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CAP Blog > CAP Blog > Martin's Blog
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Aug
12
Written by:
Martin Ward
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The new Suzuki Alto is built alongside the Nissan Pixo at the Maruti Suzuki plant in India and is essentially the same car, with just a few differences to the exterior and interior. This is the seventh generation Alto, with the first one being launched in Japan in 1979 and into the UK in 1981. Since then 42,000 have been sold here in the UK.
 The Alto, like the Pixo, is powered by a 1.0 litre 3 cylinder petrol engine that produces 68ps, goes from 0-62mph in 13.5 seconds and has a top speed of 96mph. It is not a large car and it is not a quick car. Despite the top speed figure being nearly 100mph, it just about maintained the legal motorway speed and to go any faster would have been almost impossible. However, this is a town car and that is certainly where it is at its best. It is nimble, easy to park and economical, with the combined fuel figure being 64.2mpg. Although our test car did not have an on-board computer to gain an accurate reading, it did seem to be very frugal.
 The new Alto is only available as a five door and is strictly a four seater, as it only has four seat belts. There is enough room in the rear for two adults, with good shoulder and head room. The rear seats fold down individually, which does make it more practical and create more luggage space when needed. However, when the rear seats are up, there is very little space for luggage or shopping. The quality is just at an OK standard throughout the car, with everything working and fitting properly but nothing is outstanding. However, it is very acceptable for the price. Like the performance, the handling is exactly what you would expect in this type of car. It just does enough, without any excitement or drama.
 Prices for the Alto start at £6,795 for the SZ2. The car we tested, the SZ4, costs £7,960 and has a long list of standard equipment such as air conditioning, ESP, side air bags, electric front windows, 14” alloy wheels, power steering, drivers seat height adjustment, front fog lights, remote central locking and so the list goes on.
The new Alto really is remarkable value for money and for what it is designed to do, it does the job perfectly well.
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