This particular iteration of the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross made its debut at the Desert Storm Rally this year. The Maruti Suzuki Team hustled two new cars in this years Rally, a souped up S-Cross which we shall shed light on and a rally Vitara Brezza which we will make you wait for. The cars however did not finish the rally, but had everyone wondering what equipment lies beneath these cars. Maruti Suzuki are back again with these two rally cars to leave their mark with yet another strong performance.
The S-Cross when it was first launched in India wasn’t well as received as its rivals- Hyundai Creta and the Renault Duster, both of which were instant hits in the market. Probably that was because of the unconventional design of its front end that did not attract a lot of people, but forget looks and mundane judgments on aesthetics. What’s made it popular is its handling, performance and the solid platform the old-gen model was built on. And the European spec car was even more impressive with its ALL-GRIP tech. So, Maruti Suzuki didn’t not hold back a breath and put this capable car in a competitive event- The Desert Storm Rally!
Now the first question on your mind is how will a crossover do a job of tackling sandy stages that even full-fledged SUVs can struggle to overcome? The S-Cross or the SX4 as it is called in Europe gets the option of all-wheel drive and that makes it a popular crossover because of its ability to tackle icy and snow-covered roads in the winters. So this ALL-GRIP hardware is available as a kit that can be sourced internationally and is a neat plug-and-play solution as it has the mounting points for this AWD hardware. With the latest generation of the system, Suzuki’s engineers claim it is 100-200kg lighter than equivalent systems in competing vehicles and is a whopping 300kg lighter than the unit in the Grand Vitara. And in motorsport, any weight saved is a straight performance advantage. And that’s how it became so popular at the Desert Storm with the Maruti Suzuki team.
The motor is the 1.6-litre diesel on the pre-facelift S-Cross with an ECU to give it slightly increased power and torque while the main improvement is the Reiger suspension that allows the car to be driven harder and faster over rough terrain.
And this year it’s level up yet again as the Maruti Suzuki team will bring the S-cross to the Dakshin Dare for the first time. Samrat Yadav will be piloting this rally car along with co-driver Karan Aukta at the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare. So we’re extremely eager to see how the crossover fares and what influence Maruti Suzuki brings to the competition.
Click here to know what else Maruti Suzuki have brought for this years Dakshin Dare!