-door Suzuki Celerio really ups the ante in the A-Class segment by delivering all-round value, great handling and lots of technology as standard.

The good

Outstanding value for money and handles well too

The bad

Lots of opposition out there

Tech Specs

Price from

£6,999

Combined Fuel up to

78.5mpg

0-62 from

14.0 seconds

max speed up to

96mph

co2 from

84g/km

Test Drive

 Suzuki Celerio – first drive

The city car scene has just got very interesting indeed with the arrival of the sharp-dressed and fun-packed Suzuki Celerio which is guaranteed to shake up the market place.

That’s because this five-door, five-seat model is available from just £7,999 and comes with a choice of two richly-equipped trims. Add in the fact that Celerio offers best-in-class interior and boot space, plus best-in-class fuel efficiency and you can begin to see the appeal growing.

Standard features on the entry level SZ3 include air conditioning, DAB radio, Bluetooth and alloy wheels and if you splash out an extra £1k and move up to the SZ4 you can expect to see 14-inch alloys, a different grille, body-coloured door handles and mirrors, four speakers and front fog lights.

The Celerio is available with a punchy three-cylinder, 1.0-litre petrol powertrain with five-speed manual transmission or an automated manual gearbox. However, later this year an ultra-efficient Dualjet engine will be introduced delivering 78.4mpg and 84g/km of carbon emissions.

Despite its budget price-tag, the Celerio is a classy little number with eye-catching design cues such as a sharp sculpted front end with sweeping headlights, flowing lines and a sporty looking rear. It has real personality and character.

Once inside, the interior is relatively basic, but certainly comfortable enough and I have seen a lot more cheap plastic on far more expensive cars. All the dials and readouts are perfectly positioned and the driver benefits from excellent all-round visibility.

The cabin is deceptively spacious and the car’s high roofline results in plenty of headroom in the back where there is ample legroom too.

The boot can accommodate 254 litres of luggage which can be increased further to an impressive 726 litres thanks to 60:40 split-folding rear seats.

So the Celerio looks smart enough and has a classy interior for its budget price-tag, but how does it handle when put to the test?

I tested out the manual model in SZ4 trim priced at £8,999 (£9,414 with the option of metallic paint). This car can reach 62mph from a standing start in 13.5 seconds and has a top speed of 96mph. According to official figures, it can achieve 65.7mpg on a combined run with carbon emissions of 99g/km.

In fairness to the Celerio, it was tested in gale-force conditions with severe gusts of wind blowing wheelie bins across streets and leaving large branches and debris in our path.

However, it did remarkably well. On faster roads it was buffeted a little but maintained a steady 70mph without too much strain.

In busy town centre traffic it accelerated through the five speeds nice and smoothly and manoeuvrability also impressed which makes parking that much easier. That said, on the downside it did struggle for a sudden burst of pace which means overtaking slow vehicles takes some planning.

Comfort levels impressed and the Celerio can be thrown into tight bends at speed without any worries. In fairness, it was even more fun to drive than I expected.

A very short test run in the AGS (Auto Gear Shift) model also proved entertaining with the option of changing gears manually via the gear stick. The automated version is a little clunky initially but would possibly be much smoother after some time behind the wheel. It would be ideal for anyone who does a lot of city driving and gets tired of constantly changing up and down through the gears.

Prices for this model are yet to be released but it can reach from 0-62mph in 16.4 seconds (15.2 in manual mode) and has a top speed of 96mph. Fuel economy and emissions are identical to the manual model. Suzuki expects this particular version to account for about 15 per cent of Celerio sales.

The Celerio is on sale now and there have already been 1,000 pre-orders. And with a target of 6,000 units this year the car is already turning heads in showrooms.