Looking at a new Kizashi. Need help.

Kizashinub · Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:10 am

I am looking at the Kizashi as my next vehicle, it's AWD and good mileage tempt me into making the purchase. As a Canadian I can still go buy a new one which would be a nice new experience as I have always purchased premium condition older vehicles. I have and old 96 F150 reg cab 4x4 and a 97 BMW M3. That means I have a summer vehicle and winter vehicle and as much as I love them so much there both useless sometimes. My car does not see gravel or snow and I hate putting kms on it. Yup garage queen love to drive it but roads are bad around here and it pains me to bomb around town in it. The truck is my winter wheels. Like the car it is in great shape but it is hoplessly impractical, poor mileage no room for stuff in cab and rides like a bus.

I am looking at an AWD car for all season use now. I hear the kizashi has a great AWD system and it is a great looking car with many features I want. I wont lie I have never been one to drive mainstream vehicles and the Kizashi would follow that trend. I hate how there is so little information on this car. The brochure is garbage and tells me very little about it. I am having a hard time deciding what trim level I want and whether or not they have unique features that other trims have. Backup cameras seem to be on some models but no mention of them on a Canadian model. Is the sport that much better than the mid level model? I want to drive it in winter so heated seats is a must but lower ground clearance is not a great trade off for it. Dont even get me started on what colour I would prefer.

I just dumped my thoughts out here so I apologize for this jumbled post, perhaps in the morning I can clarify some things.

Thanks

Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:22 am

This should be pretty comprehensive: http://www.suzuki.ca/suzuki/automotive? ... ture=en-CA#

coref1 · Mon Aug 05, 2013 9:35 am

I'm in Australia so I can't advise you on the Canadian models but I've got an fwd cvt auto version that's just under 1 year old with 15000 klms on it. The steering, handling and brakes are excellent and the engine whilst no rocket is ok. It's got plenty of toys to play with including heated seats on my version. I love driving and love music so driving my Kizashi along a twisty road with the Rockford Fosgate sound system on makes me very happy. It's the type of car that is at it's best being pushed to it's limit.
I haven't driven the awd version but if your going to drive in snow then defineately worth looking at. The downside is it's heavier and uses more fuel.

LPSISRL · Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:06 pm

Why Suzuki? Are you only interested in a sedan?

Kizashinub · Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:11 pm

I think a sedan would be best. I thought alot about an sx4 AWD and even though it is cheaper and has more ground clearance I think the Kizashi is the safer vehicle. There is also huge discounts on them right now. There is only a handfull of them left though so getting what I want would be difficult.

LPSISRL · Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:27 pm

That's why I was asking. The SX4 iAWD seems to be a better winter car. I used to have one but since in live in SE Virginia, I rarely got to drive it in snow. However, I was in the SX4 forum a lot. And the folks there say there's no better car in the snow. Better than Subes, better than Jeeps, trucks whatever.

Speed_Racer · Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:31 pm

I second what's been said about the SX4 iAWD. My parents live in NH and own one with snow tires. I've driven it, and it's nearly unstoppable in the white stuff.

They also have an 02 Impreza Outback Sport. The iAWD on the SX4 is faster reacting than on the Subaru, interestingly enough.

murcod · Tue Aug 06, 2013 1:06 am

Kizashinub wrote: I think the Kizashi is the safer vehicle.

I fairly sure the SX4 is only a 4 star rated vehicle (locally in Australia), whereas the Kizashi has the 5 star crash rating.

Tue Aug 06, 2013 2:41 am

murcod wrote:
Kizashinub wrote: I think the Kizashi is the safer vehicle.
I fairly sure the SX4 is only a 4 star rated vehicle (locally in Australia), whereas the Kizashi has the 5 star crash rating.

The Kizashi also has higher safety ratings than the SX4 in the US. I recall reading somewhere that the SX4 had poor crash test ratings for rear impact. The Kizashi, on the other hand, is one of the top ten safest cars in the US.

To me, there is no comparison between the SX4 and the Kizashi. The Kizashi is a much more refined vehicle and quite an upscale departure from the other Suzuki models, especially the ones sold in North America.

murcod · Tue Aug 06, 2013 6:08 am

KuroNekko wrote:
To me, there is no comparison between the SX4 and the Kizashi. The Kizashi is a much more refined vehicle and quite an upscale departure from the other Suzuki models, especially the ones sold in North America.

Yes, I was going to mention that. Suzuki really took a big leap forward with the Kizashi and hopefully all their new designs will follow the same path. The SX4 is an older design; I haven't driven one, but would be most surprised if it's anything like a Kizashi in the way it's built and drives. We've got a top of the range 2004 XL-7 and it's more like one of the early Hyundai's than a relative of the Kizashi (ie. poor quality interior plastics, fit / finish and leather that's like vinyl. In fact the "leather" is actually vinyl on everything except the seat face!) Mechanically, it's built to last, but the cosmetics leave a lot to be desired.

I believe there's already a new design SX4 coming out soon? There was a post on here somewhere?