Suzuki Wagon R 2003 test drive - 2007 hatchback

The car will move ...

A couple of weeks ago in Germany, I almost got under the car. Not noticing in a dense city stream the miniature Suzuki Wagon R+stealing along the sidewalk.
Motorists of this class came to Europe from Asia - primarily from Japan, where Suzuki Wagon R has been produced since 1993. True, the Japanese version is slightly different from the European and not only externally - there the buyer can choose a car with a liter turbocharged engine and all -wheel drive. Similar Mikrovenins began to produce in South Korea - this is Hyundai Atos and Daewoo Matiz.
In European car dealerships, the Wagon R Mikrovenn has been demonstrated for many years in a row, but the later version conquered Europe - Wagon R+ or, as it is also called, Wagon Wide. A couple of years ago, Europeans realized that Suzuki firmly settled in this niche - even specially built a plant in Hungary, where Mikroven's European version was produced. It was such a car that visited the autopilot test.
PRINCESS ON THE PEA. This is a purely utilitarian, typical city car, about which even sellers say that it is ladies. Usually they try to refrain from such categorical, but there can be no two opinions regarding Suzuki Wagon R+.
For all its utilitarianism and a fairly simple design - even panels, a rather traditional form of the front and rear lights - Suzuki Wagon R+ has a bright and memorable appearance. First of all, thanks to a slightly disproportionate (from the point of view of classical automotive) forms. A tall body with large side glasses and modest wheel arches rests on small wheels and with all its appearance causes a feeling of tenderness, characteristic of most of the beautiful half of society.
Ladies will probably like a high landing of the driver in combination with a small road clearance and a wide front door. This allows you to maintain a sense of confidence even in those critical moments when in public you need to leave your car. The shortest skirt will not put its owner in a sensitive position - it is enough to turn slightly towards the street and just lower your legs on the asphalt.
Do not offend the little ones. Miracles in terms of dynamics from Wagon R+ no one expects - the car is not the same class. The manufacturer is tactfully silent about acceleration to 100 km/h, and according to our approximate calculations, he approaches 18 seconds.
Acceleration of a car with an automatic gearbox occurs in two stages. Up to 40-50 km/h, Wagon R+ accelerates quite evenly, only the engine howles great when the speed exceeds 4 thousand. Then the failure occurs, and in order to cut off the Wagon R+ up to 100 km/h, it takes time.
By the way, in the right corner of the speedometer, the number 200 proudly flaunts. This is the result of standardization - the same device block is installed on other Suzuki models, but the speedometer arrow on Wagon R+ will never reach this mark. It seemed to us that 145 km/h - the figure is also a little high. Already at a speed of 80 km/h, the trunk begins to come an aerodynamic noise resembling the work of a broken bearing.
All mA unexpectedly turned out to be the fact that Wagon R+ was very stable in steep turns. Naturally, despite the small stroke of the suspension, with a sharp laying of the steering wheel, a fairly noticeable side roll occurs, but no more. When accelerating or braking in the turn, the little car does not seek to break into the side skid and behaves quite worthy.
Thanks to the steering mechanism and a small diameter of the turn from the curb to the curb, Suzuki Wagon R+ is very easily climbing in a dense city stream and parks on small heels inaccessible to full -sized sedans. Parking is facilitated by large rear review mirrors and large rear windows. There are no problems, as with full -sized minivans.
HOLY SIMPLICITY. Salon in Suzuki Wagon R+ is simple, but very functional and, most importantly, quite spacious. Significant savings in the internal space are achieved, firstly, due to the design of the seats-they are much thinner than the usual, but they do not cause inconvenience to the driver and passengers. On the front seats, there is even a similarity of lateral support. Secondly, the gas tank is placed lying under the rear seats. As a result, not only the space is released, but the rear passengers are sitting as if on the catwalk - 10 cm above the driver. At the same time, even two adult passengers are enough for living space - the ceiling in Mikroveng is high, even too much. The rear sofa can be decomposed in a ratio of 50:50. In this case, the trunk volume increases so much that a standard -size washing machine will fit in it. For such a baby - not bad at all.
We did not find any special delights in the design and configuration of the front panel - it is made of plastic, the details are tightly and well fitted. The set of devices is standard - tachometer, speedometer, fuel level sensors and coolant temperature. The stove control unit is quite original - if you pull the stove temperature switch, the air conditioner is turned on. The rear window heater works similarly, just pull the fan speed switch.
How big. We foresee some misunderstandings from many of our readers - why pay almost $ 15 thousand?
If you carefully study the list of additional equipment that was installed on our Wagon R+, then many questions are removed. Judge for yourself - alloy wheels, rear spoiler. This is for diet. Overdrive, air conditioning, electric mirrors and fingers of the front doors. This is for convenience. Two airbags and ABS system - you yourself understand why.
On our test there was a car from the first batch, which was purchased in Hungary for certification. After the Suzuki Wagon R+ will be officially recognized by the Russian market, we should expect a reduction in the price of a car in a similar configuration by $ 1-1.5 thousand. If you exclude Airbag for a passenger, ABS and air conditioning, then the price can be kept at a level of $ 10 --11 thousand
The success of Suzuki Wagon R+ in Europe led to the fact that they will now sell his version under the Opel Agila brand. In principle, the same Wagon R+ only with Opel engines. I wonder if at least one of them will take root on our streets?

Text Nikolay Kachurin, photo Alexey Ilyin
 

Source: "Autopilot"