Suzuki Grand Vitara 2013: Road Test

Price Guide: (not including statutory and delivery charges):$27,990
Options fitted: (not included in above price): N/A
Crash rating: Four-star ANCAP
Fuel: 91 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 9.5
CO2 emissions (g/km): 224
Also consider: Hyundai ix35 (from $26,990); Kia Sportage (from $25,490); Mazda CX-5 (from $27,880); Nissan X-TRAIL (from $28,490)

Suzuki's Grand Vitara has undergone a few transitions over its three generations in the marketplace.

Stemming from the basic, lightweight Vitara that began its working life in 1988, the slightly bigger Grand Vitara first hit the market in 1998 and was something of a rarity. It possessed genuine offroad abilities in a segment where crossover SUVs were quite unable to tackle semi-serious bush adventures.

But, in 2005, the Grand Vitara went soft. It retained some of its offroad character, but erred more towards its road-biased competitors with the adoption of a monocoque chassis and all-independent suspension system.

Then, in 2012, Suzuki downgraded the Grand Vitara's credentials even further with the introduction of a rear-drive-only version. The days of spare jerry cans, hand winches and door pockets filled with detailed contour maps were well and truly past.

In a tough part of the new car market, the Grand Vitara today is decidedly mainstream. Now in its third generation, it faces not just some well-entrenched and highly competitive competition, but also a swathe of impressive, highly-credentialed newcomers.

There's not just the best-in-segment Mazda CX-5 (see our medium SUV comparison), but also Toyota's new RAV4, Hyundai's refreshed ix35 Series II and its blood-brother Kia Sportage, Skoda's Yeti, the once class-leading Volkswagen Tiguan and the evergreen Nissan X-TRAILl, all of which offer an entry-level two-wheel drive variant.

In this company, where on-road abilities and refinement are paramount, the Grand Vitara frankly struggles.

Tested in two-wheel drive Urban form, the Grand Vitara is competitive enough in its equipment levels and pricing, but feels its age in terms of presentation, its four-star ANCAP safety rating, and in the way it drives.

The Urban version was introduced in 2010 and brought a couple of extra features that arguably should have been standard anyway. These include Bluetooth and rear park assist. The former is listed as optional on all other Grand Vitara models, including top-of-the-range versions.

The Urban’s equipment list is otherwise pretty familiar, including six airbags, stability and traction control, cruise control, power windows, climate-control air-conditioning and roof rails.

In terms of practicality the Grand Vitara is on the pace with 398 litres of luggage space, decent rear-seat legroom and decent-sized front seats with height adjustment on the driver’s side.

The ambience is pretty dull, with monotonous grey trim unrelieved by the piano-black shiny bits adopted by many competitors. On the credit side, the controls are pretty intuitive and straightforward, with steering wheel switches for things such as the cruise control, audio and Bluetooth telephony.

On the road, the Grand Vitara is competent rather than inspiring. It cruises well enough, with class-average noise levels and good straight-line stability, although it has little of the steering feedback found, for example, in Mazda’s CX-5, or Euros such as the Volkswagen Tiguan or Skoda Yeti.

The rear-drive Suzuki’s softish ride tends to encourage basic understeer and there’s noticeable body roll, although the steering is at least well-weighted and relatively quick at 2.7 turns lock-to-lock. And the Suzuki’s rear-wheel drive avoids the loose-surface wheel scrabbling that afflicts most front-drive SUVs. Turning circle is a handy-enough 11.0 metres.

The 122kW/225Nm 2.4-litre engine couples to either a five-speed manual or a conventional four-speed automatic transmission which does a decent job of managing the power. The four-cylinder has no problem coping with the 1620kg kerb weight, although it does begin to sound a bit thrashy as it heads towards the 6500rpm redline.

The cruise control is in keeping with the rest of the car: Although the steering wheel mounted controls are intuitive and easy to use, the system itself is a little undecided when it comes to holding constant speeds.

Interestingly, Suzuki doesn’t claim big economy or emissions advantages over four-wheel drive Grand Vitaras. The auto Urban model is quoted at 9.5L/100km and 234 g/km of CO2; the former only slightly better than the 9.9L/100km average quoted for the (selectable) all-wheel drive Sport version, and the 234 g/km CO2 emissions exactly the same.

With averages varying between 9.7 and 10.1L/100km, our test car confirmed the official consumption figures as reasonably close to the mark.

And that probably sums up the Grand Vitara after eight years on the market: It’s close to the mark, but has been overtaken by a new generation of SUVs that redefine what the customer has a right to expect in this phenomenally successful segment of the Australian new car market.

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