Suzuki S-Cross review

Many of us get bigger as we get older – but not the Suzuki S-Cross small SUV. It's the same size as the original version launched nearly a decade ago.

The current S-Cross is different in other ways though. It's gained an ever-increasing roster of autonomous safety aids and two well-equipped trims, plus both engine options have some kind of hybrid engine tech to improve efficiency.

The mild-hybrid S-Cross competes with the Ford Puma, the Kia Stonic and the Skoda Kamiq while the regular hybrid – which can travel short distances on electric power alone – mixes it with the Nissan Juke and Toyota Yaris Cross.

It all sounds fairly fuss-free, doesn’t it? But is that enough to help the Suzuki S-Cross beat the best small SUVs? Read on to find out as we put the S-Cross through its paces against the key rivals...

The Suzuki S-Cross’s 127bhp 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol has mild-hybrid tech and enough performance for anything from bumbling around town to merging on to a motorway. It's our recommended engine.

It comes with a manual gearbox, and in two-wheel-drive guise it’ll officially get from 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds, which is quicker than the entry-level Skoda Kamiq but around a second slower than the Kamiq 1.5 TSI. If you pick Ultra trim, you get AllGrip four-wheel drive, making the entry-level S-Cross slightly slower (10.2 seconds from 0-62mph).

The 113bhp 1.5-litre petrol regular hybrid S-Cross has a 0-62mph time of 12.7 seconds, or 13.5 seconds with AllGrip fitted, so it's not as quick as a Nissan Juke or Toyota Yaris Cross. It comes with an automated manual gearbox and you can do a bit of electric-only driving, although nowhere near as much as in a plug-in hybrid.

The suspension set-up on the S-Cross is on the soft side, so there’s a fair amount of pitch and lean when cornering or driving on undulating roads.

The upside of that softness is that the ride is generally quite comfortable, smoothing out the worst of the bumps and ruts around town, and settling well on motorways. Expansion joints can send a bit of a thump and shiver through the car at speed though, and there’s quite a bit of noise from the suspension.

Overall, the S-Cross is a comfortable enough small SUV but not quite a match for the best-riding cars in the class, the Skoda Kamiq and VW T-Roc.

The S-Cross is a little uninspiring to drive in comparison with the Ford Puma and other small SUVs that have raised the bar for handling. That’s not to say it's bad: its light steering makes easy work of low-speed manoeuvres, and it feels stable on a motorway.

What the S-Cross lacks is a feeling of being involved in the process of driving, and there’s very little sense of connection through the steering. It also begins to lose front-end grip and gradually wash wide in corners at lower speeds than the Puma and other rivals.

The AllGrip four-wheel-drive system will give you more security on loose or greasy surfaces. Its extra traction will help when towing but it doesn't make the S-Cross any more fun to drive.

You’ll hear a bit of a rasp from both engines once they chime in, and they can be very coarse and boomy when revved hard. The additional performance of the 1.4-litre S-Cross means there’s less need to stretch it than the 1.5, and its mild-hybrid system helps to reduce vibration and noise when starting the engine.

The 1.5-litre S-Cross uses a similar automated manual gearbox to the regular hybrid Suzuki Vitara and under hard acceleration that leads to a significant nodding sensation as the gearbox goes up through the gears. The S-Cross's automated box changes down much more quickly than the Vitara's, making overtaking easier, but is still a bit slow compared with the best automatics.

There's quite a lot of tyre and wind noise at motorway speeds – the VW T-Roc and other rivals offer a more peaceful drive.

"I quite like the six-speed manual gearbox in the entry-level Suzuki S-Cross. Its action is quite slick and has plenty of feel." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Taking a seat in the Suzuki S-Cross, you’ll instantly notice that the lay-out is simple, with the infotainment screen high up on the dashboard and physical controls for the dual-zone air conditioning positioned lower down. Four-wheel-drive versions have a dial to change driving modes (Normal, Sport and Snow) conveniently placed next to the handbrake.

The pedals line up well with the driver’s seat, the steering wheel adjusts for reach and rake, and every S-Cross has driver’s seat-height adjustment and a centre armrest. The backrest is adjusted using a lever and can’t provide such precise adjustment as the wheels in many small SUVs. Electric seat adjustment isn’t available.

Ultra trim’s part-leather seats are comfortable but it’s a shame they don’t offer more side support and that adjustable lumbar support adjustment isn’t available. That’s something that comes as an option on many rivals and is standard on a similarly priced Toyota Yaris Cross.

The S-Cross’s tall, wide windscreen and slim front pillars make seeing forwards over the bonnet easy. The generous front side windows help you see out at junctions and roundabouts. 

The view over your shoulder is good thanks to a reasonably large rear windscreen and rear pillars that aren’t too chunky. To help with parking, front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera are standard across the range, while top-spec Ultra gets a 360-degree parking camera. Not all versions of the VW T-Cross and VW T-Roc get a rear-view camera.

Visibility shouldn't be a problem, thanks to the automatic windscreen wipers and auto LED headlights that come as standard on both S-Cross trim levels.

The S-Cross's entry-level Motion trim comes with a 7in infotainment touchscreen while Ultra upgrades the screen to 9in. Both systems include DAB radio, Bluetooth, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. Ultra trim adds a built-in sat-nav app.

