The Fronx wears its "compact crossover" label well. It's got a modern, slightly SUV-coupe stance that doesn't try too hard, and it looks genuinely current parked next to the rest of Suzuki's line-up — clean surfacing, no awkward creases, nothing that screams budget car at first glance.

Where the styling ambitions run into cost realities is the details you touch rather than see. The door feels noticeably light when you open and shut it — not a dealbreaker, but the kind of thing that chips away slightly at the "premium crossover" impression the exterior is going for.

The LED taillight signature is one of the sharper design details up close.

Suzuki has gone with buttons — lots of them. Climate controls, drive functions, media shortcuts, it's all physical switchgear rather than buried in a touchscreen menu. We're generally fans of this; it means you're not hunting through sub-menus at 90km/h just to turn up the fan speed. Whether you'll love it or find it a bit busy on the eyes will come down to personal taste.

The seats themselves are a pleasant surprise — a fabric-and-leather mix with side bolsters that do a reasonable job of holding you in place, comfortable enough for longer drives. No ventilated seats though, which in Singapore's climate is a genuine miss rather than a nice-to-have.

Headroom is subjective and will depend on how tall you are, but legroom is genuinely good for a car this size. What rear passengers won't get is any rear cup holders or rear air-con vents — a corner cut too far for a car people will realistically use as a family runabout.

Build quality inside is a mixed bag too — there's a fair amount of entry-level hard plastic around the cabin, understandable at this price point, but we'd have liked the high-touch areas softened up a little more.

The 9-inch touchscreen keeps things simple — no bloated menu structure, no laggy animations, just a straightforward layout that gets out of your way. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both worked without fuss, which for a lot of buyers will matter more than any native infotainment features anyway.

The 360-degree camera is a welcome inclusion for tight car park manoeuvres, though we wish the resolution on the camera feed was sharper — in dimmer car parks the image gets a bit grainy.

One tech touch that feels carried over from an older generation: the head-up display. It's the retractable type that pops up from the dashboard — novel a few years back, but now a step behind the windshield-projected HUDs most rivals have moved to.

Body roll is present but well managed for a car of this height, and it's stable enough on the highway that we didn't feel the need to constantly correct the wheel. Push it into a corner with some enthusiasm and it does get a touch firm and less composed — not unsafe, just a reminder this is a practical crossover first, not something tuned for spirited back-road driving.

The 1.5-litre mild-hybrid four-cylinder sends 101bhp and 137Nm to the wheels, and there's a slight delay off the line when you prod the throttle. Switch into Sport mode and the car noticeably wakes up, with sharper throttle response that makes the whole driving experience feel more alive.

At highway speeds, refinement takes a small hit — wind noise becomes noticeable once you're cruising around 100km/h, worth knowing if you do a lot of expressway driving and expect a hushed cabin.

On the practicality side, boot space comes in at 304 litres, which is on the smaller side for the segment, but it's realistically enough for a weekly grocery run or a couple of soft bags — just don't expect to be hauling much more than that without folding the rear seats down.