Kizashi Club

It appears that a front axle for these cars is virtually impossible to find, anyone have a lead on a new one? I haven't verified yet but I have heard a bad CV before and I'm trying to get ahead of this problem.

2011 Suzuki Kizashi SLS Sport AWD, 90k miles

Used axles for these are easy to find using car-part.com. If automatic, the left axle is the same fwd or awd. The right is specific . Manual trans has smaller shaft size where it plugs into trans. These axle joints and boots are superb quality from what I see. Failure always seems linked to damage caused to them.

Correction; the manual axles use slightly larger, not smaller, shaft at trans than the automatic.

Thank you for that. I did see some used ones, I was afraid new ones may not be available or would be oem (very expensive).

I would take a good used oem one over a new Chinese copy any day . I highly doubt that copies (aftermarket )are available for the Kizashi due to the low production alone not to mention the extremely low failure rate thanks to their awsome quality.

Another thing I cant seem to find an answer in (unless I should make a new post) is I read somewhere about an update that makes the car shift significantly better. Is this available for my car, and where would I get it done since theres no Suzuki dealer in the US?

If its the quick and jittery shifting under low throttle pressure, this is normal and how it was designed or mapped to shift in D range. A little harder on the throttle and then backing off is how most adapt to this however, the paddle shifters are fantastic and what the Kizashi is all about. The beauty of cvt is supposed to be an infinitely endless number of gear ratios and also seamless shifting. Something I think Nissan didnt want any other manufacturer to have and compete with them with . Systems sold to Chrysler, Suzuki, Fiat, and others were not cutting edge at the time of sale, purposely I think. There is no reason why the control module couldnt have been built to give a few options on shift . For instance economy (like it is in drive currently) Sport (giving you a definite shift feeling and holding into gear until like 4k rpm) Seamless (where it would just hold engine at near 1800 rpm and slide the gear ratio for speed control ) and of course manual shifting with paddles. What we need is a Brainiac to hack into one of these , make and then sell it.

I'd be happy if the CVT would just not self destruct....

How many miles did yours go out at? My car has 91k, I just recently got it so I dont know the history of it but it is in nice visible condition, fluid looks decent. I plan to drive it gently, as I bought it as a secondary car for fuel efficiency and comfort vs my diesel 3/4 ton.

Ronzuki wrote:I'd be happy if the CVT would just not self destruct....

hillboy73 wrote:Another thing I cant seem to find an answer in (unless I should make a new post) is I read somewhere about an update that makes the car shift significantly better. Is this available for my car, and where would I get it done since theres no Suzuki dealer in the US?

There is an aftermarket product called Potent Booster I bought 2 years ago and I have happy with it no side effect or damage so far. this booster work with throttle not transmission of course. you can google it maybe find a compatible product with kizashi on amazon or ebay.
CVT transmission is better left alone to default configuration.