Today we also peek across the border to see what is for sale there. Our quest ends once again in Japan. Suzuki has helped both the Solio and the Solio Bandit to a new generation!
We welcome: the new Solio! This is a further development of its predecessor, presented in 2015 and, despite its typical kei-car appearance, is not a kei-car. With its length of 3.78 meters, it is simply too long for that. After all, Kei-cars may not be longer than 3.40 meters. So less financial benefit for the Solio customer, but you do get more interior space in return.
The new Solio is another smart thing. The mini-MPV-like has normal front doors, but also has two sliding doors for the entrance to the rear. Handy in cities with little or no parking space. The new Solio retains the 2.48 meter wheelbase of its predecessor, but has become 8 centimeters longer and 2 centimeters wider. The legroom in the rear increases by 2 centimeters by making the backrests of the front seats smarter. The rear seat itself can be moved over a distance of almost 17 centimeters and the luggage compartment gains ten centimeters in depth compared to the previous model.
Suzuki Solio (2015-2020)
The interior space is again striking but cleverly packaged. The new Solio has a tougher and almost Vitara-like face, complete with angular bumpers. The A-pillar is more or less split in two in a way that we know from Citroën’s C4s Picasso. The ascending line at the height of the C-pillar has disappeared. The design at the back is also completely different. The horizontal rear lights have been replaced by vertically oriented ones on both sides of the buttocks. The units are prohibited with each other by a wide chrome strip. Above the butt a new rear spoiler containing the third brake light. Previously, the third brake light was glued to the inside of the rear window.
In addition to a regular version of their compact block box, many Japanese manufacturers also supply a cooler-looking variant. Daihatsu puts the name ‘Custom’ on these more lavishly decorated versions. Suzuki calls its tougher Solio brother ‘Solio Bandit’. It gets a completely different front with a tougher and more angular grille that is accompanied on both sides by headlights that are spread over two layers. At the top of the LED daytime running lights, below the regular lighting. The front bumper includes black plastic inserts. Suzuki gives the Solio an optional color head-up display. The more expensive versions also get a 9-inch infotainment system and adaptive cruise control.
Suzuki Solio Bandit (2020 -)
No maximum 660 cc petrol engine on the engine list, but a 1.2-liter four-cylinder that delivers 91 hp and 118 Nm. The 1.2 has a starter generator and is therefore equipped with mild hybrid technology. The generator delivers up to about 3 hp and 50 Nm extra, but also works when starting. In addition to a front-wheel drive variant, Szuzuki will soon also supply Solios with four-wheel drive.
Wagon R.
The Solio is a striking model, and not only because of its appearance, which looks like a box of blocks. He is a distant descendant of the Wagon R that Suzuki once sold in the Netherlands. Die Wagon R was the export version of the model sold by Suzuki in Japan. A big difference: the variant intended for Europe was a bit larger and had a 1.0 four-cylinder instead of a 0.7-liter under the hood. The Japanese Wagon R, which was and is a real kei-car, was changed every turn. The ‘big’ Wagon R was sold in Japan as Wagon R Solio in addition to the boulder versions and actually found a successor in a model that would simply be called Solio in 2010. That first Solio was succeeded in 2015 by the type that is now being relieved by the Solio and Solio Bandit in these photos.
Mitsubishi will be happy with the arrival of the new small Suzuki’s. The brand sells its own versions of the Solio under the name Delica D: 2. It probably won’t be long before Mitsubishi pushes a new Delica D: 2 forward. To add to the Wagon R confusion, Suzuki’s Indian branch (Maruti Suzuki) sells a Wagon R in India that has nothing to do with the Solio or Japanese Wagon R.