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SUVs Suzuki SX4 Suzuki SX4 Crossover
138 messages, Last post on Dec 02, 2009 at 1:07 PM
You are in the Suzuki SX4 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Okay, I've had my 2008 Suzuki SX4 Crossover with Touring Package and automatic transmission for about 5 months now, so I'm ready to post my full review: Summary Pros: Looks, handling, AWD, comfort, visibility Cons: Cabin storage, gas mileage As background, I should point out that the previous cars that I’ve owned and driven were a 1999 Mazda Protégé (manual) and a 2005 Mazda3 hatchback (manual). Over the years in my travels, I’ve driven dozens of different cars as rentals. My car now has about 2,600 miles on it. Handling/Acceleration The car handles very well, almost the same as my Mazda3 (which costs more and has “zoom-zoom”!). The higher seating position had made me leery at first of higher-speed turns, but I’ve learned that it handles them solidly and surely. The steering is perhaps a bit off the sharp feel I had with the Mazda, but it still provides excellent feedback and control in pointing the car where I want it to go. It is a heavy car (heavier than my Mazda3, in fact), but acceleration is fine. From a standstill, I have no problems and it’s even quite peppy. There does seem to be a range from about 40-60 where the car struggles a bit to accelerate, but once I reach highway cruising speed, I have no problem keeping up with traffic or passing. I’m sure at least part of the reason is that the automatic is geared (at least in that range) more towards better gas mileage than brisk acceleration. The four-wheel disk brakes are excellent. I had to slam on the brakes a few times due to stupid drivers in front of me, and the car stopped quickly and with full control. Unfortunately, I’ve not had an opportunity to test the AWD in adverse conditions. We had some snow and rain, but nothing very slippery. But knowing the AWD is there has certainly made me feel more secure in whatever driving conditions. Noise The engine is rather growly when accelerating, but not unpleasant. Overall road noise is less than my 2005 Mazda3’s was. Highway cruising is nice and quiet. Visibility This is a category in which the SX4 really impresses me. The tall stance, the wide windows all around, and the extra-large rear-view mirrors make for excellent 360° visibility. Much better than my Mazda3 hatchback’s, or, frankly, any other car I’ve ever driven. Gas mileage The only real negative is the gas mileage. Despite the rating of 21 city / 28 highway, I’ve been mostly getting around 20mph, even with 50% or more highway travel. I drive very gently: never really floor it, and try to coast whenever possible. The most I’ve gotten is about 27.5mph with almost all flat highway driving. The worst I’ve gotten is 18mph. In watching the instant mph calculator on my dash, the car seems to be capable of around 30mph on flat highways, but if there is any hill travel involved that seems to suck a lot more gas. Unfortunately, I live in very hilly Seattle, so if I’ve done a long flat-highway trip, just the few miles of hill travel getting home seems to ruin my overall mileage. In contrast, my Mazda3 would regularly get around 25mph in city travel, up to 32mph in mostly highway. Comfort The front seats are very comfortable for both short and long trips (the longest trip I’ve taken so far was about 3.5 hours each way). Lateral support is very good. The rear seats are comfortable as well, and are high up, which gives the back seat passengers good visibility and improves their leg room. The fabric isn’t as nice as the Mazda’s, but it is quite nice for this class. Controls I like the dash very much. The controls are large, easy to read, and easy to use with just a quick glance. Much nicer than many of the overly-busy dashes I’ve seen on other cars. I’ve heard complaints from others about the steering controls not being lit. This is a minor point for me, since after a few weeks, I learned which controls were where, and can use them by touch. The raised bumps on these controls make this easy once you’ve learned the placement of the controls relative to the others. The one slight negative is that the dash computer (which shows time, temperature, and mileage info) gets washed out and unreadable when the sun is at certain angles. Storage The interior doesn’t have many nooks for storing items, and I miss having a door for the CD compartment under the radio controls. The glove compartment is on the small side, but adequate for documents and small items. An arm rest is not standard. The optional dealer-installed arm rest is well worth it, both for somewhere to put your arm and the small storage compartment inside (big enough for a notepad and pens; not CD’s) The rear storage is fine for several bags of groceries. I like the square shape of the opening, and that the rear hatch doesn’t need much clearance to be opened. The sculpted handle is a nice touch for easily shutting the hatch without getting fingerprints on the outside. The fold-down seats are easy to use and open up a lot more space, and being able to fold the seats up against the front seats makes for an even more convenient space. It’s nice and square, so fitting boxes, etc. is easy and makes the best use of the space. Looks I love the European styling of the car. From most angles, it looks really sharp. A few of the rear angles make it look a bit bloated, but that hard to avoid all-around with such a tall, yet short car. My car is the Sunlight Copper. I like that it’s a different color from most other cars, but not so bright that it stands out too much. Depending on the type of lighting (for example bright sun, cloudy day, street lights) the color ranges from deep red to orange to a deep copper.
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Replying to: perry99 (Mar 30, 2008 1:03 pm) tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper |
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Replying to: perry99 (Mar 30, 2008 1:03 pm) |
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Replying to: perry99 (Mar 30, 2008 1:03 pm)
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I know that the SX4 Crossover has three drive settings: it can be switched from 2WD to AWD to 4WD. I have a question about the MPG when using 2WD only -- it would seem that when using this setting, the MPG would be much better than posters here have been reporting. Any thoughts on why the reported MPG is so low when most of the posters state that they hardly ever use the AWD or 4WD settings??
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Replying to: erics6 (Apr 12, 2008 8:37 pm) |
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Replying to: skyhawk8 (Apr 13, 2008 4:34 pm) Again, the Suzuki gets the highest mileage of any AWD vehicle for sale here in the USA. Nothing else does as well, although the small Subarus (and Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe) can do low to mid -20s when driven judiciously. If you want AWD and Honda Fit type mileage, you are not going to find it. But the Suzuki gets very good mileage. Between 65 and 70, you can get 30 mpg on the highway. |
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Replying to: kelton (Feb 14, 2008 8:37 am) |
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Apr 13, 2008 5:05 pm)
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Replying to: erics6 (Apr 17, 2008 8:48 pm)
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