Exterior

The car is tall, boxy and features upright pillars and high-set bonnet—important credentials in SUV design. The S-Presso wears chunky cladding on the lower portion of the bumper to add some mass to the design and it works to an extent. But we recommend you pay extra to add more cladding on the car. The four slot grille has a big Suzuki logo at the center and is flanked by angular headlights, which make for an appealing fascia. The profile of the S-Presso is simple without looking boring, and the height just about right when viewed from the side (except for an element that sticks out like a sore thumb, which we’ll get to later). On the rear, the tail-lights are simple to look at. You’ll find plenty of cladding on the rear bumper but, again, we recommend kitting the S-Presso out with a roof spoiler and skid plates.

Let’s address the only negative aspect about the S-Presso look. The car has been given huge squarish wheel arches with exaggerated height, causing a massive gap between the wheel and the rest of the body. It tries to look like an SUV, and yet the square shape makes the already small wheel look much smaller. You get 13 inch wheels on the regular car and 14 inch on the VXI+. And sadly, no alloy wheels even on the top variant. The wheel well itself is without cladding, and so looks crude and unfinished. Really, in an otherwise great design pack, the overly small wheels are the only things that don’t quite fit in.

Interior

The Suzuki S-Presso comes with a speedometer, not in the conventional position behind the steering wheel, but atop the circular center console that looks like a work-in-progress console taken from the Mini Cooper. The big font of the digital speedometer makes it easy to read but the odometer isn’t quite as legible and there’s no tachometer. The circular center console is also home to the infotainment system. Top-spec models feature Suzuki’s latest Smart Play Studio unit that houses a 7.0-inch touchscreen unit. The screen is responsive and gets you Android Auto and Apple Car Play. Below the console are the knobs and buttons for the manual AC and heater.

The rear-seat experience is surprisingly good. The flat seat is more supportive than it looks and even 6ft tall occupants will find sufficient head and knee room at the back. There’s enough space to tuck your feet under the front seats, which also increases comfort. But the rear works best for two occupants; the cabin isn’t wide enough to seat three abreast in comfort. The S-Presso’s boot is rated at 240-liter but it certainly seems larger. There is plenty of room for luggage and you’ll be pleased with how much you can fit at the back. The high lip and low boot floor make loading heavy luggage a bit of a task though.

Performance

Does the S-Presso give you the feeling of an SUV? A resounding yes… The seating position on the S-Presso mimics a full size SUV; you sit high up with a wide view of the road. You can see the entire bonnet of the car clearly from end to end which eliminates the guesswork maneuvering that’s evident in a sedan or a hatchback, and makes navigating the S-Presso an absolute breeze, even in the narrowest gullies. Due to this alone, the Suzuki S-Presso is an instant recommendation for new drivers as we know how difficult it is to drive a car when you’re still in that beginner phase. New drivers will feel covered in a blanket of confidence behind the steering wheel of the S-Presso, encouraging them to drive without the risk of unknowingly scraping their car on tight turns.

The S-Presso is powered by a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission that makes 68hp and 90Nm of torque. By no means SUV standard, but, again, more than enough for inner city commute. The K10 engine was already refined to begin with and the hardware upgrades required for BS6 emission norms have made this little oil burner run quieter, with the idle being almost silent. Power delivery is smooth and the engine pulls cleanly even from a lower rev range. However, be ready to drop a gear and mash the gas if you’re aiming for a quick overtake on the highways.

Verdict

Yes, it drives on awfully small tires, it isn’t as practical as an original SUV, it doesn’t have any on-road or off-road performance like an SUV... and certainly no 4WD system. But as a means of giving you the SUV feel and providing that command on the road, starting at just Rs 22.99 lakhs, Suzuki seems to have hit the nail square on the head with the S-Presso. An excellent choice for people looking to get their very first SUV.