They aren’t swift, and with a name like Grand Vitara, they won’t be as memorable a sidekick as a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4.
But when you add in a V-6, leather, satellite navigation, room for four and cargo and four-wheel-drive that works on- and off-road, and price all that under $30,000, some might call that an XLent deal.
OK, enough Suzuki puns. Let’s check out the refreshed 2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara Limited.
*Suzuki style – The compact SUV from Suzuki got a big redesign in 2006, and some tweaks since. So the 2010 model is familiar, but handsome, with short overhangs and a relatively long 103.9-inch wheelbase. The crosshatch plastic grill gets a half frame of chrome, with a big lower air intake flanked by inset fog lights. The gentle clamshell hood with slim fake side vents still offers a smooth look, as do squared-off fender flares that frame 7-spoke alloys wearing 18-inch Dunlop rubber, adding to a wide stance. There’s a gently rising beltline with tinted rear side windows, a nicely integrated roof rack, and a hard plastic spare tire cover on the simply-designed back end with stacked taillights and a slim rear bumper. Nice and simple looking, with lots of glass for decent visibility. But no one else took a second glance at our Slate Gray Metallic Limited. Paint and overall fit and finish were fine.
*Suzuki surroundings – The Grand Vitara got a pop-up Garmin satellite navigation system added to a rather complete list of standards. The Limited adds just about everything else, including black leather seats and keyless entry and ignition.
The front bucket seats were firm and nice enough, but flat and lacking lumbar support, although the driver had manual height adjustment. Twin front seat heaters are there too, but they are wimpy. The hard plastic dashboard design is solidly done and a bit sporty, with nice dashes of silver and gray fake wood. The three-spoke steering wheel gets leather, plus stereo and cruise control buttons, and is manually tilt adjustable. The inset gauges start with a big central tach with trip computer display, 140-mph speedometer on the left and gas and temperature on the right. The center stack is topped with the Garmin, manually tilting to adjust for glare. It looks like an afterthought, the screen a bit small and just out of easy reach for use. It shifts a bit when its touch screen is used. But it has clean graphics and quick map animation. Our version added real-time traffic alerts (“Traffic ahead” heard when we came on a construction detour), weather forecasts and radar, news headlines, local events lists, movie times, gas prices, stock updates, airline information, music and audio book upload-ability, plus on-screen Bluetooth text display. The 7-speaker AM-FM-CD-XM-ready sound system was OK, with an MP3 player input jack, but local FM reception was only so-so.
Our lower center console added twin 12-volt outlets flanking a hidden storage, although its hard plastic construction means anything tucked in it will rattle. Two cupholders live under a door ahead of the center armrest storage area, with sliding armrest. There’s decent room in the glovebox and door map pockets with water bottle slots. Two adults will find great head and leg room in the back seats, high enough for a great view outward and offering a bit of recline. But when rear head restraints are up, they intrude on rearward vision, although the spare tire doesn’t. There’s 24.4-cu.ft. of cargo space behind the rear seats, with a hinged solid security cover and handy net, and hidden storage under the floor and its rubber mat. The passenger-side hinged rear door accesses a nice load height floor, but blocks access if you load up on a street-side parking space. For safety, front air bags, front seat-mounted side airbags front and rear side-curtain airbags networked with a rollover sensor.
*Vitara vitality – Base power is a Suzuki-developed 2.4-liter four-cylinder with 166 hp, while our 2,200-mile-old Limited had a 230-hp V-6 with variable valve timing. Matched to a smooth 5-speed automatic with four-wheel-drive, we hit 60-mph in an average 10 seconds after a slow launch, all wheels grabbing in 4-wheel high. The engine growled when pushed, and only showed an indicated 19-mpg average in mixed highway/suburban driving on regular.
It all rides on a car-like unit body united to a classic SUV-like ladder frame. The result is a pretty comfortable ride with decent bump control on most roads, and only a bit of bounce on lesser routes, hinting at its ladder frame. The highway ride is composed, although we had some tire noise and a few creaks from the rear door and other unidentifiable places. Composure in turns was fine, with some body roll (for an SUV), four-wheel-drive grabbing where needed and some understeer when pushed. Stability control stepped in if you try sporty. Off-road, the Grand Vitara can do what most of import compact crossovers can’t. Twist a center dash transfer case dial, and you get all-round four-wheel-drive high biased toward the rear wheels. That worked just fine on grass, dirt or gravel trails, power transferred up front when needed. Need more? You can lock the center differential, switch to low range, even engage a Land Rover-style Hill Descent Control that tapped brakes as we went down hills, “walking” the Grand Vitara better than a driver’s brake foot. Sandy hills were no problem, meaning this compact is suited for lots of places, with a decent 7.9 inches of ground clearance. On and off road, the power steering had decent feel, and the four-wheel disc brakes with ABS had good pedal feel and decent power in regular driving. But we experienced fade after three firm stops from 60-mph.
*Grand Vitara price tag – Our Limited V-6 four-wheel-drive model starts at $26,999 with lots standard except $125 floor and $130 cargo mats, $130 premium metallic paint and $269 Bluetooth with text messaging display. That’s a final tag of $27,653. A loaded all-wheel-drive Honda CR-V is about $29,000, a Mazda CX-7 Grand Touring AWD $33,000, for comparison. Those two are more refined, but not anywhere as capable off road. A Jeep Liberty with four-wheel-drive is more mountain goat.
*Bottom line - The Grand Vitara we drove was pretty well outfitted for less than many competitors, not counting its decent on-road, and pretty good off-road, ability. You will get more style in a Toyota RAV4 or the new Hyundai Tuscon. But Suzuki, if there’s a dealer near you, does offer more for a bit less.
2010 Suzuki Grand Limited
Standard navigation system; automatic climate control with air filtration; trip computer; power windows, mirrors and door locks; remote keyless entry; tilt steering wheel; automatic on/off headlamps; AM/FM/CD/MP3/XM Satellite Radio-compatible audio system; leather, heated front seats, full-size spare tire with cover, 18-inch alloy wheels and HomeLink wireless control system.
Vehicle type 5-passenger compact sports utility vehicle
Base price - $26,999 ($27,653 as tested)
Engine type Aluminum 24-valve V-6
Displacement – 3.2 liter
Horsepower (net) – 230 @ 6,200 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 213 @ 3,500 rpm
Transmission – 5-speed automatic
Wheelbase – 103.9 inches
Overall length – 177.2 inches
Overall width – 71.3 inches
Height – 66.7 inches
Front headroom – 38.2 inches
Front legroom – 41.3 inches
Rear headroom – 38.2 inches
Rear legroom – 37.2 inches
Cargo capacity - 28.4 cu.ft./70.8 w/rear seat folded
Towing capacity – up to 3,000 lbs.
Curb weight – 3,876 lbs.
Fuel capacity – 17.4 gallons
Mileage rating – 17-mpg city/23-mpg highway
Last word – A contender, but not as smooth as its mates
By Dan Scanlan
MyCarData
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