These two Suzuki Altos proved that smaller cars are also up to the task of tackling very long journeys, and provide excellent fuel economy in the bargain
In a marathon drive aimed at proving that smaller cars are not necessarily only for city use – they can also be easily and comfortably driven over longer distances – motoring journalists Allan Dick and Donn Anderson drove two Suzuki Altos over 3,380km in New Zealand.
Dick and Anderson each drove a Suzuki Alto (the car that’s sold as the Maruti A-Star in India) from Auckland to Invercargill, and then on to the Bluff, the most Southerly point, before making the return journey back to New Zealand’s largest city. One of the cars, which was equipped with a five-speed manual gearbox, returned 22.5km/l of fuel economy, while the other, fitted with a four-speed automatic transmission, did 20.4km/l.
‘There are plenty of New Zealanders who still think that you need a big car for journeys longer than going to the supermarket. We have just proved that any prejudices about small cars can be put aside,’ says Dick. ‘We did the Auckland to Wellington drive with the speedo needle sitting close to 100km/h all the way and were never passed by anything that wasn’t going in the opposite direction,’ he adds.
‘This was something of a marathon drive for a small car, and one that surprised many people. But the Altos took the journey in their stride and there is no doubt we could have taken a day less to complete the trip and still been in good shape,’ says Anderson. ‘We proved it was possible to get close to petrol/electric hybrid economy in a conventional car that carries a considerably lower price tag than those more complex vehicles,’ he adds.
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