Suzuki Kizashi Sport AWD 2010 Review

Suzuki Kizashi Sport AWD

What we liked
>> Refined, safe and comfortable
>> Dynamically capable
>> Commonsense ergonomics and practical packaging

Not so much
>> Could use more performance and has the chassis to handle it
>> Rear seat packaging slightly compromised for a middy
>> Steering marginally over-assisted

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 2.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

OVERVIEW
-- Suzuki shadows Subaru
Suzuki's Kizashi is quietly kicking some goals for the often overlooked Japanese brand and a better-equipped all-wheel drive version is on the way to boost sales opportunities in the VFACTS medium-car segment.

But how will the new variant be received, on turf that has been locked up in the past -- and the present for that matter -- by Subaru's Liberty?

If the Kizashi has one advantage over the Liberty, it's in exterior size. Not that the Suzuki is larger than the Liberty, not at all. By being closer to a small car in its footprint than we've come to expect of modern midsize cars, the Kizashi is bound to appeal to those (empty-nesters, retirees, DINKs, etc), who don't need the extra packaging space of the Liberty.

The Kizashi offers the same affordable all-wheel drive sedan concept, with occasional carrying capacity for goods and 4½ occupants, but still capable of threading its way in and out of inner city parking spots and the like.

It's very clear that Suzuki had the Liberty (known in foreign markets as the Legacy) in its sights when developing the Kizashi Sport. The Suzuki has a four-cylinder engine of similar displacement, driving through a CVT. One major difference between the two, however, is that the Kizashi is effectively a part-time (on-demand) all-wheel driver, unlike the Liberty. Suzuki claims fuel efficiency gains using such a drive system.

If you're looking for another point of difference between the two, the Suzuki's engine is an in-line four, against the Subaru's horizontally-opposed 'boxer'.

The importer expects Aussies to snap up the all-paw Kizashi at the rate of about 100 units a month, which is half the current sales rate for the front-wheel drive car. Ambitious, you'd say, except that Subaru's selling a lot more of the larger Liberty.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
-- Pricier than Liberty, but with big-ticket extras
In other markets, the Kizashi is offered with all-wheel drive, but not in this Sport specification -- not before now, at least. In North America the all-wheel drive Kizashi is based on the front-wheel drive spec level, including the standard ride height.

Australia, as acknowledgement of our lack of snow, but our appreciation of sportier cars, is among the first markets anywhere in the world to see the Kizashi Sport offered by Suzuki -- although just to take the lustre off that honour, so's New Zealand.

For the Australian market, the Kizashi Sport AWD is basically the front-wheel drive Kizashi XLS variant with some extras. Priced at $39,990, the new all-wheel drive variant comes equipped as standard with: dual-zone climate control, a 425-Watt Rockford Fosgate audio system, heated electric front seats, keyless entry and start system, rain sensing windscreen wipers and auto dimming rear view mirror.

The Kizashi Sport is positioned $12,000 above the entry-level Kizashi XL at $27,990, with manual transmission (versus the CVT in the Kizashi Sport). As a better basis for comparison, the Kizashi Sport is just $3000 above the FWD Kizashi XLS with the option of CVT. Against the top-spec front-driver, the Kizashi Sport looks like fair value.

There's also Bluetooth connectivity which offers the technological advantage of audio streaming from a smart phone to the car's audio system. If you have a library of music on your iPhone or Blackberry, it's a simple matter to connect the phone to the car's audio system and upload the music wirelessly from the one to the other for playback.

Inside, the Kizashi Sport is distinguished from its XLS sibling by chrome trim on the steering wheel and coordinated silver stitching for the standard leather trim of the seats, handbrake lever and gear lever.

A spec-for-spec comparison of the Kizashi Sport and the base Liberty makes for interesting reading. There's a full $3500 difference in purchase price, favouring the Subaru, but the Suzuki is close to the Subaru in size and provides slightly better performance.

