Suzuki Vitara 2016 Review

Suzuki Vitara S-Turbo
Local Launch, Melbourne suburbs

Suzuki has a reputation of manufacturing competent and reliable four-wheel drive vehicles that stretches back into the 1970s. In fact, if you do your homework, Suzuki can pretty much lay claim to inventing the compact 4WD – although other companies reckon they did. The LJ50 and LJ80 first came onto our market in the early '70s with the Sierra and then the Vitara arriving in the early and late '80s respectively.

Suzuki recently released its latest vehicle in the Vitara range without much fanfare.

The lack of hoopla is significant because the latest incarnation of the Suzuki Vitara is a fairly significant vehicle for the Japanese manufacturer. You see, the latest Vitara is the first turbocharged version of the diminutive SUV.

Available in either two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive via Suzuki’s Allgrip system, the new S-Turbo is powered by the company’s new Boosterjet turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine. The 1.4 has pretty impressive output figures of 103kW at 5500rpm and 220Nm of torque at 1500-4000rpm.

For comparative purposes, the 1.6 litre VVT engine of the Vitara RT-S which the new S-Turbo sits beside puts out 88kW at 6000rpm and 156Nm at 4400rpm.

Unfortunately, our test vehicle was the two-wheel drive version so we didn’t get to test the Allgrip 4WD system, so we’ll leave that for another day and concentrate on our 2WD version.

Priced at $29,990 (drive-away), the Vitara S-Turbo offers plenty of bling and plenty of technology. New colours, new styling, and a sporty interior give the S-Turbo a thoroughly modern feel.

Suzuki says that a key strength of the Suzuki Vitara is its exciting colour range and vast number of personalisation options.

The S-Turbo introduces a new two-tone colour to the range, with a bright red body with black roof, exclusive to the S-Turbo. Suzuki’s general manager of automobiles, Andrew Moore, said at launch: “Suzuki is a youthful, vibrant brand so we want to see fun, fresh colours out on the streets – not just the standard monotone colours.”

It’s a shame then that our test car was beige… well, Savannah Ivory Metallic to be precise.

That aside, there are other sporty touches that set the S-Turbo aside from its Vitara RT-S cousins. The black alloy 17-inch wheels and red highlights point to a more vibrant market while the interior also points to the car’s more energetic side.

Inside, the leather-and-suede seats are supportive and stylish and the red surrounds for the air vents and gauges are either kitsch or sporty depending on your taste. Owners can also opt for colour-coded trim for the dash and centre console.

The S-Turbo gets a good amount of tech for the price including a 7.0-inch screen with navigation and Apple CarPlay. Add to that the trip computer with instantaneous and average fuel consumption, electric mirrors and windows and cruise control and you have a pretty well specified vehicle.

Rear-seat passengers get a reasonable amount of space which would suit two adults or three kids. Leg room is good as is headroom for a vehicle of this size.

The rear seat splits 60:40 and there’s a luggage area cover and luggage board to help with the usability of the cargo area.

There is a roomy 375 litres of luggage space and with the seats in situ, the luggage area is sufficient for your weekly shopping, a folded pram or a couple of sets of golf clubs.

The level of the cargo deck is low making it easy to load and unload while underneath you’ll find a space saver spare.

On the road, we found the Suzuki primarily easy to drive. It’s certainly ergonomically sound with tilt and reach adjustment for the steering wheel, full adjustment including height (albeit manual) for the driver’s seat, and all the basic controls within easy reach.

The six-speed auto is smooth and well matched to the 1.4-litre turbo engine. There is no manual available but the sporty side of the S-Turbo can be explored using the manual mode of the box and the paddle shifters.

I found the steering, though direct, to be a bit over-assisted and also the brakes to be a bit touchy and while that may be just personal choice, the feeling didn’t dissipate over the week of our test.

Suzuki claims that the Vitara S-Turbo should achieve a fuel economy figure of 6.2L/100km and our real-life figure was refreshingly close to that at 6.9L with a mixture of urban and freeway driving.

In terms of safety, the Suzuki S-Turbo is right up there, including seven air bags, electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and brake assist system (BAS).

There are also front and rear parking sensors, LED daylight running lights and a rear-view camera.

The Suzuki is quiet and smooth on the road and basically does everything right. It’s easy to park, easy to drive and easy on the eye. Whether it’ll reach the lofty heights of taking over from the more popular offerings in the compact SUV market will depend a lot on much marketing Suzuki throws behind it.

Perhaps the final word should go to Andrew Moore who stated at the launch: “The challenge now for Suzuki is to build awareness of Vitara, to ensure that we’re on the shopping list for those considering a compact SUV. I strongly believe that if more Mazda CX3 or Honda HR-V customers had experienced the Vitara, there would have been many different purchase outcomes.”

2016 Suzuki Vitara S-Turbo pricing and specifications:
Price: $29,990 (drive-away)
Engine: 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 103kW/220Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 138g/km (ADR combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also Consider:
>> Ford Ecosport Titanium (From $27,790)
>> Renault Captur Dynamique (From 27,990)
>> Holden Trax LTZ (From $28,890)