SUZUKI ACROSS
Our SUV’s long-term test is up, so did this £45,599 Toyota clone justify its price and rebadging or is it another me-too PHEV?
FETURED THIS WEEK
BMW 128ti
MINI CONVERTIBLE
SKODA OCTAVIA vRS
SUZUKI ACROSS
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI
FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 12,938
WHY WE RAN IT
To find out if this plug-in hybrid can eclipse its higher-profile donor model
More than 10,000 miles ago, when our time with the Across began, I’ll admit that I didn’t know quite what this long-term test might hold. I’ve reported on SUVs on these pages before; plug-in hybrids, too, as well as several other cars of a comparable price. So this one should have been more of a known quantity for me, but there was something about the conf luence of all those factors – on a Suzuki – that threw me.
Now that the test has finished, and I’ve gradually driven my way through the mystery and quirkiness of the Across, it’s the way that this car deals with the everyday routine of life that I’ll miss most about it. It takes you a while to notice this because at first you’re preoccupied with the novelty of driving a 300-horsepower electrified family car that almost nobody recognises. It’s amusing to watch people trying to work out exactly what it is in their rear-view mirror, or when strolling past along the pavement. Funnier still when they’re trying to do that after a green traffic light, as you’re disappearing into the middle distance on another one of its 6.0sec 0-60mph runs.