Kizashi Kicks

You guys know how much we enjoyed the Suzuki Kizashi when we had the chance to thrash it around DFW; unfortunately, sales numbers on the Kizashi have still been weak. Suzuki is now trying to reinvigorate all the hype the car initially received from the launching by kicking off their new media blitz called “Kizashi Kicks.”
You might have already seen these videos on YouTube, or in various social media settings, but Suzuki is about to spend a lot of time and money getting the word out on TV. The commercials will range from three 30 second ads to two 15 second ads. They will highlight the sportiness and premium quality of the Kizashi by pitting it against the Audi A4, Mercedes C300, and the Volvo S40.
We’ll have to wait and see if the if the consumers out there listen to the ads and take in what Suzuki is portraying about the Kizashi. We wish Suzuki all the best, and hope that more people wake up to the potential of the brand.

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Related posts:

1. The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:
2. RoadRace Motorsports Suzuki Kizashi at SEMA
3. Review: The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi

2010 Suzuki SportBack

Back in 2007, Suzuki was ready to make some changes in the American market. They were tired of being known for having Daewoo rebadged cars that were low-budget and low-income driven. At the same time, a little car being sold in Japan and across Europe had been winning praises and prizes. Suzuki was ready to develop a new car to compete in the World Rally Championship and to compete in the U.S. market. They developed the SX4 (Sports Crossover 4-Wheel Drive) beginning from the ground up using their gained knowledge from the Swift and other cars developed in Japan. This was truly a move in the right direction for Suzuki. The SX4 became the most affordable AWD vehicle sold in America, and is a great little car. Many people who bought these cars began to modify them along the lines of Suzuki’s WRC car, including us. In 2008, we helped build and design a Suzuki SX4 for a local dealer as a show car. We worked with a company named Road Race Motorsports (www.roadracemotorsports.com) for a lot of aftermarket parts for our SX4. Road Race is one of the only companies that make aftermarket parts for Suzuki and they have built many show cars and concept cars for Suzuki. This SX4 underwent many changes including a body kit, wheels, suspension, turbo, exhaust, and more! All in all, with the money we put into the car we ended up with a $30,000 machine. The SX4 was a good platform to start from as the chassis is set up for rally racing and the AWD system was top notch, but after spending the money we would much rather have had a Subaru STI or Mitsubishi Evo for the performance we saw. Don’t get me wrong, the car was fun, but not as great as these cars, yet owners loved the car we built and were ready to invest into making their Suzuki like ours. So many owners, in fact, that Suzuki decided to step up and build a more sporty SX4 themselves.

Chacon Suzuki SX4 Turbo

So came the SX4 SportBack. What was changed? Well much of the same; lower suspension, body kit, bigger wheels, and a more powerful engine. The SportBack has a 2.0 liter engine, like the regular SX4, but now with 150 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque. The 6-speed transmission allows the car to achieve a higher EPA rating pushing the highway miles to 30 mpg and 22 mpg for the city. You now also get a 6-speed manual transmission. The interior is the same basic setup as the normal SX4, very usable and very roomy. You get GPS as standard, yet the screen is mounted far back on the top of the dash and is almost imposible to access. You also get Suzuki’s 100,000 mile fully transferable warranty. Suzuki really has one of the best warranties out there.

So what was lost? Well lets start with the power-train. You get more power out of the 2.0 liter engine, but you lose the iAWD system. Suzuki did this to save weight and reduce horsepower loss associated with AWD systems. What it actually does is reduce confidence when driving. The front end feels much more lively and has become incredibly easy to lose grip at the front wheels. It also puts this car into a whole new category, but we’ll get back to that in a bit. Another big thing lost when shopping for a SportBack is the cheap price. Our test vehicle tipped the scales at $18,383 which isn’t too much, but it seems to defeat the purpose of the SX4. I always liked the SX4 for being an inexpensive, fun to drive, AWD, hatchback for everyone. Now you have a car that rivals the base Kizashi in sticker price and is no better to drive than the original.

This brings me back to my point of what category this car now falls in and the competition it faces. The Suzuki SX4 has had it pretty easy in its segment, but this SportBack goes from AWD rally competitor to a FWD autocross fighter. The problem is though, cars like the Fiesta and Mazda 2. With other companies getting into the small hatchback – fun to drive – segment at a better price, then I’m not sure if the SX4 SportBack will be able to compete. The SX4 is still a good car and the SportBack is a better looking and still a fun to drive version of that car, but at that price point I’d be looking at a base Kizashi if I just had to have a Suzuki product, or I’d wait for the Mazda 2 or Ford Fiesta.

Related posts:

1. Road Race Motorsports 2010 SX4
2. The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:
3. Review: The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi

2010 Suzuki Kizashi GTS Vivid Red

I’ve never really liked convertibles, and still don’t. It’s just something about the looks, and the fact that it almost always ruins a good coupe. I have had this dislike for a long time; Mustangs should be coupes. The Corvette should be a coupe. The 911 should most definitely be a coupe, and so on and so on. On the other hand, a true roadster or speedster that is born as a topless driving machine, I love. The Shelby Cobra, the Stirling Moss Edition SLR, and cars like the Ariel Atom and Caterham are cars that I have always admired and lusted after. Yes they don’t have a top, much like the convertibles I listed earlier, but the difference is that when you design a car as a coupe then chop the top to please a non-enthusiast buyer, you end up ruining the car in both performance and looks – in my opinion.

