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.
The promise of the looks soon evaporates as you start to drive. You sit good and high in a typical SUV driving position (with steering wheel adjustable for height only) and there's nothing wrong with the design and layout of the controls, instruments and switches.
But the engine instantly sounds too busy, as if there's not enough sound deadening, and the transmission whines like transmissions used to do 40 years ago. It all feels very dated, not helped by the sluggish pace that results from all that weight. Ripply road surfaces, typical of many British back roads, cause the engine to shake on its mountings, too, making for the sort of shuddery ride you don't normally get until a car is of pensionable age or mileage. This is disappointing, especially as the Vitara now has independent suspension at the back as well as at the front.
On the plus side, the Suzuki steers positively and is agile in the lanes, able to change direction quickly without lurching or feeling as if it might topple over. You can drive it like a normal car. Pulling out of angled junctions can be awkward in the three-door, though, whose centre pillar creates a blind spot.
Off-road, firmish suspension can make for bumpy progress and the jerks can jar the throttle, leading to more jerks. It's best to take things easy. Short overhangs make for good arrival and departure angles, though. If you're off-roading in the 1.6, which lacks a low-range gear set, be ready to take a run at any steep hills en route.
This is pretty feeble, actually. The figures are 99mph/13.4sec to 0-62mph for the 1.6, 109mph/12.5 sec for the 2.0, but both feel less than keen. You have to work them hard to overcome the weight and make them go and, as installed in the Vitara, these are not sweet-spinning engines.
The five-speed gearchange is a bit truck-like, too, but there's a four-speed auto alternative for the 2.0 (which saps more performance). Things should be much better when the Vitara gets the torquey Renault turbodiesel: we'll report back then.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Suzuki Grand Vitara
wrote on 16 10 2008