Experience the Suzuki Fronx: the affordable crossover that breaks boundaries in style and performance

Suzuki sales have been a revelation in the last year or so, having cemented their second place in overall sales with continuing strong performances.

We recently had their best-selling Swift on test and thought it a good idea to have a closer look at their second most popular car, the Suzuki Fronx.

If you’re wondering about the name, Fronx is derived from two terms. The first is “Frontier”, which refers to both the way in which the vehicle crosses a frontier for Suzuki in this market segment and how its design crosses a frontier between SUV and coupe, and the second term is “X”, pointing to the crossover nature of the car.

Exterior

Built in India, the Fronx is certainly one of the better-looking SUVs on the road with some unique styling points.

They call it Crafted Futurism, and in the Fronx, it includes the swooping roofline, beefy wheelarches with 16-inch alloys, dual-layer front lights, roof rails, a rear roof-mounted spoiler with shark fin antennae and high-mounted daytime running lights and colour-matched side mirrors with built-in indicators.

In the top-tier GLX we had on test, the taillights are connected by an LED light bar that runs across the back of the car.  

In a nod to its SUV styling, it has silver front, side and rear skid plate garnishes.

Interior

The interior is roomy and well-appointed, and the seats are very comfortable.

It has a leather-clad flat-bottom steering wheel with buttons for the Bluetooth connection, audio controls and cruise control, which is a fantastic feature at this price point.

In the GLX model, you get keyless entry and push-button start, wireless charging and a head-up display, again, an impressive feature in this segment.

There are dual vanity mirrors with illumination in the sun visors, not something I regularly use, but definitely appreciated by my partner.

The nine-inch infotainment system provides decent resolution with a 360-degree composite video image from the front, side and rear-mounted cameras.

It’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible, and the wireless connectivity worked flawlessly every time I drove the car.

Passengers are taken care of with rear-seat ventilation as well as dual USB charging points.

With 304 litres of boot space (605 litres with the 60:40 rear seats down), it’s not the biggest in the segment but will carry shopping bags, school bags and sports kit without any trouble.

Engine

The Fronx is powered by Suzuki’s 1.5-litre petrol engine used in many of their other offerings, with 77kW and 138Nm of torque coupled to either a four-speed automatic transmission or, in this case, a five-speed manual gearbox, driving the front wheels.

The engine is perky and doesn’t mind being revved, but I do feel that a sixth gear, especially during highway driving, would add another dimension to the Fronx.

Driving

Still, it’s a fun car to drive and you can even try some dynamic driving without fearing for your life, especially through the first three gears, also helped by its relatively light weight of 1,010 kilograms. 

With four adults in the car, it does feel underpowered, though, and we needed all of its naturally aspirated power and some gear changes to climb a few steep suburban roads as well as highway elevations.

It’s not a deal breaker, though, and I found the overall experience very much to my liking with light steering, decent and comfortable handling and easy to park.

What I found impressive was the attention to noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) dampening.

At highway speeds, there’s a slight wind noise and over badly corrugated gravel roads, it keeps most of the rumble away from the cabin.

After a week of combined driving, I achieved consumption figures of 5.8l/100km, which is more than acceptable.

Safety

Safety-wise, all versions have dual airbags (the GLX model adds front side airbags and side curtain airbags), Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Hill Hold Control (HHC), ABS with EBD, and ISOFIX child seat anchors.

The Suzuki Fronx doesn’t pretend to be what it isn’t. Starting at R298,900, it’s a well-priced, good-looking car aimed at the young, young at heart and small families looking for something that’s not a same-same-looking cookie-cutter SUV with decent ergonomics and good fuel economy. 

It comes with a five-year/200,000 km promotional mechanical warranty and a four-year/60,000km service plan. A five-year roadside assistance plan and a six-year unlimited kilometre anti-corrosion warranty are also part of the purchase price.