2023 Suzuki S-Cross Review

You’d be forgiven for thinking Suzuki had gone a little quiet over the past few years. Apart from launching the cute and capable Jimny a few years ago, Suzuki was yet to offer a convincing vehicle in the ever-booming SUV segment. Enter the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross, designed to help the brand secure a bigger slice of the super competitive small-SUV market.

Suzuki has worked hard to make the new S-Cross appear as fresh as possible to punters with a bold front end, squarer LED headlights and a distinctive rear with clear tail lights. The design of the S-Cross might not be the flashiest or the most ground-breaking, but here at DiscoverAuto, we’re suckers for simple cars, executed well. Has Suzuki managed to pull of a simple, honest SUV perfect for the masses? Or has it created an outdated relic? Let’s find out.

Under the skin, not much has changed from the outgoing S-Cross, a car which was never exciting, by any stretch of the imagination. Here in its third generation as a member of the SX4/S-Cross family, the new car is just a reskin of the old car, with new sheet-metal and tech, married with the old model’s underpinnings.

Suzuki isn’t pitching the S-Cross towards mid-size family SUVs such as the Hyundai Tucson, Toyota RAV4 or Kia Sportage. All of these are simply in a different league to the Suzuki S-Cross. Suzuki says the S-Cross is meant to compete with some of the more affordable small-SUVs on the market, such as the Mitsubishi ASX and Kia Seltos.

We headed to Victoria’s picturesque Yarra Valley, to the launch of the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross, to see if it should be on your small-SUV shopping list.

Price & Equipment:

Suzuki increased prices significantly with the new S-Cross compared to the old model. Prices have risen to the tune of between $10,000 and $12,500. The 2023 S-Cross range is simple, with just two variants on offer. The entry level S-Cross Allgrip which costs $40,490 before on-road costs, and the S-Cross Allgrip Prestige which comes in at $44,490 before on-road costs.

Standard equipment on the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross Allgrip includes 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights with front fog lights, roof rails, heated and electric-folding mirrors, keyless entry and start, rear privacy glass, dual-zone climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearknob, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, a six-speaker sound system, heated front seats and front and rear arm rests.

Safety kit includes seven airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning with weaving alert, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

The upper-spec S-Cross Allgrip Prestige adds part-leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, a larger 9.0-inch touchscreen with a 360-degree parking camera, wireless Apple CarPlay and polished 17-inch alloy wheels.

Available colours for the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross range include ‘Cool White Pearl’, ‘Energetic Red’, ‘Silky Silver’, ‘Cosmic Black’, ‘Titan Grey’ and ‘Sphere Blue’. Black is the only interior colour option.

Rivals include the Kia Seltos with AWD ticked as an option, which costs between $37,290 and $42,700 before on-roads depending on the spec chosen, and the excellent Mazda CX-30 which is priced between $39,690 to $47,690 with AWD. The Kia benefits from a more powerful engine and a better warranty than the S-Cross, while the Mazda has a much lusher interior and superior driving experience to the S-Cross.

Sadly, this all means that the S-Cross’ value equation suffers. It isn’t the cut-price offering its predecessors were, meaning it isn’t priced as sharply as it should be against other more sophisticated rivals.

Performance & Economy:

Under the bonnet of the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross sits the same turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine as the pre-updated S-Cross and Vitara, which comes standard with a six-speed automatic transmission sending power to all four wheels through Suzuki’s ‘Allgrip’ AWD system. Suzuki says the engine produces 103kW of power (at 5,500rpm) and 220Nm of torque (between 1,500rpm and 4,000rpm) – more than enough for a small SUV.

Venturing out onto the roads around Healesville in Victoria’s countryside, the S-Cross’ engine always felt willing and torquey. It might not be the most refined thing in the world, becoming quite coarse and loud when revved out, but around town, we suspect this little engine would work very well indeed. The 0-100km/h sprint takes around 10 seconds and the engine does a really easy job moving the S-Cross’ rather light 1,290kg kerb weight. The engine and gearbox are the best part of the entire S-Cross experience.

The automatic is a conventional six-speed torque converter, and unlike dual-clutch automatics, it slurs through the gears smoothly, keeping the engine running sweetly. The S-Cross does have shift paddles should drivers wish to take things into their own hands, but they’re rarely needed. We found a rather odd quirk with the dated looking shift lever. When shifting from Park to Drive, we would always end up selecting manual mode.

We were pleasantly surprised with the new S-Cross’ fuel consumption during our short drive. We averaged a low 6.5 L/100km during our drive on some flowing country roads and that’s against Suzuki’s combined cycle claim of 6.2L/100km. We think this should be a figure easily attainable in the real world – thank the low kerb weight.

