Suzuki Grand Vitara 2009 review

Suzuki's original Grand Vitara was a bit like that kid. Considered by many to be too much of an underpowered lightweight to be a serious player in the dirt.

But the kid has grown up and the Grand Vitara has matured into something desirable in the soft roader market.

Suzuki has been working hard to give the Vitara a more vibrant image. Take a look at the Grand Vitara's sales brochure and you will only find one picture of someone middle aged or older.

It's all about surfboards, camping, playing in the dirt or snow or heaven forbid, powering through salt water on a beach. Suzuki, known as a small car specialist, is pitching the Grand Vitara at active, fun-loving adventurers.

Fair enough, for the wagon is pretty good at what it does and has helped Suzuki maintain sales in what developed into an annus horribilis for the industry.

The Grand Vitara has just had a booster injection of vitality, with Suzuki ticking all the right boxes: a new petrol engine, better fuel economy, more refinement and added safety, including the fitment of electronic stability control as standard in all models.

While the three- and five-door styles remain, the old 1.6 and 2-litre motors have been replaced with a smart 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine while a 3.2-litre quad cam V6 takes over from the 2.7-litre model.

The existing 1.9-litre turbo diesel has been reworked for better fuel economy.

Pricing spreads from $24,990 for the base three-door to $39,990 for the V6 five-door or $40,990 if you opt for larger alloy wheels.

The Grand Vitara comes from Japan and it shows. It looks well screwed together and shows a degree of quality about its fit and finish which should be the envy of its rivals.

Driving

While most of its rivals are not true offroaders, the Grand Vitara is and is remarkably capable of tackling the sort of stuff typical owners will encounter _ rough forestry trails, overgrown tracks leading to the best fishing spots or along windswept ocean beaches.

You would expect, therefore, this would be a hard-riding wagon and uncomfortably out of its depth in the city environment.

And that's the big surprise because it handles the urban jungle with all the poise and comfort of a mid sized family car.

It has a constant all-wheel drive system with electronic selection between high and low range but the auto only comes as a four-speeder when five has become the norm.

The icing on the Suzuki cake, is that this one comes well equipped for the price with a comprehensive equipment list which includes, depending on the model, six air bags, automatic air conditioning, leather trim, powered sunroof, cruise control, keyless start and multi-stack seven-speaker CD player.

Standard equipment also includes hill descent and hill holder control for confidence-boosting offroad driving and 17-inch alloys. Storage space also gets a tick of approval.

It's not all good news though.

The wagon is best as a four-seater, not a five, the rear visibility is handicapped by the full-sized spare tyre which is slung on the side hinged rear door, there are a couple of blind spots and the way the rear seat folds is cumbersome and doesn't leave a lot in the way of extra luggage space. ON and OFF ROAD My daily route includes a brute of a short but steep hill. It's a great baseline test of how well a vehicle's torque and gearing are matched. Performance vehicles fly up in third gear, most do it in second, a few struggle and occasionally need first. The petrol Grand Vitara fits in that group.

While the new 2.4-litre motor with 122kW is the star attraction and is substantially better than the old 1.6l engine, the gearing, designed to gain maximum fuel efficiency, coupled with the wagon's weight, means mid-range performance is sluggish.

The Vitara would perform much better with an extra gear and ratios better matched to the engines torque. There's no problem with the Suzuki's off the line acceleration: the 2.4-litre motor has shaved zero to 100km/h times from 12.5 seconds in the old model to 11.7 seconds in the new. Not super quick but this is a constant all-wheel drive wagon designed for the bush. The Grand Vitara is perky most times and the ride is reasonable but not class leading. We tried the petrol and diesel versions, returning a good 10l/100km and 8l/100km respectively. The pick of the two, for me, is still the manual-only diesel because it offers better meaty torque which helps to overcome its mid-range flatspot, especially in the second to third gear range.

That said, the petrol is still pleasing and if you desire more power (but at a price), then go for the V6 version. Inside, the Vitara offers a well designed and efficient cabin. It gets ticks for features like a gauge showing fuel consumption but all the gauges could be bigger and clearer and there's still no reach adjustment for the steering wheel.

Verdict: On road, there are others which are more refined. Off road, the Vitara shines.

The Grand Vitara is a genuine and honest offroader which is happy in city driving. Well equipped but needs a five-speed automatic.