Suzuki Wagon R 2003 test drive - 2007 hatchback
City +
A modern city car must satisfy a lot of conflicting requirements. It should be compact outside and spacious inside, dynamic and easy to control, while ensuring active and passive safety, functional, but with a pronounced personality. Economical - of course. All this is difficult to combine into one whole. But sometimes it succeeds ... Honestly, I am not a fan of small city cars, for the most part they are dull monotonous - the shape and design are clamped by hard functionality, the chassis is constructed for the sake of compactness, and the small super -economic weak motorchildren even evoke a longing.
It was with this mood that I approached the car dealership, where I was supposed to receive for the Suzuki Wagon R+test. However, already at the first glance at the machine (otherwise you can’t say), longing was dispelled.
Outwardly, Wagon R+ turned out to be very pretty. This impression did not spoil even the cubicity of the shape of the body, the height of which is greater than the width - you will not blame the car for the absence of individuality. A dynamic sidewall, slanting headlights, a predatory front bumper and 14-inch alloy wheels work on the image of a sort of peppy cord.
Recently, many manufacturers have been guided by their small city models to female buyers, emphasizing this with a kind of design - a man who controls such a machine looks somewhat defiant. This can not be said about Wagon R+, anyone will look appropriate for his wheel.
It should be noted that Suzuki Wagon R+ was originally created for the internal Japanese market - there are owners of short cars that occupy little space in the parking lot, use tax benefits. And the body was clearly formed from engineering-utilitarian rather than aesthetic reasons. But it turned out quite successfully, the model is well exported. Moreover, it is sold in Europe and in versions from Opel and Vauxhall - under the name Agila ...
It's time to get acquainted with Wagon R+ closer. I turn the key in the castle of the driver's door, open it ... However, it is strange, the rest remained locked. Is there no central castle here? But the car is in the richest configuration, including a complete electric package and air conditioning. Finally, I notice a button on the driver's door panel ... Now it’s clear-when you alone in some unpleasant place get into the car, an uninvited passenger will not approach you (especially actively for female drivers).
The convenience of the entrance-exit is beyond praise: the low threshold and a high doorway allow you to perform this procedure without bending and without fear of getting dirty. Ergonomic and German harsh seats have a sufficient range of adjustments along the length and angle of the back of the back. Landing is almost vertical in the battles, it has its advantages: I sit high - I look far away, which makes it possible to rebuild in the traffic in time.
Under the front seats there are comfortable drawers, in which you can fold any little thing - usually it just lying under the chair and rolls out at the most inopportune moment.
The steering wheel has a convenient section and is located at the optimal angle, but if its position does not like it, nothing can be done - there are no adjustments. The front panel is made of high -quality, pleasant to the touch plastic. The instrument shield is simple and concise: a speedometer, a tachometer (its presence is not enough - the transmission is automatic), as well as the indicators of the fuel level and the temperature of the coolant. The readings of all devices are well read. Microclimate control is carried out using a single rotating pen. In the usual position, it regulates the temperature of the air coming from the stove, and if the handle is pulled over, the air conditioner will turn on, it copes well with its duties, but somewhere in its bowels the shutters are quite noisy, and nevertheless it penetrates the recirculation mode. External air. The outer light is controlled by the rotating pen to the left of the steering wheel, it also turns on the inner light - it is enough to pull it over. Everything is like Opel cars.
Access to the rear row of seats is quite convenient, but only two people can freely accommodate there, the three of them are already crowded. If in front - a person in 180 cm tall, the back of the seat, sitting from the back, will have to hug the back of the seat in front of him. But in height, the supply is simply huge. The trunk is not very large, the maximum large sports bag will fit, but if you fold the rear seat, it is quite possible to transport medium sizes a refrigerator.
On the go, I expected problems, because Until now, I have not come across machine guns that would well work in a pair with a small engine (the engine at the Wagon R+ four -cylinder, with a volume of 1.3 liters and a capacity of 75 hp). But already going beyond the gates of the cabin, I realized that there will be no particular difficulties in relationships. Wagon R+ smoothly touches immediately after releasing the brake pedal, and then very accurately and without delay reacts to the movements of the gas pedal. If you accelerate smoothly, switching occur in the region of 3000 rpm. And the motor does not annoy with its sound if you pushing the pedal to the floor (kick-down), the box, after a little thought, sticks a low gear, and the engine is spinning to more than five thousand. The dynamics at the same time - at a pretty decent level, you can make a laugh in the stream, and even the first to leave the traffic light.
It should be noted that the motor is spinning so eagerly that you involuntarily recall the famous Suzuki sports bikes. True, at high speeds, he buzzes so that it already interferes with a calm conversation in the cabin.
When driving in a traffic jam in Stop & Go mode during braking, the machine is quite rigidly disconnects the engine and transmission, which is accompanied by a tangible impetus, and on the highway with alternating small slopes and lifts at a constant speed of about 120 km/h plays third and fourth gears. There is, however, the Overdrive -off mode, which turns off the fourth gear, but at the same time the engine works at maximum speeds - with the sound mentioned above. In general, the engine occupies a leading position in the cabin in the cabin, in second place - strikes on the arches of sand and pebbles from under the wheels (she did not interfere with liners), on the third - aerodynamic noises that wake up at a speed of 110-120 km/h.
The Wagon R+ suspension is hard and energy -intensive, due to which good handling and small rolls are provided in corners, which is very important for a fairly high car. For this you have to pay shaking on irregularities and an excessive repetition of the profile of the road. In case of exceeding the permissible speed of turning the R+, it behaves very reliably: the front line smoothly slides out, and responds to the discharge of gas to a smaller radius. At the same time, thanks to small rolls, there are no concerns that the machine can turn over.
The steering has an electric amplifier whose degree of assistance varies depending on the speed of movement. So, during parking, the efforts are minimal, and with an increase in speed, a noticeable returning point appears (its value could be made more). The brakes are very effective, but due to a powerful amplifier, tender handling of the pedal is required. However, you quickly get used to the features of management.
So what is Suzuki Wagon R+? City car? Yes, sure. A spacious interior, convenient entrance-output, high landing with excellent visibility, a resourceful economical motor, a good machine gun ... but there is an interesting moment. You may have noticed that in the course of the test to Wagon R+ there were some complaints. But they do not relate to the city modes of movement! And they arose only because the Wagon R+, as it turned out, does not mind that he was withdrawn from the city. And are there any claims? The motor is noisy - this is at speeds per hundred. The machine plays with gear - the same thing. Stones knock on arches - so there are no stones in the city. The rest is quite a suburban car. It would be nice only to change the name, Wagon R+ sounds somehow clumsy. Ophevskoye - Agila (from English Agile - Night, Fast, Mobile) - of course, more suitable. But since it has already been used, I propose something else - the city plus.
Text: Alexander Nadens
A source: Motor magazine [No. 10/2000]