But, it's the kit in the Suzuki that really highlights the value story. The Kizashi's 10-speaker audio system has four more speakers than the Subaru, the 18-inch wheels are bigger than the Subaru's -- and a sunroof, Bluetooth, an alarm system, rain-sensing wipers and auto-on/off HID (xenon) headlights are all also standard in the Suzuki.

MECHANICAL
-- Parts bin special
The Kizashi Sport shares much with its front-wheel drive donor. For the all-wheel drive variant, Suzuki ticked the boxes for the front-driver's 2.4-litre four, matched to the front-drive Kizashi's (optional) continuously variable transmission.

Power is rated at 131kW and peak torque measures 230Nm. In combined-cycle testing the Kizashi returns a fuel consumption figure of 8.4L/100km and a CO2 emissions figure of 198g/km.

Basically a hardware upgrade of the all-wheel-drive system from the SX4, the Kizashi Sport's part-time final drive system features new electronics operated via a switch to enable or disable drive to the rear wheels. On start-up, the Kizashi Sport's switchable drive system remains set in whatever mode it was operating when the engine was turned off.

Leaving aside the driver-operated override, the Kizashi Sport will also shift seamlessly from 4WD to 2WD and on an as-needed basis determined by the driving environment and driver input. An electronically controlled multi-plate electromagnetic clutch system regulates torque transfer to the rear wheels.

Suzuki claims to have calibrated the system to balance safety with driving enjoyment, with safety taking priority. The stability control system always ensures that optimum safety is maintained.

Should the Kizashi Sport's system register understeer, it will adjust the torque, sending more to the rear wheels. In the event that the car begins to oversteer, the system will readjust torque, providing more to the front wheels.

In addition, the car counteracts the oversteer with 'counter-steering assistance' -- guiding the driver to apply opposite lock with more electric assistance in one direction than the other.

PACKAGING
-- Cosy but commodious
Exposure to the cabin of the Kizashi leaves the occupant with the impression that this car is at the smaller end of the scale in the VFACTS medium-car segment. In fact, it's larger than it seems and is only 50mm shorter in the wheelbase (2700mm) than the Subaru Liberty -- its principal competitor. Furthermore, the Suzuki is 40mm wider (1820mm) than the Liberty, although once again it doesn't feel like that. Overall length is shorter than the Subaru's (4650mm) by 95mm.

Suzuki has aimed for a sportier look for the Kizashi Sport, to distinguish the all-wheel drive model from its front-wheel drive siblings. Styling details for the Kizashi Sport include 18-inch alloy wheels in a 10-spoke style, a mesh lower grille, restyled front bumper, chrome side trim/fog light bezels, a 10mm lower ride height and a rear spoiler.

The importer will offer buyers a selection of five colours for the Kizashi Sport when it goes on sale in September: Super Black, Mineral Grey, Premium Silver, Snow White and Fervent Red.

Kizashi feels narrow compared to some mid-size competitors, but there's enough head and kneeroom in the rear seat for average-sized adults.

Rear seats don't fold flat and can be obstructed if the front seats are set back too far. While the boot is only as wide as the car -- not in the same league as larger cars in the same segment -- it is impressively useful given there's a full-size spare under the floor, as well as rear-drive components. It's also long and endowed with a reasonable boot opening.

Driving position was comfortable and the instruments were easy to read. Seats were both comfortable and held the occupants in place properly. The interior design was well thought-out and controls were straightforward.

The only minor gripes were the handbrake placement -- located closer to the passenger -- and buttons for 4WD/2WD mode and stability control disable tucked away out of sight on the dash below and to the right of the steering wheel.

SAFETY
--

Other standard kit that enhance the Kizashi's safety include the all-wheel drive system itself, auto-on/off xenon headlights and a body construction engineered for optimum crash safety.

Suzuki employs an engineering concept that it calls Total Effective Control Technology, which is a paradigm for the car's cabin to resist deformation in the event of an impact. The company has also set about looking after pedestrians through the development of a crumple zone between the bonnet and the top of the engine to reduce the prospect of head trauma.

