The Suzuki Celerio city car can now be bought with an AGS automated manual gearbox as well as the new Dualjet engine.
Dualjet is a 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit very similar to the one fitted to other Celerios. However, it has several modifications including start-stop technology, a higher compression ratio and, as the name suggests, a two-stage fuel injection system.
The maximum output remains the same, at 67bhp, but there's very slightly more power at medium revs. While this may not seem like much it leads to a small but significant reduction in the 0-62mph time from 13.5 seconds to 13 exactly.
The added power has also allowed Suzuki to give the Dualjet marginally higher gearing in fourth and fifth.
The main effect of the revisions, however, is to improve the Celerio's combined fuel economy and CO2 emissions from 65.7mpg and 99g/km to 78.4mpg and 84g/km. Suzuki says that the Dualjet therefore has the lowest CO2 rating of any car sold in the UK for less than £10,000.
In fact, there’s more to it than that. To emphasise the point about value for money, Suzuki is for the moment offering the Dualjet engine only with the less comprehensive and cheaper SZ3 trim level. Since SZ3 cars normally cost £7,999 and Dualjet adds £500 to the price, the car can in fact be yours for £8,499.
For now, there is no SZ4 version. SZ4s are not much better equipped than SZ3s (the most important addition to the spec being front foglights) but you might want one all the same. If such a thing as a Dualjet SZ4 existed it would still cost a four-figure sum. If customer demand persuaded Suzuki to create it, I shouldn't be at all surprised.
From a tax point of view, Dualjet offers very little advantage. All Celerios are already zero-rated for Vehicle Excise Duty, and the Dualjet can hardly be lower than that. It still emits too much CO2 to be exempt from the London congestion charge, and while it's one percentage point below the others in terms of Benefit In Kind taxation it's not an obvious choice of company car.
While Suzuki claims the Celerio Dualjet can average 78.4mpg combined, we averaged 56mpg in real world driving.
In all ways other than those mentioned above the Dualjet is exactly the same as other Celerios. Its low points are its poor visibility and not particularly attractive styling, while its best features are its handling and a 254-litre luggage capacity which is impressive for the city car segment.
