Suzuki S-Cross gearbox

facade

In the last few years I would have said you bought a Dacia with your wallet alone but these days I'm not so sure that's true.

Like Skoda, Dacia used to be cheap cars when they were breaking into the market.

Now they are just slightly cheaper cars with less features than the Renault & VW equivalents, but everyone still thinks they are cheap!

I was interested in the Twingo/Spring 2, but compared to the Spring I have it is massive, the Spring is 1767mm wide, and the Twingo 1953mm, which is 186mm or 6" wider!

6" on the width makes all the difference trying to squeeze through the chicanes of trader vans abandoned haphazardly around the sideroads.

Bigwheels1111

I looked at a Citroen Grand C4 in 2015.

It had one of the manual / auto box things.

I drove it for 2 minutes and returned to the dealer, A big NO from me.

CVT boxes are a bit strange but do not fail.

EAT 6, or EAT8 auto boxes are very smooth.

I have the EAT6.

Try one and see what you think.

Goudy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82043926#Comment_82043926

Yes, but it achieves this at a cost.

As it's stuffed with 8 gears, which is what gives it it's efficiency, it's quite long so it can only be fitted longitudinally. So only suitable if all/most of the power is going to the rear wheels. Which tends to be an expensive way of making a car.

There are a few complaints regarding ratios and ratios selection as well. Due to the design of the gearset, which utilises both parallel and serial gearing rather than just a serial set of gears, there is inherent unevenness in the spread of gears.

2nd and 3rd are very close and there is a big step to 7th and 8th which are the overdrive gears (6th being 1:1).

8th is really tall, so requires a low down torquey engine to make the most of it and we know these are getting fewer and fewer.

So yes it's very good bar a few niggles, but it's use is quite limited these days and dying out quickly. There are only a handful of cars being made today with this gearbox, mainly the big BMWs.

Even BMW have given in and make to 3 and 4 cylinder FWD cars these days, which use dual clutches.

It's not so much this gearbox is dead because it's inefficient, just the engines that they fit are dying.

Betterthanlife

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82044443#Comment_82044443

I replied to the comment they were inefficient, which as a gearbox they aren't. Not sure what serial gearing is, I think you mean helical gears and gear ratio's vary between OEM's as does the TCU software. The 8hp works better with a bigger engine I found and they aren't cheap, but generally are fitted to premium brands so price is less important. They definitely will die out as more cars turn electric, however BMW Group and ZF Friedrichshafen have signed a multi-billion-euro long-term supply and development contract, extending into the late 2030s. The core of this agreement centers on the continued evolution and supply of ZF's highly regarded 8-speed automatic transmission (8HP), adapting it for future electrified and hybrid powertrains so still has some life left in it.

MouldyOldDough

It appears that I may be driving a very rare vehicle - a 2017 Suzuki Baleno (Swift ++) - with a 6 speed Torque Converter gearbox.

Everyone believes that the car is fitted with a CVT box !

The gearbox is super smooth - you cannot feel it changing gear - plus what other 1.0 litre car does 0-60 in 9.1 secs, top speed 120mph at the same time as being capable of 60mpg average ?

The car has good legroom in the front and rear

The only downside is the small fuel tank (8 gallons) which restricts the range a little

Arunmor

"The only downside is the small fuel tank (8 gallons) which restricts the range a little"

Aye, that can be a bit of a pain when crossing the Kalahari.

But wait a minute, if it gets 60mpg you have 480 miles you'd probably be just about OK.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045071#Comment_82045071

You are probably right - yes I hadn't really thought before saying that

MouldyOldDough

To add to the confusion

Suzuki CS have overridden what my local dealers have said

"Thank you for your recent reply, I am sorry to hear that you feel the information
previously provided was not correct. Following your comments, I have referred
the matter back to our technical team, who have confirmed the following

The 1.5 S-Cross is fitted with an AGS. We no longer sell that
model. 

The current 1.4 model is fitted with a standard torque convertor 6
speed automatic transmission, this is what we based our information on."

 

Goudy

They dropped the 1.5 Dualjet AGS in 2025 for the European markets and now use the 1.4 Boosterjets (again) with TC autos. I think both have various mild hybrid systems, though the Boosterjets are turbo and the Dualjet aren't.

The 1.5 Dualjet AGS is still available in other markets and of course there are plenty of late used ones around still.

It does seem odd they have switched engines and gearboxes mid model life, particularly when the Boosterjet engine has to come further (DualJets are mainly Indian built and the Boosterjet is Japanese built) to be then built into cars in Hungary.

It can't be for emissions as the Dualjet was a little lower than the Boosterjet. 118 to 132 g/km.

Suzuki are sneeking in Toyota HEV engines and gearboxes into some models. One version of the Grand Vitara (we don't get that here) has the latest 3 cylinder 1.5 full hybrid system. As emission regs tighten, we might see more of that in other Suzuki models soon.

MouldyOldDough

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045941#Comment_82045941

This will be under Motability !

And I really do rate Boosterjet engines