Small cars are compara­tively affordable and for­giving of rookie drivers, making them the best choice when choosing one’s very first four-wheeler. Suzuki have dominated this segment for long. Right from the Maruti 800, to the Alto, A-Star, Ritz, and now the Celerio, their prowess in the small car seg­ment is unprecedented. Fur­ther, Suzuki has always insisted that an overlapping product range is better than losing a sale to a competitor; and this mentality has made life diffi­cult for other brands. Celerio has been a popular offering from Suzuki in Nepal since 2014. Now, the Celerio also comes as Celerio X—a crossover that will lock horns with the likes of the Mahindra KUV100 and the Renault Kwid. Read on to find out how it fares in our test drive.

 

Exterior

 

The dimensions remain pretty much the same, with a slight increment in height and length. The tried and tested formula of adding cosmetic changes to make a simple hatchback look more utilitar­ian has been implemented in the Celerio X as well. The new all-black grille with honeycomb maze pattern and a black hous­ing for the fog lamps make a sort of ‘X’ in the front. Other crossover elements come in the form of black cladding around the wheel arches and across the doors. Although built to look like a crossover, the ground clearance remains the same at 165mm.

 

Overall, in terms of the aesthetics, it is a significant upgrade. The dual tone exte­riors, new bumpers, six spoke alloys, and the claddings do a great job of giving the Celerio X character. But it has to be said, we definitely dig the paprika orange color over the caffeine brown that we test drove.

 

Interiors

 

It’s an all black affair inside the cabin with white accents and patterned seats with orange highlights. There is adequate storage space for your bottles and knick-knacks and the instrument console is pretty straightforward. You get Bluetooth connectivity and the speakers do a pretty decent job for a vehicle in this segment.

 

The seats are super comfort­able, and cabin space for rear seat passengers are surpris­ingly good. We were able to get three large, well-fed adults in the back seat without much of a fuss.

 

Performance

 

The 998 cc petrol three-cyl­inder engine generates 67 bhp at 6,000 rpm and 90 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm. Regard­less, you will be pleasantly surprised at how the Celerio X performs on flat tarmac. Give it some gas and it happily surges forward. It might not make for a blistering starts and it won’t be winning many drag races; but with its light weight, peppy engine and easy maneuverabil­ity, it has the daily city runs in the bag. It does begin to strug­gle when you point it up a mod­erately steep incline and load it to full capacity, but there is only so much that you can ask from a 998cc engine. Even on the highways, the Celerio X performs to satisfaction as long as you push the rev happy engine. A warning: this is not its strongest suit.

 

City driving, though, is a joy with the Celerio X. It makes easy work of heavy traffic thanks to its nimble handling and radius of 4.7 meters. Mak­ing U-turns and parking is also hassle free. The Celerio X draws very little criticism when it comes to traversing in the urban jungles of Kathmandu.

 

The verdict

 

Keep in mind the segment that the Celerio X caters to and you’ll find that it scores high in almost every aspect. The aesthetic upgrades have enhanced the simple Celerio, and it should do a good job of attracting younger drivers. Cabin space and comfort are surprisingly good for the seg­ment, and the same goes for the features and styling.

 

When it comes to perfor­mance, it does what it’s sup­posed to. The rev-happy engine will get you around town eas­ily. If need be, it will soldier through the highways as well. For city dwellers, the Celerio X is a very desirable package.

 

However, the AMT version would have been the cherry on top, had CG Moto Corp decided to bring it into Nepal. Taking away the hassle of changing gears would make this car pretty close to perfect, whether it’s lazily trudging in bumper-to-bumper traffic or scurrying through the city roads.