We’ve yet to try the smaller screen, but the 9in screen is crisp and shows information clearly. That said, while the graphics are good, the delay between your inputs and the system’s reaction certainly isn’t. It gets frustrating when you need to find a location or simply change menus. 

The system is almost entirely touchscreen-controlled, with a few touch-sensitive shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen. That makes operating it on the move much more distracting than if there were more physical controls.

While the S-Cross’s dashboard layout is easy to use and the few switches are well-damped, the interior is very plain. While everything feels well screwed together, there are lots of scratchy, brittle-feeling materials, even in areas you touch a lot.

Top-spec Ultra trim improves the feeling of quality by replacing the standard cloth seats with part-leather ones, but it’s still a long way short of, for example, the Skoda Kamiq.

"The materials in the Suzuki S-Cross aren’t that inspiring, but as I prodded around they felt as though they’d stand the test of time." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Even very tall people will have enough room in the front seats of the Suzuki S-Cross. There’s lots of head and leg room, even on Ultra models with the standard panoramic sunroof (which reduces head room slightly).

There’s plenty of storage space, with front door pockets that’ll take litre water bottles and a few small items, two cupholders, a large glovebox and a large cubbyhole with a flip-up armrest.

Just in front of the gearlever is another large cubby that’s ideal for storing wallets, keys, mobile phones and other items. The front seats are set quite high and the door openings are wide and tall, so access is good.

The back seats in the S-Cross are set higher than the front ones, so head room is less generous. It's worse with Ultra trim’s panoramic roof fitted, and anyone approaching six feet tall will find their head touching the roof.

Fortunately, the S-Cross is one of the longer small SUVs around, so leg room is just as generous as in the Skoda Kamiq. Shoulder room is pretty good for the class, but it’s still a bit of a squeeze for three adults, and the middle passenger will be straddling a pronounced hump in the floor.

Storage wise, each rear door has a space for a large bottle of water. Otherwise, the only other space to store things is in the handy map pocket that’s on the back of the front passenger seat. An armrest with two cupholders can be folded down out of the middle seat if no one's sitting there.

The S-Cross's rear seatbacks split in a 60/40 configuration and you can fold them down by pushing buttons next to the head restraints. They're not too heavy, and it's quite an easy process.

The seatbacks can also recline for a more laid-back seating position. That's a handy feature not found in many small SUVs (although the Renault Captur, the Vauxhall Crossland and the VW T-Cross are available with sliding back seats).

The 1.4-litre mild-hybrid S-Cross's boot is a generous 430 litres, beating the Skoda Kamiq but not matching the storage space offered by the Ford Puma.

Even so, it should swallow lots of shopping and the wide boot opening makes loading easy. To make loading large items easier, the adjustable boot floor can be raised so it lines up with the boot lip, and when the backs of the rear seats are folded down, it makes the whole area flat. 

The 1.5-litre regular hybrid S-Cross has much less boot space – 293 litres – because the battery pack raises the boot floor. The Nissan Juke and Toyota Yaris Cross offer much more space despite their batteries.

"I like that the Suzuki S-Cross comes with a removable luggage cover and luggage nets in the boot, helping to keep your property secure and out of sight." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The Suzuki S-Cross is one of the larger small SUVs available, which is perhaps why the starting price of the cheapest version (the mild hybrid) is higher than for most rivals, including the Nissan Juke and Skoda Kamiq. When looked at in regular hybrid form, things start to look up – the pricier S-Cross undercuts the Nissan Juke Hybrid and a similarly-specced Toyota Yaris Cross.

The S-Cross is predicted to depreciate at about the same rate as most rivals, helping to keep PCP finance competitive (you can check the latest prices on our New Car Deals pages). That said, the Yaris Cross is expected to hold its very better than most.

Both versions of the S-Cross promise to be pretty efficient and cheap to run, officially managing 53-54mpg with front-wheel drive (AllGrip four-wheel-drive versions are in the high 40s). Even those highest figures aren’t as impressive as the Yaris Cross – a rival that also produces less CO2 emissions and will be cheaper to run as a company car.

The simple S-Cross range means that you only have two trim levels to choose from – Motion and Ultra – and both come well equipped. 

We’d stick with the entry-level Motion trim. It comes with everything you could need, including 17in alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, dual-zone air conditioning, keyless entry and start, blind-spot monitoring, roof rails, adaptive cruise control, heated seats and parking sensors.

Upgrading to Ultra trim adds AllGrip four-wheel drive, part-leather seats, a large panoramic sunroof, built-in sat-nav and a 360-degree parking camera.

The S-Cross wasn’t included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey as a model, but Suzuki as a brand performed very well, coming third out of the 31 manufacturers ranked. That’s above all its rivals (Nissan placed down in 28th place). 

Better still, every Suzuki car model comes with a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty if you have it serviced regularly at an official centre. That’s not as good as Toyota’s 10-year/100,000-mile warranty with the same stipulation, but far more generous than you’ll get with the small SUVs.

The S-Cross has not been tested for safety by Euro NCAP but the level of safety equipment that comes as standard is encouraging.

You get essentials including automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lots of airbags, plus blind-spot warning, lane-keeping assistance and intervention, and traffic-sign recognition. That’s a longer list of safety kit than most rivals offer.

"Suzuki’s high score in our reliability survey is a real draw, especially when combined with the S-Cross's generous warranty." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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