2025 Suzuki Fronx review

7NEWS

6 days ago

What the Fronx?
Suzuki puts it right out there in its own advertising. It's a silly name, Fronx, which apparently is short for 'Frontier crossover'.
But just what the Fronx is the Suzuki Fronx?
It's a new light SUV from Suzuki, just under 4m long. That makes it almost 300mm longer than the defunct Ignis, but 200mm shorter than the Toyota Yaris Cross.
It slots in under the Vitara, and is also a replacement of sorts for the Baleno. Like that hatchback, it's sourced from India, and it actually shares its platform with the latest version of the Baleno, which was axed here in 2022.
It slots into a Suzuki SUV lineup that's in flux. The Ignis is out the door, the S-Cross doesn't look far behind it, and the outgoing Vitara is in runout mode with an update on the horizon – except in Queensland, where it's been axed.
It's been a long wait for the Fronx, which was first revealed back in January 2023.
Suzuki Queensland said this mild-hybrid 1.5-litre four-cylinder version was the first made available to our market.
We attended Suzuki Queensland's launch of the Fronx in Brisbane to see if this light SUV was worth the wait.
How much does the Suzuki Fronx cost?
There's just one well-equipped version of the Fronx, priced at $28,990 before on-road costs nationwide.
That's quite a bit more expensive than the old Baleno, but there's also quite a bit more standard equipment here.
To get a similarly equipped Kia Stonic or Hyundai Venue, you're looking at paying at least $1000 more.
Still, when you can get a Chery Tiggo 4 or Mahindra XUV 3XO for under $24,000 drive-away with much of the equipment found here, it's clear Suzuki is banking on buyers wanting to pony up the extra cash for a more familiar, trusted nameplate.
What is the Suzuki Fronx like on the inside?
The interior is familiar Suzuki, for better or worse.
You'll see some items either new to the brand in Australia or only seen on the S-Cross, such as a head-up display, an electric park brake, and a surround-view camera.
There's a lot of familiar switchgear, which is no bad thing. For one, this means actual buttons and switches, in stark contrast to rival Chinese SUVs in which so many functions are buried in touchscreen menus.
Actual physical climate controls? Yes please! Also, to make things even easier for, shall we say, more seasoned Fronx owners, a lot of buttons have large fonts and icons on them. You won't miss the fuel filler door release on the right-hand side of the steering wheel, for example.
The only touch controls are the shortcuts for home and volume under the well-sized 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen.
The touchscreen has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and a home screen with movable widgets. Here's where you can view fuel economy information, though to reset this you still have to press an old-school button on the end of a stick within the instrument cluster.
The cluster has a colour screen between two simple, legible analogue gauges. It's not ultra-modern, but it all works well.
A head-up display is projected onto a piece of clear plastic that rises up from the dashboard, much like you'll find in the likes of the Mazda CX-3 and Kia Seltos.
There's a wireless charging pad at the base of the centre stack, plus two well-positioned cupholders.
The heated seats oddly have only one stage of heating, but the front seats themselves are comfortable with a mix of leatherette and fabric upholstery. They're soft but supportive.
The centre console is low, but features a storage bin with a padded armrest. A wireless phone charger sits at the base of the centre stack, along with a 12V outlet and a USB-A outlet.
There are well-sized bottle holders in each door, and two well-positioned cupholders in the centre console. Suzuki has also included a cubby to the right-hand side of the steering wheel, though given it has no lid we can't imagine what you'd put here.
From a useability point of view, then, the Fronx interior generally does well. From a design point of view, it already looks rather dated and built to a price, though it does at least feel well put together.
Suzuki has tried to dress up the dashboard, centre console and doors with some unconvincing metallic and gloss black trim, though the mandatory black-and-red colourway is more appealing. Some weren't a fan at the launch, but I'll take a splash of colour over black-on-black-on-black anyday.
Everything is hard plastic apart from the leatherette inserts on the doors, though that's not unusual for this segment. It's a bit annoying, though, to find three prominent blank buttons on the centre console when this is supposed to be a top-spec model.
Step into the back seat and someone 180cm tall can sit comfortably behind themselves, with an impressive amount of legroom for something just 4m long. Headroom is good too, though the roofline does drop down a bit which makes it feel slightly claustrophobic.
There's no fold-down centre armrest or air vents back here, but you get bottle holders in the doors plus a pair of USB outlets.
There are three top-tether anchor points for child seats, plus ISOFIX points for the outboard seats.
The rear seats split and fold 60:40, allowing you to expand the boot space. There's also a split-level boot floor, though disappointingly there's no spare under here – just a tyre repair kit.
What's under the bonnet?
Just one powertrain is offered in Australia: a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with a mild-hybrid system. Sadly, we miss out on the 1.0-litre turbo three-pot offered overseas.
Over a mix of inner-city, suburban and highway driving across the launch drive, we averaged 6.8L/100km.
How does the Suzuki Fronx drive?
