Suzuki Alto 8

Have you ever noticed that most cars are getting bigger and bigger? Whether to increase internal space, accomodate stronger structures, or just to comply with their latest design languages, most automakers are producing taller, wider and longer cars. There are exceptions, of course, but the vast majority is concentrated to few markets. One of them is Japan, more specifically regarding its kei cars. Since that country has very strict regulations for dimensions and engines, the only way to improve those is making them more efficient. This is exactly what Suzuki has just done.

Considering that most kei cars are never taken outside their homeland, those who live in any other country shouldn’t feel surprised for not having heard about Alto ever before. On the other hand, the other group apparently can’t get enough of it: Suzuki claims to have sold more than 4.8 millions of this vehicle only in Japan, over 35 years. To use the words chosen for its press release, “it is a model that represents Japanese minicars”. This automobile’s résumé includes two and four-door versions, a couple of quite interesting sporty versions, a set of visual recreations which made their best to keep it up with each moment’s trends, and even the Hustle version, whose Popemobile-like shape was intended to satisfy small companies or groups of friends just as well.

Before making judgements about Alto’s new design, one has to remember that this car is focused on being small and efficient in the same proportion. The necessity of dedicating as much room as possible to the cabin led to front and rear overhangs almost non-existent. Since the front air intake was displaced to the bumper, the upper part received a decorative one which reminds of the Brazilian Fiat Uno’s. While the headlights’ two-dimensional design can lead to think of vehicles from the 1980s, the tail lights were taken to the bumper and made as tiny as possible, in order to optimize the trunk lid. When it comes to the central section, the spotlights might become divided between the huge wheelbase and the strong ascendence of the windows’ base line.

Such concern with increasing the cabin also leads to a very discreet dashboard. Instead of dazzling customers with a huge touchscreen, the new Alto honors its low-cost roots by bringing only necessary equipments. A/C and stereo are controlled by tiny, monochromatic displays; “two-tone coating” is a second color thrown at the air vents and at a strip of the dashboard; the instrument cluster has only one analogic unit; and the chrome inserts were reduced to a minimum. But its four occupants will enjoy all the space provided by the new 2,460-mm wheelbase, and the higher safety standards brought by the adoption of some modern-day electronic systems, and a new platform designed with more rigidity and fewer parts.

Those who liked Alto so far will have reasons to smile for a little longer: that platform is also the responsible for a total weight as small as 610 kg (60 kg less than the previous generation’s), along with 37 kpl of fuel consumption – according to Suzuki, “the lowest (…) among non-hybrid gasoline vehicle in Japan”. This is what happens when you take the three-cylinder 0.66 engine, which can use CVT or five manual speeds, and front-wheel-drive or AWD. If you prefer to drive somewhat faster, there’s also an Alto for you: the RS Turbo variation was released a few weeks later, and features a turbocharged version of the same propeller, which reaches 64 cv of power and 10 kgfm of torque, and uses a semi-automatic transmission.