2012 Suzuki SX4
It works but it is a little odd
Some will love it but I’m sure most won’t... Which is a shame.
Somewhere on Vancouver Island
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| A nice straight forward dash layout |
I sit right now in a 2012 Suzuki SX4.
My first impression and thought is that my Mom would like this car.
Sounds like everyone needs a history lesson on my Mom... She always loved cars with lots of glass. The car she really wanted in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s was an AMC Pacer... Trust me our family was so lucky we didn’t get that car, but she loved it because of the glass. The SX4 has lots of glass and I know my Mom would like it for that reason.
Will most people like it for that reason, I doubt it unless you are like my Mom and go for the immensely practical side of things. (She used to pick her car colours not because she liked them but because she wanted a colour that would show the least amount of rust.)
The view from the divers seat is neat. Lots of forward glass makes it easy to see in front of you but that changes as you look towards the back of the car where the belt line begins to go up and the vision goes down.
Enough with the pacer comparison, on we go with driving this little egg.
The driving position is kind of like that of an older Italian sports car like the alpha romeo’s, The steering wheel does not telescope and the pedals are closer than they ought to be so you end up driving with straight arms and bent legs. It’s an ok driving position for a short amount of time but if you’re doing highway driving your arms get tired of being straight after about an hour.
The other thing about this type of driving position is that when your in a parking lot and having to do lots of maneuvering you don’t feel in control of the car.
The seats are very comfortable and wrap nicely around your body. This is the first small car I have ever seen with an armrest built into the seat which folds down like they do on many minivans. It’s a nice touch when you have to drive for many hours to your destination with those straight arms... At least you can rest your right one on a padded armrest...
On the highway the car is stable but the steering is a little vague and the car tends to wander a little on center. I can safely say that its not the ruts in the road that caused the wandering as the Vancouver Island highway is new and shows no signs of wear or ruts so far.
The car is quiet at 100-110 km/hr above that speed more wind noise becomes apparent as does tire noise. The SX4 begins to run out of steam around 120-130 km/hr although it will still creep up in speed as you go and during this trip there were points where I needed to pass so the car is easily able to keep pace on busy highways just don’t expect to jump out and pass....
Fit and finish of the car seemed quite good and interior materials are of good quality for a compact/sub-compact. One interesting point for a car in this price range is the computer display of milage and range which is quite nice to see.
My car had air conditioning which worked extremely well on the 36 degree Celsius day keeping the car very comfortable during the cruise to Courtenay,BC. Other features which are nice are large mirrors which allow you to clearly see the traffic around you.
Now down to the 2 factors that are important in all cars the engine and the breaks. I got a respectable 0-60 of 12 seconds with a 4 speed auto. The 2 litre engine does growl as the rpm’s rise and at higher speeds it’s a constant noise although not irritating.
The 4 speed auto shifts quickly trying to keep the car in fuel efficient territory and it takes a lot of gas pedal movement to get the car to downshift, but this is the nature of an economy car.
Brakes are touchy, very little movement causes the breaks to engage quite sharply which is fine a higher speeds but irritating in parking lots and traffic.
Now down to weather or not I could see myself in this car long term. In my current situation with a wife and 3 kids no. But if I was in need of a great city run about car with great interior space and good sight lines and a very frugal engine yes I could see myself in this car. I think my Mom would be proud of how I am growing up and starting to see the world a little more practically.
Jean Emond (pronounced gee-aah, eh-mon) is a guy who likes cars much like most men do the only difference is that he has to work with two women who really couldn’t care what his opinion is because well, he’s a man and men really don’t make sense.
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