Ride & Handling:

We came away surprised by how well the S-Cross performed both on and off-road. At higher speeds on country roads, it handled neatly and reacted faithfully to steering inputs. Even with uninspiring McPherson front suspension and a torsion beam rear dating back to the SX4 from over 15 years ago, we’d almost go as far saying it’s a bit fun to drive on twisty roads, with solid grip from the quality Continental EcoContact 6 tyres. However, don’t go thinking it’s as good as say, a Ford Puma. The S-Cross is a humble car which is nice to drive, without matching some its more cohesively engineered and more thoroughly developed peers.

The ride is comfortable at higher speeds, without feeling soft and soggy. The sensibly sized 17-inch wheels on all models no doubt help here, in making things as comfortable as possible for occupants, even if they don’t look as flashy as the larger alloys so often unnecessarily seen on more expensive SUVs. Road noise unfortunately is where the S-Cross falls apart. On coarse chip surfaces, the S-Cross is rather loud, with tons of noise penetrating the cabin and spoiling the party.

The S-Cross has one last trick up its sleeve however – its all wheel drive system. In the carefully choreographed course Suzuki laid out, the S-Cross didn’t put a foot, or rather wheel wrong. It got up steep inclines, powered through mud and had enough body clearance to make it over and down some rather large mounds. Selecting Snow mode (which is used for whenever the going gets tough, such as gravel), the S-Cross’ AWD system biases more power to the front wheels, reduces throttle sensitivity and actively sends power to the wheel which needs it most. For a small SUV, it’s a great bonus to have, when heading off the beaten track.

Interior & Practicality:

Stepping into the 2023 Suzuki S-Cross reveals a reasonably well-built, albeit plainly styled interior with decent levels of quality throughout. For a car launching in 2022, things do feel a bit drab inside the S-Cross, but the interior manages to do a lot well. All of the major controls are perfectly positioned and the ergonomics are top notch. The front seats are comfortable to sit in, even if they are set a little too high for our tastes. The commanding driving position will appeal to most SUV buyers, thanks to plenty of adjustment in the seat and steering column.

The new S-Cross has a newly developed infotainment system, with either a 7.0-inch touchscreen on the base Allgrip model, or with a larger 9.0-inch unit on the Allgrip Premium. Both systems work well but are sadly far from class leading. They’re not the quickest to respond to inputs and look a little primitive in a world of sharp graphics and slick interfaces. We do appreciate the inclusion of a 360-degree camera on the Premium, even if it is extremely low resolution and pixelated.

Luckily, there is wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto. Oddly, a wireless charger is nowhere to be seen, and there is only a sole USB-A port in the entire cabin.

Front storage is well taken care of with a fore-aft sliding armrest, a decent glovebox and some well-sized door bins. Oddly, there is no clear spot to place a mobile phone – we had to resort to using the small-cupholders to store our phones.

Rear-seat passengers should be able to get comfortable in the rear of the S-Cross with plenty of head and legroom in the SUV’s rather upright body. Sadly things do feel rather austere in the rear, with no rear air vents, no USB ports or any other amenities for rear occupants apart from a centre armrest.

With a boot capacity of 430-litres, the S-Cross has decent storage behind the rear seats. Its boot is larger than smaller rivals such as the Skoda Kamiq’s (400L) but ultimately smaller than some other mid-size SUVs such as the Toyota RAV4 (542L). Folding the seats down yields a very usable 1,230L of space. The boot also has a movable boot floor and a 12V power port, but no hooks or dividers. A space-saver tyre lives under the boot floor.

Service & Warranty

The 2023 Suzuki S-Cross comes with the Japanese brand’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty with roadside assist and capped-price servicing. The exact servicing costs for the 2023 S-Cross are yet to be released, but the mechanically identical 2022 Suzuki S-Cross costs $1,945 over five years to service with an average yearly servicing cost of $389.

Service intervals are at a relatively short 10,000km or one year, whichever comes first. Rivals such as the Skoda Kamiq have longer 15,000km service intervals.

The 2023 Suzuki S-Cross DiscoverAuto Rating: 7/10

The S-Cross proves to be another humble, no-nonsense Suzuki, which is decent to drive and roomy inside. Thanks to its low weight, it sips fuel like a smaller car and its 1.4 turbocharged engine feels decently punchy. The interior leaves a lot to be desired however, giving the S-Cross a decidedly dated feel, betraying its ageing underpinnings.

The nail in the coffin for the S-Cross however, is its almost $45,000 purchase price, which is just too high. Being built in Hungary doesn’t make things easy for Suzuki. In a world of more modern and better alternatives to be found in the small SUV segment, the S-Cross feels a little underdone, but it certainly warrants the attention of those who aren’t after the very latest and greatest small-SUV on the market.

Suzuki did hint at possible hybrid S-Cross models coming in the future. An S-Cross hybrid like the ones seen in Europe, would dramatically improve the S-Cross’ appeal locally, making a good car great.