My first spot... Suzuki Kizashi
Discussion
A lex said:
They are a US model with the steering swapped arent they?
I think it looks alright, although you would be a buffoon not to haggle a decent % off that 22k. With a better engine I think it would be a great all-rounder - almost Scooby-esque with the AWD.
Suzuki have only brought 500 to the country and are giving no discounts whatsoever on them which is a shame. Though they can be found elsewhere like online car brokers for about £20k meaning on paper when you work out the finance arrangemnts you only end up paying about £400 more than the OTR price from Suzuki though the post three year value with only a 60k, 3 year warranty is Woeful between £6-9k!. I think it looks alright, although you would be a buffoon not to haggle a decent % off that 22k. With a better engine I think it would be a great all-rounder - almost Scooby-esque with the AWD.
The US get 4 different models all with the same engine and the option of just a manual 6speed 2wd. Over here in the UK they are just selling the top spec one, whats known in the US as the "Sport SLS". This means you get all the toys and options apart from the rockford fosgate sound system which if anything was too powerful for the vehicle and we dont get red or the nice blue. The UK market just gets; the "Persian special" Pearl White, light grey, light grey metallic, dark grey, dark grey metallic, and a V-sexy Pearlescant Black.
I have driven one and its a decent performer. I could achieve about 38mpg on the M4 with the cruise on at 70 but round town it was between 20 and 25. You can turn off the 4x4 so that its a little more economical though.
The handling was great, the communication I got back through the steering wheel and pedals was absolutley fantastic, very similar to the feedback I used to get from my rx8. The thing I liked most about this car was you had to take a little time to actually learn how to get the most from it. You couldnt just jump in mash the throttle to the floor and let the car work out what was best to get you there quickest you actually had to drive it yourself (if that make sense). As such you had learn where in throttle range was best for the CVT to get the best response it felt like a real analogue driving experience which I think is lost with modern cars so this really enhanced the driving pleasure for me.
One feature I really enjoyed was the gearbox, Its not quite a nissan CVT but, it picked up smooth and you could set it to a synthesised manual mode. This locked the CVT into 6 seperate ratios which meant you could gain some engine braking and use the paddle shifters on the steering wheel to really explore the handling and chassis limits. For more traditional gear changes the gear lever pulls back to go up a gear and forward to go down a gear which is the right way round! I did find you could knock off about a second on the 0-60 times in manual over auto.
My only criticisms were the seats werent the most supportive when you were giving it beans on a twisty B road and the ride is a little too firm but after nearly 2 hours behind the wheel I got out and felt absolutely fine, infact I could have carried on for another 2 hours easily.
I had read some mixed reviews on the car which had almost put me off even test driving it, including one from "What Car". When I asked the dealer if he had seen it after my test drive as for example they quoted "the car has a low headline and 6footers would wish there was more headroom upfront" im 6ft5 and had 2 inches of head room...........how much more does he want! The dealer told me suzuki were considering taking legal action over it as it is damn near libelious! So please do go and have a look for yourself as some reviews do paint an odd picture.
I am seriously considering this car, as I have yet to find something that ticks all the same boxes that doesnt cost atleast 10k more!
It's a bit like the Mazda 3 on the engine front. The UK gets the "small" 1.4 to 2 litre four pots. the US start with the 2.3 with 170bhp. This is the equalvalent I suppose. A engine with a good amount of BHP but biased towards torque. Having said all that the Chevrolet Cruze in the UK has a 1.6 and 1.8 four pot while the Americans get the 1.4 Turbo that we have in the Astra.
Hub said:
And no diesel option, essential for this market. I don't know why they're bothering!
It's pretty much "look what we can do". I think it's a precursor to a more serious effort soon. Something like a 1.6 Turbo Petrol and a Diesel. The engine is what I would call a "US" special. designed to have a lot of "oomph" while generating a set amount of BHP.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff