The Suzuki Across is an SUV that boasts self-charging and plug-in capabilities. Its clever use of hybrid technology, practical interior design and raw performance make it a very tempting proposition for consumers – we gave it our Best Buy award.
But how does its audio system fare? Fitted as standard is a six-speaker 120-Watt system. Alas, at the time of writing and in the UK, there’s no means of upgrading it.
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Suzuki Across audio setup
To tinker with the vehicle’s audio settings, one has to navigate to the appropriate menu on the 9″ infotainment system, where you’ll find a three-band equaliser – here are our optimal settings:
- Treble: +0
- Mid: -1
- Bass: -1
- Fader: -1 (towards the rear)
- Balance: Centre
To connect up to the infotainment system, you can use a wired connection whereby Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both supported. Should you wish to resort to using Bluetooth, both the AAC and SBC codecs are supported, only.
As for your media controls, they can be accessed through the display, via a set of physical buttons next to the screen or by using the controls on the steering wheel.
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Suzuki Across audio performance
For a demo of the Suzuki Across’ audio system head on over to our YouTube channel.
When it comes to its audio configuration, there’s a 6.3″ (16cm) 20W driver found within each of the four doors, and a 0.984″ (2.5cm) tweeter at each extremity of the dashboard – totalling 120 Watts of power.
Given the omission of a subwoofer, the lower frequencies are affected. There’s very little extension from the main door speakers and as a result, low-end tones are cut short in Lil Jon’s ‘Lovers & Friends’. Thankfully, however, the mid-bass presence is prominent where a hearty kick can be heard throughout the song. This will keep most consumers excited when they’re listening back to R&B, DnB or EDM tracks; we’d in fact recommend taking one notch off the bass EQ in order to lessen the leakage into the mids.
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Indeed, the mid-range is pushed back due to the vehicle’s warm sound signature. While the mids can be EQ’d through the infotainment system in order to bring them to the foreground, we actually found ourselves taking one notch off the setting. Here, in its default state, vocals don’t come across accurately; the effect is compounded when you add extra steps to the mids, too. As such, you’ll have to settle for a recessed reproduction.
As for the highs, they extend relatively well at the front of the cabin, which is thanks to the inclusion of dedicated tweeters. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said at the rear of the cabin where the frequency range is subdued.
Unsurprisingly, the vehicle’s soundstage is limited due to the lacklustre number of drivers within the cabin. The width and depth, and the instrument separation are sub-par. The limitations of the system are immediately apparent when listening to Justin Timberlake’s ‘What Goes Around…Comes Around’ – the sense of engagement and presence isn’t there.
Furthermore, the positioning of the drivers seems a little off, with music sounding unidirectional from the front of the cabin. As such, we’d recommend scaling the fader back by one notch in order to equally fill the cabin.
Finally, onto cabin noise, the Suzuki Across suffers from a small amount of engine noise when a kick-down is initiated – this is partially due to the e-CVT transmission that the vehicle uses. Still, the vehicle’s cabin is pretty insulated and is nowhere near as loud as the Honda HR-V, which uses a similar transmission.
In our controlled tests using a sound meter we recorded, 35 dBA at a standstill; 53-57 dBA, while driving at 20-30mph; 60-64 dBA, while driving at 40mph; and 69-73 dBA when at 70mph.
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TotallyEV’s verdict on the Suzuki Across’ audio system
We’re rather disappointed by Susuzki’s audio system. It fails to provide an engaging experience, isn’t particularly impressive across the frequency range and with no option to upgrade, it’s particularly limiting for those who care about in-car audio.
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If you’re looking to buy the Suzuki Across and would consider yourself an audiophile, we’d strongly suggest looking into aftermarket solutions.
What do you make of the system? Let us know in the comments section below or via social media; we’re on: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
