Kizashi

That's a name that just rolls off the tongue.

I accidentally stopped into a Suzuki dealership today. I was driving by and saw a Suzuki pick up truck and since I'd never even heard of a Suzuki pick up I just had to stop and check it out.

The truck ended up being a rebadged Nissan but sitting beside it were a couple of Kizashis.

I was in the Lexus and the salesman said" yeah, feature for feature I'll bet the Kizashi matches your Lexus" so we each pulled ours out. I showed him mine and he showed me his.

Except for GPS (which will be available in March) he was right! That is one righteous little car.

The styling is nice, not outstanding, but nice. The feature set was outstanding. I had recently looked at a Subaru Legacy and this just blew the Legacy away.

A top of the line model with all the bells and whistles was only $26k. The one I drove was $22k.

Yes, the Suzuki rep was there and encouraged me to take one out and flog it. Flog it was his words. Who was I to resist?

The one I drove was a CVT, but there's a 6 speed on the lot they've invited me back to drive once it's prepped.

Straight line performance felt better than the Legacy, Mazda 3 (daughter 1), Altima 2.5 Coupe (daughter 2). It wasn't neck snapping strong, but turn the wheel and that little beauty started to shine. I did autocross type turns on the service road and not once did I get a squeal out of the front tires. I expected lots of understeer, but I didn't get any. The car didn't roll and turn in was nice. No, it wasn't anywhere near the order of my S2000 or Miata, but better than the Lexus is250 cause I immediately took the Lexus down there and tried the same manuevers.

I was just about ready to get rid of the Lexus and I might have accidentally found it's replacement.

Gesundheit.

No one saw that cross shop coming... sounds like a good salesman though!

You'll probably be bummed then to find out that it's based on a GM platform.

It looks like an angry Jetta to me, and that's not a bad thing. It trades some jelly bean for some teeth.

GM CAN make a decent platform.. it's just that they make them all spongy for what they think american's want.

my saab is based on a GM platform.. the rear swaybar helped a LOT.. next is shocks and springs.

I have to go check out the Kizashi.. I am in no market to buy a new car (and I am sworm off of them) but it warrents a look

klipless wrote: You'll probably be bummed then to find out that it's based on a GM platform. It looks like an angry Jetta to me, and that's not a bad thing. It trades some jelly bean for some teeth.

oh noes, more GM hate. he just drove it and it compared favorably against some pretty stiff competition. why would he now be bummed that it's a GM platform?

No, the GM platform doesn't bother me if it's a Suzuki implementation. I was headed to the Cheby dealer to see if any of their midsized PUs had a decent back seat.

Which platform is it?

What mattered was how tight it was, how well it performed and how well optioned out it was.

I didn't get to see the price till I was thru looking and driving and it blew me away.

klipless wrote: You'll probably be bummed then to find out that it's based on a GM platform. It looks like an angry Jetta to me, and that's not a bad thing. It trades some jelly bean for some teeth.

That was uncalled for, you need to understand this is a non biased forum, all cars, racing and nerds are welcome

I built one on their website. It seems like a LOT of car for the $20K that mine totaled out at (Base model, 6 speed, few options).

DILYSI Dave wrote: I built one on their website. It seems like a LOT of car for the $20K that mine totaled out at (Base model, 6 speed, few options).

Pics or it didn't happen.

I was poking around trying to figure out who makes the powertrain and what chassis it shares (if any?). It's a bummer you can't get the manual trans with the AWD option...seems like a lot of car for the money! I know Suzuki has a long history of sharing parts, especially with GM stuff, but with GM selling their stake that might have changed Suzuki's tune with their new designs.

Anybody have any idea if the powertrain and/or chassis is shared with some other companies out there?

Bryce

wikipedia says all original, not based on anything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Kizashi

It replaces a car that was designed with GM deawoo.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2009/09/interesting-chevrolet-epica-suzuki-kizashi-platform-mates/

That site says no real gm link..

but... who the hell really knows.

Am I the only one that sees the resemblance?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/Suzuki_kizashi_us.jpg/800px-Suzuki_kizashi_us.jpg

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2008/04/25/jetta_bluetdi_05.jpg

ignorant wrote: wikipedia says all original, not based on anything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Kizashi It replaces a car that was designed with GM deawoo. http://gmauthority.com/blog/2009/09/interesting-chevrolet-epica-suzuki-kizashi-platform-mates/ That site says no real gm link.. but... who the hell really knows.

