Category: Small 4x4s 
Price Range: £13,600 to £18,975
Looks neat and contemporary, good off-road ability, handles quite well, good value for a 4x4.
Restless ride, lacklustre performance, coarse engines and transmissions, feels dated to drive.
Not the advance we'd hoped for after experiencing the competent Swift. We await the diesel version with interest: meanwhile, a Kia Sportage is a much better bet.
These Vitaras don't exactly ooze plushness, but they're put together well, even of some of the materials feel cheap. The dashboard design looks superficially sophisticated, with its silver accents and flowing centre console, but every plastic surface is hard in the three-door and only the padded tops of the door trims soften the tactility in the five-door.
It all comes across as durable and functional enough, however, and there's no reason to doubt the Vitara's toughness and mechanical integrity. There were some creaks and squeaks from the bodywork on rough roads and mild off-road terrain, suggesting torsional stiffness that's far from class-leading.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Suzuki Grand Vitara
wrote on 16 10 2008