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Roomy and reasonable
Tony Whitney and Tim Dimopoulos
The people at Suzuki must be amused by efforts of major automakers to deliver less expensive compact vehicles. These behemoths never seem quite able to pull it off. But Suzuki has been being happily following this course for decades, with ranges of small, affordable, fuel-efficient vehicles of all kinds, even SUVs.
Suzuki is certainly not a major player in North america, but seems reasonably happy with its small but significant (and growing) market share. The company even has a manufacturing plant in Ontario, which it operates with General Motors.
We must remember just because a nameplate isn't a mega-seller in our market, it doesn't mean very large numbers of vehicles aren't sold in other parts of the world.
In fact, last year the firm produced more than 2.6 million vehicles in plants in Japan and overseas. Suzuki is a good example of an automaker that's successful in regions we don't think about much. With its partner in India for example, it's the top selling vehicle brand in a large and growing market, a segment much coveted by far larger automakers than Suzuki.
The brand also tops the charts in other countries around the world. In its homeland of Japan, only Toyota and Nissan sell more vehicles than Suzuki. Suzuki's increasing market share in Canada is probably a result of the move to more economical cars, prompted by high fuel prices. But back to what Suzuki is offering us these days.
Compact footprint
Our most recent Suzuki test sessions have been with an SX4 sedan, one of the newer products from the automaker and one which seems to have found a lot of favour with thrifty fleet and private buyers across Canada, judging by recent sales figures.
There are six or so variants on the SX4 theme, some of them with all-wheel drive. Our tester was a Sport Sedan version, which sits somewhere in the middle of the SX4 model range. The SX4 is a rather tallish and trim four-door sedan, at least in the guise in which we evaluated it. There's also a hatchback version, which may be a better choice for people who need the kind of load space usually available only to buyers of compact class SUVs.
In hatchback form, the SX4 has been competing quite successfully in the World Rally Championship, but of course, these cars are much modified. The company is a newcomer to that level of motorsport. The SX4 is a step up from the little Swift in size, but it still has a reasonably compact footprint and is thus very easy to park in the city.
This car is not dramatically-styled in the manner of European vehicles in this class from automakers like Citroen, Renault and Fiat. It follows a fairly conservative Japanese approach where practicality and roominess rule over snappy looks, though that's not to say the SX4 is anything but an appealing little rig. The result is a car that's easy to get in and out of and is especially roomy for tall drivers.
The door openings are nice and wide, so access to the front or rear is not a particularly challenging task. There can be very few cars in this segment that have the head clearance and shoulder room of an SX4. From the driver and front passenger seats, the view is described as "commanding" by Suzuki and you do sit a little higher than in most cars in this class.
The rear seats are a little higher than the front ones. This "theatre style" is a feature not found very often in a sedan, especially a compact one. Visibility is very good all round. There's certainly comfortable seating for five, though if the centre rear occupant is tall, he or she won't be that happy back there, other than for a brief run.
There's also a very large trunk, but for technical reasons the rear seats don't fold to create room for long loads. The hatchback version does have the usual folding rear seats and resultant spacious load floor.
Decent handling
Cabin ambiance is quite pleasant, with well-chosen materials of high quality. The SX4 may be a long way from the luxury segment, but it doesn't constantly remind you that it's been worked over by penny-pinching "bean counters."
Instrument layout is conventional, with primary gauges set in a panel viewed through the stylish three-spoke steering wheel, which has a range of subsidiary controls mounted on it. As is usually the case, sound system and climate controls are located on a central panel and all the knobs are pretty easy to get at.
To heat or cool the cabin, three simple and easy to grasp knobs are used for temperature, fan speed and air distribution. This is by far the best way to deal with cabin temperature. Gimmicky controls and even most automatic systems just don't match up to this time-proven layout.
The Japan-built SX4 uses a nicely-engineered and sophisticated 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with 16 valves and a pair of overhead cams. It produces 143-horsepower and 136 lb.-ft of torque, which makes it more powerful than its primary rivals in this market slot. Buyers can choose a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission.
We've tried both and although the automatic does its job very well and there's little power loss, the five-speed will get you a little more sportiness and some saving on fuel. As always, though, the automatic is best if lots of round-town driving is required.
The ride is comfortable enough for a car with a 2,500 mm wheelbase and a fairly narrow track. Suspension is McPherson strut up front and torsion beam at the rear--a common layout on cars like this and one that's very well proven over many years.
Although the car seems to sit a little on by any feeling of instability in corners. Handling is well up with class standards, though the SX4 in basic form will not threaten any sports coupes on winding roads.
Even a basic SX4 has a surprisingly lengthy list of features, many of which are only available as often-costly options on rival vehicles. These include standard anti-lock brakes (which function very well indeed) and you only have to go a couple of steps up the model range to the Sport to get all-around discs.
Electronic brake force distribution is also standard fare and six air bags help if things go seriously wrong. The body itself is ruggedly built with multiple crush zones to absorb impacts. The front seat belts have pretensioners and force limiters, which cinch up before the moment of impact.
Regardless of the number of air bags in a vehicle, seat belts remain the most effective life-saving device in any vehicle. Other Sport variant features, incidentally, include cruise control, alloy wheels, fog lamps and a body kit which creates quite an "aggressive" front end look.
The SX4's sound system is an AM/FM/MP3/CD unit with four speakers. Our Sport tester had a premium system which added XM Satellite radio and twice the number of speakers plus a subwoofer and an in-dash six-disc CD changer. Surely the time must be close when CD changers disappear altogether as the iPod revolution spreads even to the "oldster" end of the market.
In its class, the SX4 offers the roominess of a segment above, a reasonable price tag, decent, if not exceptional, fuel economy and available all-wheel drive on some versions. For business and private buyers looking for a well-priced and practical car with lots of features normally associated with more expensive alternatives, the SX4 is well worth a close look.
Tony Whitney is an automotive writer in Burnaby, BC. Tim Dimopoulos is senior publisher of Purchasingb2b and MM&D.
SPECS AT A GLANCE
BODY STYLE: Four-door sedan
ENGINE: 2.0-litre 143-horsepower,
4-cylinder
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual or
4-speed automatic
PERFORMANCE: Zero to 100 km/h in
approx. 8.5-secs (manual transmission)
FUEL ECONOMY: 9.0-litres/100 km city;
6.5-litres/100 km hwy. (base
automatic).
PRICE: Base price range $17,195 to
$22,695
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