have I made a mistake

pakizzie2015 · Thu Dec 10, 2015 1:39 pm

for the moment (pre Salted Roads) my black kizashi looks the same. I have waxed and fixed all the chips so far. I must say I got one that really didn't have that many. I will continue to wash and wax this car through out the winter.. I make it a practice if I drive on the salted roads I am washing it as fast as I can.. on all my previous cars I have done the same .. Since I have posted my first post. I still am very concerned about driving this car.. Don't get me wrong I love it and I am actually getting used to the way a cvt works. and been getting milage that hoovers around 31.9 on the road(mostly hwy) driving. and that is much better than my SUV I had. at best 20 on the hwy.. Since I can't afford new tires at the moment. I am hoping for this EL-Nino winter to keep the snow away as much as possible. the tires seem to have good tread but I know these need to be changed as I want a better tread pattern for snow as well..

z06jeff · Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:33 pm

Welcome! A few of us have experienced the rear brake issue, myself included. Did you do anything to the caliper brackets to prevent the new pads from seizing?

Not really, I just cleaned everything with a wire brush and installed the new anti-rattle clips that came with the pads. Now that I know this can be a problem, I'll be sure to remove the rear calipers and check everything out when I rotate the tires.

How does the Kizashi fair for autox?

It actually surprised me. Taking into consideration it's wearing 750 treadwear Continental tires, no negative camber, and it's got the CVT...it really wasn't that bad. The chassis is very solid, and the when pushed to the limits, the suspension feels like it was designed for the track. Car didn't feel as heavy as it is, which is usually a good sign. Little to no body roll as the pictures show. The CVT is it's biggest drawback. Being used to high torque V8 cars, I had to adjust my driving style big time. When approaching a turn, I had to brake way early to scrub off speed, then immediately floor it (at corner entry!). Then wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, then finally at the apex it would start picking up enough to push out a little at corner exit.
I think a front wheel drive 6-speed Kizashi would be far better suited, and likely a lot more fun. I finished 5th out of 15 in H-Street behind some well prepped and well driven Fiesta ST's and a Mini. http://www.nhscc.com/2015/2015-09-27/9-27-2015/dt.htm All things considered, I was okay with that.

WESHOOT2 · Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:43 pm

Try left-foot braking and keep a higher entry speed, then get on it early BEFORE it's even straightened out.
(Replacing the stock 18" "lightweight" alloy clod-hoppers with 13lb lighter assemblies made a big difference both in acceleration and steering feel; it exits harder.)

My Kizashi when pushed (really hard) grows smaller and more toss/flingable.
My problem is I autocross on public roads......

Pick yer battles, ay?

36,563

WESHOOT2 · Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:48 pm

Pick yer battles, ay?

I am extremely conscious of what lay out of sight; cattle (or critters) in the road, or a gaggle of Canadian bicyclists, or two moms jogging pushing side-by-side dually kiddie carts, or a dogsled team pulling a wheeled sled or even someone coming the other way just like me.......

Minding this reality keeps my speeds mostly sub-orbital most of the time, expect when I've chosen to do battle with the road.
Man I love that part.

z06jeff · Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:35 pm

Try left-foot braking and keep a higher entry speed, then get on it early BEFORE it's even straightened out.
(Replacing the stock 18" "lightweight" alloy clod-hoppers with 13lb lighter assemblies made a big difference both in acceleration and steering feel; it exits harder.)

My Kizashi when pushed (really hard) grows smaller and more toss/flingable.

Yeah, going in hot will always lighten the rear and allow for some rotation mid corner, but a momentum car like the CVT driven Kizashi will take forever trying to accelerate to the next turn. Slow in - Fast out seems to be the fastest method in H-street cars.
I doubt I'll ever autocross it again. It was just a one-time thing because I was curious how competitive it might (or might not) be. I think I answered that question. No doubt that lighter wheels, better tires, alignment, etc. will make it faster, but it will never catch the Fiesta ST's and Mini Coopers that dominate the class. And this is my wife's car after all. I didn't buy it for autocross. I have another car for that.

Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:45 pm

Does left foot braking work on Kizashis? I assumed the throttle input gets cut when the brakes are activated, like on most DBW vehicles

kizzy1 · Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:32 pm

2010 AWD SE here...just rolled 73k miles. I've only had 2 issues with the car...a front seal leak (Suzuki split the cost with me as I chose to have it repaired by a local shop rather than drive it 200+ miles to the closest dealership) and a failed heater blower fan motor (and subsequent failure of the resistor...not a cheap fix since I had to replace the resistor twice before realizing the fan motor was bad). Other than that, just routine maintenance (have serviced the CVT fluid once and replaced the diff fluids with Redline full synthetic...will be replacing the factory battery, plugs and front brakes soon). The car drives like new, can get up to 35 mpg on the highway and still looks great. Despite my initial concerns, this is (so far) the best car I've ever owned. I paid it off in September...plan on keeping it for a few years.

WESHOOT2 · Sat Dec 12, 2015 3:16 pm

Does left foot braking work on Kizashis? I assumed the throttle input gets cut when the brakes are activated

It does chop the throttle when sufficient braking pressure occurs.....

patrick3967 · Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:51 am

I have had my Kizashi AWD with the CVT since December 2012 this is my first post. I just had to reply to this thread.I have had lots of cars in my life, crotch rocket bikes, ZX-7RR and CBR954 and 2 Jeep Wranglers, plus a Suzuki Samurai which I loved. I have always tended to buy cars that were not mainstream,I love cars, I had (and loved a Sterling 827 at one time, and a Peugeot 505) and I can say that no car I have ever had has been as sweetly engineered, as well balanced, and just such an all around put a smile on your face to pick up the kids at baseball as the Kizashi. I have 158000 miles on it, I drive the hell out of it, and it still purrs like a kitten. Its been paid off for a while and I was on a business trip out in LA about a month ago,and I had a Mustang convertible as a rental. Wow, what a sweet ride. I will be 50 next year, and I was thinking that would make a nice present. When I got back home, it was raining, all around miserable, I hopped in the Kizashi and drove home. AWD button pressed, was doing about 75-80 mph up the Taconic Parkway here in New York, a windy narrow ride, and I found myself with such a stupid grin on my face blasting by all the followers in the BMW 3 Series, and all the Honda Accords. The Kizashi is the ultimate stealth car, its forgiving of mistakes, handles like its on rails, never lets me down. In short, you didnt make a mistake - enjoy the car, customize it, debadge it, drive it like you stole it. Enjoy this great forum here, and enjoy the car. I know I do. May you have many miles and much fun with it.

pakizzie2015 · Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:53 pm

patrick3967 wrote:I have had my Kizashi AWD with the CVT since December 2012 this is my first post. I just had to reply to this thread.I have had lots of cars in my life, crotch rocket bikes, ZX-7RR and CBR954 and 2 Jeep Wranglers, plus a Suzuki Samurai which I loved. I have always tended to buy cars that were not mainstream,I love cars, I had (and loved a Sterling 827 at one time, and a Peugeot 505) and I can say that no car I have ever had has been as sweetly engineered, as well balanced, and just such an all around put a smile on your face to pick up the kids at baseball as the Kizashi. I have 158000 miles on it, I drive the hell out of it, and it still purrs like a kitten. Its been paid off for a while and I was on a business trip out in LA about a month ago,and I had a Mustang convertible as a rental. Wow, what a sweet ride. I will be 50 next year, and I was thinking that would make a nice present. When I got back home, it was raining, all around miserable, I hopped in the Kizashi and drove home. AWD button pressed, was doing about 75-80 mph up the Taconic Parkway here in New York, a windy narrow ride, and I found myself with such a stupid grin on my face blasting by all the followers in the BMW 3 Series, and all the Honda Accords. The Kizashi is the ultimate stealth car, its forgiving of mistakes, handles like its on rails, never lets me down. In short, you didnt make a mistake - enjoy the car, customize it, debadge it, drive it like you stole it. Enjoy this great forum here, and enjoy the car. I know I do. May you have many miles and much fun with it.

Thank You patrick3967. That was so awesome.. I am 52 and I want to have that same trust. I am trying to.. I am feeling much better than when I first got it and posted my first post.. I am in need of tires for it (although they have plenty of tread) but I fear these are not going to do well in snow as they are all season but I would say not the kind of tread that would work well in a PA snow storm. but boy do they hug the road in wet and dry pavement now!.. again to all that have posted to make me feel better. Thank you all. and have a Merry Christmas to those that have it and Happy New Year to all.. may our Kizashi's stand the test of time , a long long time!