Yeah, I don't really believe EVERYTHING I read on the internet. Sure, it's possible that Suzuki started from scratch on every part of the car, but I'm willing to bet they're using some off-the-shelf parts like the engine or transmission. Just hard to find info out there.

Bryce

Originally it was reported to be on the Epsilon platform, but Suzuki was adamant that it was, in fact, their own platform. Is it? I don't know, but maybe they don't want to be associated with anything GM while they try to sell mainstream cars in north America. I'll see if i can find the articles.

aussiesmg wrote:

klipless wrote: You'll probably be bummed then to find out that it's based on a GM platform. It looks like an angry Jetta to me, and that's not a bad thing. It trades some jelly bean for some teeth.

That was uncalled for, you need to understand this is a non biased forum, all cars, racing and nerds are welcome

Hahahaha! Non-biased... this is a forum where a guy looking for family transportation would be told he should get a P71, Miata or an E30 if there weren't any rust free Lotus for sale in his area.

zomby woof wrote: Originally it was reported to be on the Epsilon platform, but Suzuki was adamant that it was, in fact, their own platform. Is it? I don't know, but maybe they don't want to be associated with anything GM while they try to sell mainstream cars in north America. I'll see if i can find the articles.

from a quick google search it has some stupid small difference in wheelbase to seperate it...

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

aussiesmg wrote:

klipless wrote: You'll probably be bummed then to find out that it's based on a GM platform. It looks like an angry Jetta to me, and that's not a bad thing. It trades some jelly bean for some teeth.

That was uncalled for, you need to understand this is a non biased forum, all cars, racing and nerds are welcome

Hahahaha! Non-biased... this is a forum where a guy looking for family transportation would be told he should get a P71, Miata or an E30 if there weren't any rust free Lotus for sale in his area.

I seem to remember a thread extoling the virtues of the ex-cop Tahoes.

My "salesman" was the Suzuki Factory rep from the Atlanta office and he said the engine was all new but the CVT tranny was Jatco which is the same as Nissan I believe. The engine configuration and look didn't look familiar, but then again I'm not totally up to date on all the new engines.

The engine is offset towards the passenger a lot. When I asked him about torque steer he mentioned that he hadn't noticed it and he's run it at speed at VIR, Road Atlanta, & Laguna. My kind of guy.

I didn't notice any torque steer when I was practicing my autocross manuevers, but I'll check again once I go back and flog the 6 speed. I'll ask who makes the 6 speed.

There were 2 negatives on my part. 1) it's FWD 2) the seats were a little flat and hard like a VW, Porsche or F150 PU. I like mine to cradle me more than sit me on top.

Got bored and searched - I bought one a few months ago and I love it. The handling humiliates my MkIV Jetta with factory sport springs and Koni Yellows. That's no great feat, but it feels as poised as my father's E46 - no secondary body motions, very little understeer or dive, no ride harshness, does a great job of keeping full contact patches on uneven pavement.

I'm planning to autocross it next year.

I wondered where the ancient thread came from...Did you buy yours new?

alleghenyman wrote: Got bored and searched - I bought one a few months ago and I love it. The handling humiliates my MkIV Jetta with factory sport springs and Koni Yellows. That's no great feat, but it feels as poised as my father's E46 - no secondary body motions, very little understeer or dive, no ride harshness, does a great job of keeping full contact patches on uneven pavement. I'm planning to autocross it next year.

Pics or it didn't happen. Add it to your Garage!

The 2.5 is based of the 2.0L suzuki J20 engine that they've been building for years. Very durable engine, makes decent midrange power but isn't a high rpm screamer like the honda K240/24's. Overall, it;s a solid car. Good to see Suzuki building their own cars again and not rebadged daewoos.

This weekend I passed a Suzuki dealership that is "smack dab" next to a Chevy dealership, tho I believe each are owned by seperate auto groups. The Kizashi, at least to me, looks like the new Chevy Cruse...but slightly bigger. I'd be interesting in a comparison between those 2 if for no other reason that both these cars are "riding that wave" of cars that (seem) to go beyond "loaded" in their base trims.

The only downside I can see between Chevy and Suzuki? More Chevy dealers, and the smaller Cruse gets better EPA numbers.

Y'all have fun six-speeding around, guys: in Canada we are apparently getting only a loaded AWD CVT model for $29,995 (Cdn). Sigh.