{"id":2821,"date":"2017-02-16T04:48:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T04:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2017-02-16T05:13:26","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T05:13:26","slug":"review-suzuki-celerio-zooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/review-suzuki-celerio-zooms\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW | Suzuki Celerio zooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

First thought to come to mind when I first saw the Suzuki Celerio 1.0 CVT (unit for testing delivered at Axis Residences in Mandaluyong City): This is one small car. And this, of course, goes without saying, considering that this is a hatchback (HB), what is now a \u201cregular\u201d\/\u201cnorm\u201d as far as city driving is concerned.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Look-wise, the Celerio isn\u2019t necessarily bad looking, even if it\u2019s NOT a traffic-stopping beauty either. The front has sexy angles (i.e. \u201cpetite\u201d comes to mind), complete with a grille (with the \u201cS\u201d logo) giving it some character. The back is boxy, perhaps as expected from a HB, even if it reminded me too much of the back of the not-that-sexy Toyota Wigo.<\/p>\n

I only stand at 174 cms tall, but standing beside Celerio, I was already repeatedly told that the car wasn\u2019t \u201cbagay<\/em> (Filipino word for \u2018suitable\u2019)\u201d for me. It was, I was told, \u201ctoo small a car (even if only in appearance) for big\/somewhat big people\u201d like me.<\/p>\n

But the seeming smallness of the car is somewhat contradicted when you go inside, with lots of leg room for those in front (the driver included) and for three to four (admittedly slim) passengers at the back. Inside the Celerio, it almost felt like being in a mini-sedan\/sedan; even if you know that outside, you may appear like those clowns being stuffed in a mini car.<\/p>\n

Inside, there are also some basics, including A\/C, dual airbags, ABS, keyless entry, AM\/FM radio, CD player, four speakers, USB\/AUX input, and power windows, among others. Aside from the alloy wheels, a full-size spare wheel is under a trunk liner.<\/p>\n

Now this may sound like I\u2019m nitpicking, but Celerio doesn\u2019t have the touchscreen capabilities of \u2013 say \u2013 Ciaz. Considering the growing dependence on Waze (and similar apps), this is immediately felt because of the need to use one\u2019s phone\/tablet for navigation, as opposed to a system that\u2019s integrated in the car itself.<\/p>\n

Typical of (many) HBs, Celerio\u2019s back seats can be \u201cfolded\u201d for conversion into more trunk space.<\/p>\n

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Performance-wise, Celerio isn\u2019t a dynamo. But admittedly, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) helps \u2013 e.g. while traversing the (still largely undeveloped) hilly areas between Taytay, Rizal and Antipolo, acceleration was nippy. And those slopes (with lots of cracks on the road) in the vicinity of Robinson Forum (in Mandaluyong City)? Celerio was able to handle them well, too\u2026<\/p>\n

This is also an economic car \u2013 e.g. from full tank not even to nil, I\u2019ve already covered way over 1,380kms, and already, I feel like I\u2019ve been to the worst parts of Metro Manila. I have traversed not only EDSA (usually from Mandaluyong to Las Pi\u00f1as, and vice versa<\/em>), Ortigas Ave. Ext., Coastal\/Alabang-Zapote Rd. and C5 (from Taguig to Las Pi\u00f1as), but also Taytay in Rizal; Antipolo; and Bi\u00f1an in Laguna. 10km\/L to 12km\/L was noted in heavy traffic; going up to around 20km\/L in mixed driving.<\/p>\n

One can really \u201cfeel\u201d the compact size of Celerio when traversing rougher roads. I can\u2019t complain about the steering, but braving humps\/potholes meant actually \u201cfeeling\u201d the car\u2019s moves over them. On highways, then there\u2019s that windy sound from outside too\u2026<\/p>\n

After all is said about Celerio (e.g. the somewhat cheap plastic dashboard, fabric seats that easily stain, lack of touchscreen capabilities as noted above, single internal light that makes looking for stuff particularly at the back in the dark difficult, and so on), one will almost always go back to its size. Because this is what, I daresay, makes this one worth considering, particularly if contemplating a car for the city.<\/p>\n

One night, on my way from Mandaluyong City to Las Pi\u00f1as, Waze led me along the (partial) informal settlement right beside Pasig River. And there, no matter how many times I blew my horn, so many people refused to budge; they\u2019d just look over their shoulders, and then go on with whatever they\u2019re doing (e.g. gossiping, drinking by the street, staying outside where it may be more airy, kids playing in the middle of the road, et cetera<\/em>). The Celerio\u2019s size was handy as it was able to fit the tight spots well.<\/p>\n

City parking isn\u2019t always painful \u2013 e.g. on-street parking of Makati is bearable. But there are places that make drivers think what the designers\/those who constructed them were thinking, e.g. Cybergate (behind Robinson Forum in Mandaluyong) and Greenbelt. I had to park in these tight spots, and \u2013 Lo and behold! \u2013 Celerio fit snugly.<\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t get me wrong about the (earlier seeming) finicky scrutiny of Celerio. Because at the end of the day, this one is more than just a capable car. It is sleek (particularly from the front); spacious; cost-effective re fuel consumption; and performs well enough. But \u2013 AGAIN \u2013 I\u2019d have to add that on top of all these, Celerio is COMPACT. And these traits, when combined, do make for a car worth considering particularly by city dwellers.<\/p>\n

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SPECS:<\/strong>
\nEngine: 1.0-liter gasoline
\nTransmission: CVT
\nPower: 67hp @ 6,000rpm
\nTorque: 90Nm @ 3,500rpm
\nDrive layout: FWD
\nSeating: 5
\nPrice: P542,000
\nManual variant: P507,000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ZestMag.com takes a closer look at Suzuki Celerio 1.0 CVT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1573,1468,1540,1574,110],"class_list":["post-2821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-showcase","tag-celerio","tag-motoring","tag-suzuki","tag-suzuki-celerio","tag-travel-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2821"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2825,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions\/2825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}