COMPETITORS
-- Rivals range from Subaru to... Subaru?
Suzuki hopes to take some sales away from the Subaru Liberty, as already mentioned. There's no doubt that, in terms of marketing and design criteria the Subaru comes closest to the Kizashi Sport, but the Kizashi is sufficiently smaller that a lot of buyers might be struggling to see the relationship.

In fact, the difference in size seems so stark (subjectively) that we would almost see it pitched against some smaller cars in the market, notwithstanding the fact that the only car in the small-car segment that also offers all-wheel drive is another Subaru, the Impreza.

It's entirely possible that if you're after a smaller-than-Liberty sedan with all-wheel drive, the Impreza might meet your needs also. But when it comes to standard equipment and price, the Kizashi's ahead of the Impreza on points.

ON THE ROAD
-- CVT good, but hampers performance?
The Kizashi Sport's engine is fairly refined and has a 'sweet spot' in the mid-range, just around the 4500 to 5000rpm mark. Much above this and it becomes just a little harsher.

Suzuki has programmed the continuously variable transmission (CVT) to allow the engine to 'accelerate' up to this point before it holds there at 5000rpm. It's when using the programmed 'steps' of the CVT and above 5000rpm that the driver will notice the slightly higher levels of NVH.

The engine develops peak torque at 4000rpm, so the CVT left to its own devices is finding the optimum point between peak torque and peak power at 6000rpm for overtaking. Yet as one of the journalists pointed out during the launch, the Kizashi Sport's overtaking ability is not one of its strong suits. It takes a little while to wind up.

Suzuki's own acceleration figure for the Kizashi Sport is 8.8sec to reach 100km/h from a standing start. That seems at odds with our remarks concerning the car's overtaking ability, but the discrepancy appears to lie at the door of the car's gearing and the way the CVT operates. At lower road speeds the 2.4-litre engine is certainly livelier and compared very favourably against the Dodge Avenger up the self-same hill outside Queenstown in New Zealand's South Island where we evaluated the Dodge three years ago.

The Kizashi's power delivery and straightline performance are helped in no small part by the CVT, although the programmed steps are high ratios when compared with the six-speeds of a manual transmission. Exiting some of the hairpin bends during the drive program, we were using '1st gear', which felt like 2nd in other transmissions.

Left in Drive mode, the Kizashi will always find the right ratio to suit the engine's output and balance that against fuel efficiency and what the driver demands at the time. Fuel consumption during the drive program was 9.5L/100km, right up until the steep and winding run up the side of a mountain using ample throttle. At that point, the average shot up to 9.8L/100km, understandably.

Given the driveline friction through the all-wheel drive system and the modest torque available at lower engine speeds, we make allowance for the Kizashi Sport not barrelling up the sides of mountains and launching out of the hairpin bends like a startled gazelle. In this sort of demanding driving situation, the Kizashi remained surefooted and secure in its handling and roadholding.

While it wasn't what we'd call a major shortcoming, the Kizashi Sport's steering is light. We figure a lot of buyers will be perfectly satisfied with the level of assistance provided and the lightness dosen't really come at the expense of feedback -- unlike some cars in the same market segment. Indeed, turn-in and steering feel were both as good as Suzuki promised.

Generally a quiet car, the Kizashi Sport could be moderately noisy over some of NZ's country bitumen. Mostly the noise emanated from the tyres, but the suspension was noisy at times too. We found the car's ride quality to be good enough on the road, but as with many passenger cars, the car's ability to soak up bumps fell away over corrugations on unsealed roads; not drastically so however.

Suzuki laid on a bit of fun in the snow for the Kizashi Sport launch. A good time was had by all, but it's debatable whether motorkhana tests at New Zealand's Snow Farm were strictly relevant in assessing the Kizashi Sport's strengths for the Australian market.

There's arguably not much about the Kizashi Sport that isn't also a point in favour of the front-drive Kizashi XLS with CVT, but if you like the idea of a Liberty, but perhaps not the looks, it might be time to put in a call to your local Suzuki dealer.

Check out our Suzuki Kiazshi long term report here

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