Suzuki unveils top-shelf Vitara S

A year after it unveiled its all-new compact SUV in Paris, Suzuki whipped the sheets off the new Vitara S flagship at the Frankfurt motor show last week, adding some spice to the compact Japanese SUV.

Fresh from launching the new Vitara with a larger but older petrol engine last week, Suzuki Australia boss Andrew Moore said he had put its hand up for the Vitara S but would not have an answer on local availability of the top-shelf Vitara until year’s end.

The new 1.4-litre turbocharged direct-injection Boosterjet engine is good for 103kW of power and 220Nm of torque -- up 17kW and 64Nm over the naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre model just released in Australia.

According to Suzuki, the new Vitara S is good for a 0-100km/h time of 10.2 seconds, a top speed of 200km/h and an EU fuel consumption figure of 5.4L/100km (combined).

Both six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions are offered and Suzuki’s Allgrip AWD system is standard on the S.

This compares favourably with the 1.6-litre model, which achieves 5.8L/100km (combined) and reaches 100km/h in 12.4 seconds on its way to a 180km/h top speed.

The Vitara S sells for 26,790 Euro (manual) or 28,290 Euro (auto) in Ger-many, about 35 per cent more than the entry-level 1.6-litre’s price there.

The Vitara S is distinguished by its unique grille inspired by the iv-4 con-cept car, black 17-inch alloy wheels and LED headlights.

Inside, there’s 7.0-inch touch-screen infotainment with support for Apple’s CarPlay smartphone app mirroring.

The S also features red highlights on the air-vents, instruments and seat stitching, and the seats are covered in leather.

Adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking round off the features highlights.

Suzuki also used the Frankfurt show to stage the world debut of its new Baleno small car, which is also on Suzuki Australia's wishlist.