Any love for Suzuki Vitaras?

[lornemalvo]

There is no section on Suzuki Vitaras. Anyone own or have driven the 1.4 mild hybrid? Impressions?

[leef44]

I have a manual 2018 1.6 petrol version. Before this, I had a 2005 Ignis Sport for 12 years so I like the robust, primitive, reliable character of these cars. Also they are very light for modern days. My Ignis was 980kg while the Vitara is 1180kg or so.

For the same price you could get cars with more soft touchy feely surfaces with better Android or Iphone apps but I like the simplicity of the Vitara which makes for low maintenance and cheap to run.

I get 48mpg from my 1.6 but the ride can be quite harsh for a family car. Other than that it does what it says on the tin. I've owned it for three years so far and hopefully will keep for another 8-10 years.

[trickywoo]

leef44 said:

I get 48mpg from my 1.6.

Computer or brim to brim calculation?

Reason for asking is the Swift sport with the same engine over reads by 20%.

The fuel consumption of the 1.6 is a big reason I’d get the 1.4 instead. They are a lot more fuel efficient in the swift sport.

Back to vitaras they hold their value really well. I’ve had an eye on them for years and it’s only high miles or sketchy history that bring the price down. Even then they are still too punchy for me.

[leef44]

trickywoo said:

leef44 said:

I get 48mpg from my 1.6.

Computer or brim to brim calculation?

Reason for asking is the Swift sport with the same engine over reads by 20%.

The fuel consumption of the 1.6 is a big reason I’d get the 1.4 instead. They are a lot more fuel efficient in the swift sport.

Back to vitaras they hold their value really well. I’ve had an eye on them for years and it’s only high miles or sketchy history that bring the price down. Even then they are still too punchy for me.

The computer says average of 48.4mpg having done more than 10,000 miles. I've filled up and managed to get over 50mpg on motorway runs based on refilling. My overall average is 46mpg when mixed with town driving based on fuel used so yes computer is over optimistic but by maybe 5% but not by 20%

[gweaver]

I think my cousins Vitara 1.6 is better on fuel than my Swift Sport 1.6.
The engines are in a different state of tune (valve springs, camshaft etc.) and the Vitara is only slightly heavier than the Swift.

[leef44]

I used to have a 1.5 Ignis Sport (2005) and that was similar but shorter gearing so better acceleration but higher revs on the motorway. As a result, it meant fuel efficiency wasn't so good but overall the same as the Vitara due to lighter weight.

[trickywoo]

gweaver said:

I think my cousins Vitara 1.6 is better on fuel than my Swift Sport 1.6.
The engines are in a different state of tune (valve springs, camshaft etc.) and the Vitara is only slightly heavier than the Swift.

I thought they were the same but you are absolutely right.

They are both M16a but the Vitara is rated at 120ps vs 134 for the swift.

Official combined mpg on the non 4wd Vitara is 50mpg and a bit, the swift is 44mpg.

The Vitara is 12s to 60 vs the swift 8s. I d guess it would feel quite sluggish but you d get used to it.

[gweaver]

I've only driven it once, but I didn't think the Vitara 1.6 feels sluggish. It has 150nm Vs 160 for the Swift Sport and I think the red line/rev limiter is around 6000rpm, but it pulls well throughout the rev range. If you use the revs it goes well, but if you are the type of driver that doesn't go above 3000 rpm then you might think it was slow. I suspect the real 0-60 time is around ten seconds.

A colleague tried the 1.4 Boosterjet and was impressed. That's a rocketship compared to the 1.6, and good on fuel too. I imagine the 1.4 hybrid is in between the two for performance.

[trickywoo]

gweaver said:

A colleague tried the 1.4 Boosterjet and was impressed. That's a rocketship compared to the 1.6, and good on fuel too.

The 1.4 is a great engine but I’ve been seeing chatter on the FB group about them suffering cylinder head cracking. Seems to be most common on 2018 models but without knowing if anything changed over the years I’d be a little cautious about the 1.4 until there is more info.

[gweaver]

I haven't been active on those groups for a while, but I had heard of a couple of instances of that.

The 1.4 hybrid is quite different to the 1.4 boosterjet, so maybe the head castings are different too?

I think the exhaust manifold is integral to the head casting on at least one of the 1.4 engines, so I imagine there will be quite significant thermal stresses on the casting. Any design weakness or imperfection in the casting could lead to cracking.

I think the Ford 1.0l Ecoboost has a reputation for cracked cylinder heads, plus the well known wet belt failures.

[sanguinary]

We have a 2018 1.6 in the household. I can’t comment on a hybrid model, but I will say I think the Vitara is excellent.

It’s a tough little family suv, that continues to not let us down. Servicing is cheap, and although I know parts don’t cost a bomb, I haven’t had to change anything out in three years and 20,000 miles.

Thoroughly recommended by me.