Kizashi Club

Some roads are obstacle courses.
Some roads are minefields.


I think the majority of roads we travel are obstacle courses, from traffic / road surface / po-po intensity, and critters. We can mostly just drive along with little conscious concern, maneuvering/dodging/avoiding as needed.

But those minefield roads, they trick you.
Sailing at 60 down a nicely groomed unpaved road when you come around a corner and its surface has gone abruptly cratered.
Or you're flying on the Taconic Parkway at night and an entire herd of deer is on the wrong side of the guardrail.
Or you're blasting wildly along a curvy two-lane and suddenly it's pockmarked with sinkhole-sized potholes and frost heaves.

Oh well, keeps things 'interesting'.


I even dodge sharp-looking stones..........







78,393

You remind me of the roads I travel for my camping trips and unfortunately, serve as a reminder that my Kizashi is quite limited in these capabilities. Mine is a FWD with the Sport suspension so it handles the unpaved roads with greater difficulty. I took my Kizashi on a mountain dirt road in Big Bear, CA to scout out a campsite last summer and while the Kizashi made it, the rutted road was rough on the car. After that road, my Kizashi started creaking over speed bumps and on uneven low speed turns. I changed out the shocks and it still made the noise. Just this past weekend, I replaced the front sway bar end links and it appears to have taken care of the issue.

Unfortunately, occasionally traveling on rough unpaved roads reminds me how even an CUV with AWD like the Chevy Equinox is a far superior vehicle to get me out to places for adventures. It's the car my GF and I take on our camping trips and it's a huge difference in capacity and capability despite the mainstream CUV-ness of the vehicle. That being said, it drives nothing like the Kizashi in its handling. As long as I have a vehicle accessible to me for adventures, I'd love to hang on to my Kizashi. I'm also going to get my Kizashi into an "Adventure Spec" with some mud flaps, roof bars and box, and bike racks installed and take it on some adventures with tame roads.

28---31 MPG......









80,899

Probably time for an oil change.........







82,005

8/4/21 82,494 miles got the oil changed.



Also bought rear sway bar bushings.
Replacing shortly.







82,655

WESHOOT2 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:56 am 8/4/21 82,494 miles got the oil changed.



Also bought rear sway bar bushings.
Replacing shortly.







82,655

Did you buy the original zuk parts or did you find a copy? I had one customer tell me he had matched up another brand at a parts store which I could believe that there is one close enough to use or trim, but I never took the time to look through all the possibilities myself. I never found an aftermarket listed for the Kizashi front or rear either. The cheap fix here is to slide a nickel under the bushing to get you another 40k mile then change them.

Mine are Suzuki parts......

New brakes (BrakePerformance slotted) arrive Wednesday; gonna have the bushings --and any other suspension needs-- installed, and finally get this thing inspected........


Regular and premium gas return 249--26MPG; mid-grade 89 gets me 27--30. Hmmm......




86,638

Today is the day!

86,882 miles, all new BrakePerformance black-coated slotted rotors w/pads, rear sway bar bushings replaced, VT inspected.

Nice....




86,950