Much as the interior offers a familiar Suzuki experience but with some new technology, so too does the drive experience.
The mild-hybrid system doesn't allow the vehicle to drive purely on electric power like a hybrid or plug-in hybrid, but it does smooth out the engine stop/start system, making it much less jerky than the setups from some rival brands.
The Fronx uses the brand's new 'SHVS' mild-hybrid system, in which an integrated starter generator (ISG) replaces the alternator. During deceleration, power generated from ISG is stored in a 12V lithium-ion battery.
While Suzuki says this provides power assistance to the engine, we wonder how much more sluggish the Fronx would be without the MHEV setup because, well, she ain't quick.
The Fronx would benefit from one of Suzuki's peppy turbocharged engines, because it feels lethargic.
Even a CVT or manual could help wring out the most of this small engine, as the six-speed auto only serves to emphasise the Fronx's sluggishness.
The drive route took us up some steep grades where it struggled. Flicking it to Sport made it noisier but scarcely more responsive. You can manually change gears via paddles behind the steering wheel.
A motorway jaunt revealed the Fronx isn't dangerously underpowered, as we were able to overtake without breaking into a cold sweat, but the Fronx is more urban runabout than highway cruiser.
It is fairly quiet and settled at highway speeds, however, and the adaptive cruise control works well. Without setting the cruise, though, we noticed in highway driving it would shuffle between fifth and sixth gear repeatedly.
Ride comfort is up to class standards. The Fronx features torsion-beam suspension at the rear like many rivals, but bumps are well-absorbed.
Alas, steering feels a bit disconnected. The weighting seems fine at first, being neither too heavy nor too light, but it's uncommunicative. It's a shame, as Suzuki knows how to make an SUV that's engaging to drive – just look at the Vitara.
Throw it into a corner and the Fronx feels fairly sorted, with body roll well-controlled – this doesn't feel like an SUV, thanks to its low centre of gravity. But between the so-so steering and sluggish engine, there's not a lot of fun to be had here.
This isn't intended to be a pocket rocket, but we know Suzuki is capable of making a more engaging vehicle.
Like the Vitara, there's an annoying 'M' position on the shifter which you are guaranteed to accidentally select when looking for Drive. Once you hear the engine revving its guts out in first, you'll know to quickly move the shifter back to D.
Unlike many Chinese rivals, the active safety and driver assist features are well-calibrated. The lane-keep assist gives the steering a gentle nudge if you're drifting towards a lane marking, but it never feels overbearing.
There's no driver monitoring system or overspeed alert to bing and bong at you incessantly, either.
Kudos to Suzuki for fitting a surround-view camera system, but the resolution is among the worst on the market. Rivals like GWM have nothing to worry about here.
What do you get?
There's just one grade of Fronx available.
2025 Suzuki Fronx equipment highlights:
Multi-reflector automatic LED headlights
16-inch alloy wheels
Tyre repair kit
Power-folding exterior mirrors
Proximity entry with push-button start
Electric parking brake
Auto hold
Head-up display
4.2-inch instrument cluster screen
9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
Wireless, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Wireless phone charger
6-speaker sound system
Fabric and leatherette upholstery
Heated front seats
Height-adjustable front seat
Power windows
Leather-wrapped steering wheel
Tilt and telescopic adjustment
Automatic air-conditioning
Illuminated vanity mirrors
Centre console bin with armrest
Removable luggage board
Is the Suzuki Fronx safe?
The Suzuki Fronx has yet to be assessed by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.
Standard safety equipment includes:
Autonomous emergency braking
Adaptive cruise control
Blind-spot monitoring
Lane-keep assist
Rear cross-traffic alert
Traffic sign recognition
Surround-view camera
Front and rear parking sensors
Front, front-side and curtain airbags
How much does the Suzuki Fronx cost to run?
Suzuki has confirmed the Fronx will be covered by five years or 75,000km of capped-price servicing.
In Queensland, these services are capped at $319, $349, $579, $349 and $319, respectively.
Suzuki Australia has published slightly different service prices – $329, $399, $549, $399 and $329, respectively.
CarExpert's Take on the Suzuki Fronx
Suzuki is counting on buyers in one of the most price-conscious segments in the Australian new-car market to spend more for a vehicle that's smaller and less powerful than many Chinese and Indian small SUVs.
It's an uphill struggle for a vehicle that struggles uphill.
To be perfectly frank about the Fronx, it lacks the zippiness of many of its rivals thanks to a tardy powertrain, while its price is relatively high – even if it does have a good amount of standard safety tech.
But it also has plenty of attributes that will appeal to buyers. It comes with Suzuki's reputation for reliability, a sturdy and no-nonsense feel, plenty of logically laid out physical controls, and a suite of safety technology that won't drive you nuts with binging and bonging.
For those who want more kit than a base Venue or Stonic and who don't yet trust a Chinese or Indian budget brand, the Fronx makes a solid case for itself. We just wish it had more of Suzuki's spunkiness, and a lower price.
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Pros
User-friendly interior
Plenty of safety tech, and it's well-calibrated
Cute styling
Cons
Pricier than key rivals
Lethargic powertrain
Dated interior