In 2001, a company that I knew only for their bikes, and I’m not a bike guy, came out with a true speedster concept that not only looked amazing then, but looking back now it would still be a modern and “out there” concept car. This car was called the GSX-R/4 by a company, you might have guessed by now, called Suzuki. Seeing this amazing little speedster led me to investigate the Suzuki brand as a whole, and man am I glad I did. Here in America, as with many car companies, we don’t always get the best the company has to offer. Suzuki didn’t sell much here in America back in 2001, and nothing worthy of an enthusiasts attention, unless you like 4×4, so my interest quickly dissipated. All the way into 2007 was more of the same with Suzuki. Great cars over seas and slim offerings in the US. Then comes the Suzuki SX4, Suzuki’s attempt to bring a fully Japanese built, sporty car to America. Granted the SX4′s 0-60 was 10 seconds and it looks like an egg, but despite this it had Suzuki’s iAWD (intelligent all-wheel-drive) system and a chassis built for rally racing. The SX4 was Suzuki’s first step in the right direction. T heir second was cutting ties with GM and Daewoo, and now their third big step toward getting an American car enthusiast like myself to buy a Suzuki product is the all new Kizashi.

Suzuki is so confident that the Kizashi will win over American car buyers, that they have put their money where their mouth is. The new campaign from Suzuki marketing is go test drive the Kizashi, then test drive an Audi A4 or Acura TSX. If you end up not buying the Kizashi, then Suzuki will pay you $100. Granted its more of a marketing campaign to announce who Suzuki really has their eyes set on, but it has gotten the enthusiast world buzzing about Suzuki. So what do we think?

Lets start with inside our Vivid Red Kizashi GTS. The only optional add-on in this car are premium floor mats and body side molding accents. This is because the Kizashi is packed full of standard features that would break the bank in cars that Suzuki has its sights set on. What you get as standard equipment on this GTS include things like dual zone auto climate control, 10-way power drivers seat, steering wheel audio controls, leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter, cruise control, power tilt and slide sunroof, and an amazing stereo! The 425 watt Rockford Fosgate system has 10 speakers including a trunk mounted sub, iPod and MP3 USB port, Bluetooth hands free calling, wireless audio streaming, and a CD player. Crank this sucker up and you’ll be impressed with this factory stereo. The seats are premium cloth and as far as cloth seats go, these are great. You still get good support and a comfortable seating position. The materials used throughout the interior of the Kizashi feel premium and Suzuki did a great job making sure the touch points were spot on. Obviously, a car like the A4 is going to have a better quality interior, but not by a substantial amount. The trunk in this mid-sized car inevitably surprised everyone we showed it to. Despite the exterior looks, which make this car appear much smaller than it actually is, the interior and trunk are very spacious. Many people were not happy with the exterior looks of the car when it was first introduced, mainly complaining about the difference in design from the last concept to final production. This never bothered me because I never have high hopes with car companies bringing concept design into production. Despite this, the car does look sporty with flared fenders and an integrated trunk spoiler, 18 inch alloy wheels, short overhangs in the front and rear, and even the fake dual exhaust outlets in the rear it all works together and really does it for me.

Our test car came with the six-speed manual transmission hooked up to the 2.4 liter engine pushing 185 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. We test drove the SLS Kizashi a few weeks before with the six-speed CVT (continuously variable transmission) which only gets 180 horsepower out of the same engine. With the CVT setup, I was really disappointed in the performance of the car. It still had a great, if not better, interior with the leather seats, but just didn’t feel like it had any get-up-and-go, even in manual mode shifting with the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Fortunately, all is cured by giving us the transmission we want in any car, the six-speed manual. All of the sudden, the car feels more responsive and quicker. This leads you to taking corners with more passion and enthusiasm, which in turn shows of the great chassis and suspension that Suzuki has developed in this car. Even in the face of a front-wheel-drive setup, the Kizashi kept its composure and never felt like the front wheels couldn’t handle the job of power and turning. There was never a feel of abundant torque steer or understeer to upset our backroad joyrides, although with much more horsepower to the ground, we might not get the same result. Even if you don’t want to drive with the entusiasm that we most often do, this car soars down the highway with ease. Minimal wind noise and road noise make it easy to enjoy the drive, and knowing your getting close to 30 miles per gallon makes it that much better. Even with our driving, city and highway, we averaged just over 23 mpg.

