• Distinctly different interior and materials to other Suzukis
• High quality, but a lot of dark grey trim
• Loads of tech

How is the quality and layout?

Compared to Suzuki’s other cars, the Across feels like it’s from another planet. There are soft-touch stitched dashboard trims, electrically-adjustable and supportive front seats and high levels of sound deadening that makes the cabin eerily silent. It’s well-executed and well-made, but there’s very little glitz or glamour for a car at this price. The Mercedes GLB is far shinier, and even the Peugeot 3008 looks higher class.

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It’s tough and rugged, though. The heater controls are chunky and rubberised, for example, which means you can operate them while wearing gloves. The footwells are wide, which means its easy to jump in and out of the car while wearing bulky outdoorsy gear, such as wellies or walking boots. The footwells are square, too, so fitting carpet-saving aftermarket rubber floor mats shouldn’t be difficult.

Move towards the rear of the Across’s interior and you’ll find larger expanses of rugged black plastic. That’s not such a bad thing, though, because it’s easy to clean. This is an SUV you can actually use for garden centre, car boot sale and tip runs, instead of worrying that your cargo has destroyed half of your interior.

Infotainment and tech

The dashboard is dominated by the 9.0-inch infotainment system. Unlike the RAV4, it doesn’t include sat-nav or connected services, but it does feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which should cover all of your guidance and streaming needs as long as you have an appropriate smartphone.

This is one area the Toyota RAV4 offers more. In that car, you can specify a pleasantly loud JBL sound system with subwoofer.

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The infotainment is crude compared to the systems you’ll find in a Ford Kuga, Mercedes-Benz GLB or Volkswagen Tiguan, or virtually anything else.

Comfort

• Sports seats are wide, supportive, but still squashy
• Refinement is impressive
• Engine is rarely heard

Despite the car riding well in general, there are some circumstances where it’s a little jiggly through the seats. Even the wide and supportive pews can’t protect you from the worst of the torn-up tarmac.

But the seats do work incredibly well on the motorway, offering up just the right level of squidge to keep you comfortable on long journeys.

Despite the CVT gearbox that supports the hybrid system, the Suzuki Across rarely gets noisy – using the ample battery capacity to keep revs down unless you’re trying to show off that rapid sprint. Around town it’s near-silent, using electric power as much as possible, and only a muted, low sound when charging the battery with the engine.