Suzuki's first 21st century sedanl

Suzuki’s first sedan of the 21st century, the new four-door Suzuki Liana, is set to enhance the overall appeal of the marque, giving customers a choice between the hatchback and the saloon version. It replaces the Suzuki Baleno.

The new car was first seen at the Geneva Motor Show in March and it comes to Ireland with a choice of 1.3-litre and 1.6-litre aluminium engines.

It will compete in the cut throat C-Segment of the market which accounts for 32% of all car registrations. Within this segment, saloon or 4-door cars account for 25% of the total segment.

At the Irish launch of the new Suzuki Liana Sedan earlier this month, Niall O’Gorman of Suzuki Ireland said they hope to sell in excess of 500 units of all Liana models a year.

On a fairly long run on the launch day three of us found the 1.6-litre to be a very comfy car to travel over long distance, with a capable suspension. The engine was well tested through the Silvermines and then on the back roads through Templemore up to Rathdowney in Co Laois before taking the main road home.

It proved that it could cope well with different types of road surface and even despite its height, didn’t exhibit too much body roll on the twisty parts.

On our trip back down to earth from a high viewing point up the Silvermines we had to brake on gravel to make room for an oncoming vehicle and the ABS reminded us that it comes as standard on the 1.6-litre car.

The Liana has a pretty high roof line which contributes to a feeling of space in the cabin. A 6ft driver has inches to spare! Seats are positioned high in the cabin, giving great visibility all round.
This was further enhanced by the positioning of the A & C pillars.

The boot is spacious with a low floor to ensure ease of loading or unloading. Rear seats come with a 55:45 split allowing for extra baggage space or to allow long items be passed into the cabin area.

One gripe common to all Suzukis sold in Ireland is the Panasonic radio which is fiddley and distracting to use. If such radios are to be provided (and fiddley radios are not just a Suzuki problem) they should be marked clearly ‘to be operated only by a passenger’.

However, I especially liked the large sun shade dotted area above the rear mirror and the user friendly digital display of the instruments which gives the speed in large orange coloured figures.

Also appreciated when it came to making a coffee stop were the trays below the front seats which easily fitted some extra items we didn’t want to leave on view.

The specification for the 1.3-litre model includes twin airbags, electric windows and mirrors, and central locking, while the 1.6-litre GLX model has in addition, side airbags, air conditioning and ABS as standard.

Prices for both 4-door models are the same as the hatchback models. The 1.3 GL has an ex works price of 17,314 euros; the Liana 1.6-litre GLX is priced at 19,879 euros. That compares with 17,374 for a 1.4-litre 5-door Focus entry level and 19,811 euros for the 1.6-litre 4-door LX Focus.

Colours are available in grove green pearl metallic, silky silver metallic and bluish black pearl. The 1.6-litre also comes in cassis red pearl.

The Liana Sedan returns a fuel consumption of 42.1mpg for the 1.3 and 38.1mpg for the 1.6.

May 2002

by Trish Whelan