Kizashi is a Japanese word for “Something great is coming” and we agree with one small difference. That something great is here! Stacking the Kizashi up to its competition seems like a no brainer to me. Our test car clocked in at $24,599, loaded, and getting anything close to it would be stretching your pocket into the high $30k range. In fact, the top of the line SLS that we drove with the leather and CVT topped out at just over $28k. You just can’t beat it on price. Unless your into big name recognition and badge prestige, there is no real reason you’d pick an Audi or Acura over the Suzuki. I actually like the fact that Suzuki still isn’t a well known brand and when you tell people what you are driving they look at you with a look of confusion. “You mean that car your racing around in is a Suzuki?” “What’s a Kizashi?” It always leads into my favorite part about owning a car you love, “lets go check it out!” I can’t wait to see what Suzuki has up it’s sleeve next. I know they are bringing the Swift to the United States, but further into the future, if Suzuki keeps on its path, we really will be looking at something great.

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Related posts:

1. The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:
2. RoadRace Motorsports Suzuki Kizashi at SEMA
3. 2011 Suzuki Swift:

RRM Platinum Edition Kizashi

Love, hate, or don’t really care about the new Kizashi from Suzuki one thing has always been certain, RoadRace Motorsports has their own plans for the new Zuk. Our friends at RRM have had a role in the Kizashi from very early on and have been working on aftermarket parts for this car for a year now. What is the best place in America to show off a new car with fantastic aftermarket potential? Well that would be SEMA. RRM has their Platinum Kizashi on display at SEMA this year and has released a few photos of the car on their Flickr site.

Check out the pictures on Flickr and check out the RRM site.

Related posts:

1. The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:
2. Road Race Motorsports 2010 SX4
3. 2011 Suzuki Swift:

Road Race Motorsports 2010 SX4 SportBack

As you might or might not know a few of us here at txGarage helped design and build an SX4 Turbo for a local dealer, Chacon Suzuki, as a show car. You can check it out here, if you are interested in seeing our work. There are not many companies that make aftermarket parts for Suzuki cars, and when we built this car there was really only one, Road Race Motorsports.

After working with the guys at Road Race I’ve been following a lot of what they do from their work on Evos, to the Genesis Coupe, to the new Kizashi from Suzuki. Now they have come out with the newest SX4 variant, the 2010 Suzuki SX4 SportBack. The stock SportBack gets things like 17” wheels, a six speed gearbox, 150 hp VVT 2.0L engine, and opts out of the AWD for a basic FWD platform so there is less power lost by the drive train. Road Race did a great job working on the SportBack, here is what Rob posted on SX4Club.com

Road Race Motorsports has been working with Suzuki North America for over 4 years now build drivable concept cars to entertain the public and Suzuki Executives. The new 2010 SX4 sport is no different, this car is built to entertain and that is does with RRM tuned intake, exhaust, lowering springs, sway bars and RRM sport stripe kit along with other mods. On with the photos…for more info on this car and other Suzuki products check out or website.
http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/store/

With the variety of cars and manufacturers entering in race events like the Koni Challenge, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some of these showing up on the track.

Checks out their site for more info on Road Race Motorsports also don’t miss their YouTube page.

Related posts:

1. The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:
2. Great Road Tracks in Texas
3. 2011 Suzuki Swift:

Road Race Kizashi

The official unveiling of the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi took place last week showing off a few of the new sedans by Suzuki. The Kizashi is long awaited in the US from Suzuki, as they haven’t offered a mid-sized sedan in the US since the end of the Verona in 2006.  The Verona was a rebadged Daewoo marketed through Suzuki. It was a horrible failure for Suzuki, not only bringing their quality status down but also pulling away from what they want Suzuki to symbolize. The Kizashi though is a completely different story. Built in Suzuki’s new factory keeping everything under Suzuki’s control the new Kizashi lives up to their “way of life” slogan. Featuring AWD and a 3.6 liter V6 that will put it right at par with some great cars and knowing Suzuki’s handling I’m sure it will be a great driving car.

Want to make your Kizashi even better? Road Race Motorsports has already started developing aftermarket parts for this car!

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What about the design? There have been many comparisons to VW or Audi, or even that it looks too much like a bigger SX4 sedan. I’ll agree that the Kizashi 3 concept was quite more stunning than this production version, but everyone knew it would get watered down in the name of a production car. I think it’s still an attractive car and it gives them something to reach for with the next line up. Let’s just hope it is a success for Suzuki in the hard times of the American auto market.

Related posts:

1. Suzuki Conquered the Peak

The legendary Pikes Peak run has wrapped up for another year with another victory for the Suzuki Team. They dropped the XL7 platform from last year for a “slightly” modified SX4 to take on the peak. The 873 horsepower machine was built on the base of a SX4 with a steel space frame, twin turbo H27A 2.7L V6 engine, 6 speed sequential gear box, AWD, and weighing in at 2469lbs. This car obviously doesn’t share much with the road going SX4, if anything, but it’s still a great win for the Suzuki Team with a crowded field.

 They were facing two time World Rally Champion Marcus Goronholm’s 800 horsepower Ford Fiesta and an 1150 horsepower Ford RS200. Also joining in was Rhys Millen, the drift champ, sporting the new Hyundai Genesis coupe and winning the 2WD class. The record time set by the Suzuki team’s Mr. Tajima for the hill climb is 10 minutes 1.408 seconds from 2007.

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For more Pikes Peak info see PPIHC

[img source: autoblog]

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