If only it had a turbo. I'm sure they'd tighten things up a bit in the suspension to compensate!Flyby out
I'm first!
I can't believe I'm the first El Norte to post here. I don't even own the Kizashi yet. But I am fast becoming a fan. I own a 2002 WRX since new but it's feeling a bit cramped on me. I keep it because here in Cincinnati AWD comes in handy due to the many hills of the city, and rain and snow. Also I am loathe to give up the steering response ( I had a modified steering rack with an 11.5:1 ratio, so it's quick and has great feel). Still, the idea of an AWD Kizashi 6-speed sounds as if it might suit me. If only it had a turbo. I'm sure they'd tighten things up a bit in the suspension to compensate!
Flyby out
If only it had a turbo. I'm sure they'd tighten things up a bit in the suspension to compensate!Flyby out
Drive that thing or pull over! (Either common sense ain't all that common, or it ain't what it's cracked up to be)
-
Kenneth254
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:46 pm
Just read today that Suzuki has partnered with Road Race Motor Sports to offer a turbocharger for the Kizashi. I could not find any mention of when this will be available and at what cost. Road Race has a few other goodies for the Kizashi right now...I'm just waiting for our new Red 2011 CVT AWD to arrive here in Alberta, Canada but have to say I'm quite concerned about the paint chip issue I've been reading about through this club...
They built one with a turbo for speed channel, but I don't know what the status is on a production version. We will probably see in a few more months. Let them know you want one. They need to know there is interest in the turbo
I took a Kizzy out for a test drive today. It was an automatic with AWD, but I was pleasantly surprised by how the CVT responded in manual shift mode. It took me a moment to get into the rhythm of pulling back on the lever to up-shift. 
Since I lived on the other side of town from the dealership I asked about nearby curvy bits of road. As luck would have it I was directed to a road that was undergoing repaving, and I had to bear with slow traffic and flagmen Once I was by that bit I was out of luck for testing the suspension as I would have liked as the road took me into a residential area. I did have to do a short hop on an expressway to get to that curvy bit. I found the acceleration tolerable, but not exciting. When I hit the exit ramp I whipped the car into it to see how the steering and suspension would respond. The steering could be just a bit more weighted, imo, but it was reasonably quick, and felt good over all. (My wife owns an '05 Lexus ES330, and the steering on that thing has almost no feel of being connected at all). Anyway, when I wheeled the car over into the exit I felt that the suspension was just a hair behind the input, and had more lean than I am used to in my little REX (WRX). Still, it felt good enough that I thought I would not mind owning one. I know I'll give it serious consideration when I can order a 6-speed with AWD. I understand that Volkswagen is now tied in with Suzuki so maybe it's Direct fuel injection will hep increase the output of the NA-2.3 engine, and maybe push for a turbo-4. I wouldn't want to go with the added weight of a V-6. The car does not need more understeer. It can use a larger anti roll bar up front. That won't hurt the ride quality, but should help with turn-in. A bar slightly larger for the back should pivot the rear end around nicely too. Those two items would be my first mods. I consider the Kizzy a momentum car: get it going fast and keep it going fast. That judging from the videos I'ev seen of the car on road-race tracks. A bit of power would fix that.
The Kizzy is much more refined than my 02 REX. It's larger in the rear seating area, and much quieter on the road. If that 4-banger was putting out an honest 240hp the car would be very nice. Of course adding a turbo might mean a minor suspension upgrade, hopefully. Imagine a Kizzy with a turbo, a 6-speed and AWD like in the 2010 Legacy GT. I wonder if the current AWD, which can be disengaged, would be strong enough to take a 6-speed and a turbo? We'll see.
Well, that's what I think of the Suzuki Kizashi. Nice car (this coming from a 60-year old with a recent double hip replacement). I must be getting old!
Flyby out
PS I've found that adding larger bars to my little REX made it a real joy to use in the twisty roads. Aside from the stiffer bushings that came with them, those are the only suspension mods I have made. At one time I had the Cobb Access Port and an APS 85mm CAI with a the APS/Cobb turbo-back exhaust. That brought my car to a dyno'd 222hp at the wheels with 222lb/ft of torque. I sold that stuff and reverted the car back to stock. I never did to Auto-X or track days with it. It's still a blast to drive
Since I lived on the other side of town from the dealership I asked about nearby curvy bits of road. As luck would have it I was directed to a road that was undergoing repaving, and I had to bear with slow traffic and flagmen Once I was by that bit I was out of luck for testing the suspension as I would have liked as the road took me into a residential area. I did have to do a short hop on an expressway to get to that curvy bit. I found the acceleration tolerable, but not exciting. When I hit the exit ramp I whipped the car into it to see how the steering and suspension would respond. The steering could be just a bit more weighted, imo, but it was reasonably quick, and felt good over all. (My wife owns an '05 Lexus ES330, and the steering on that thing has almost no feel of being connected at all). Anyway, when I wheeled the car over into the exit I felt that the suspension was just a hair behind the input, and had more lean than I am used to in my little REX (WRX). Still, it felt good enough that I thought I would not mind owning one. I know I'll give it serious consideration when I can order a 6-speed with AWD. I understand that Volkswagen is now tied in with Suzuki so maybe it's Direct fuel injection will hep increase the output of the NA-2.3 engine, and maybe push for a turbo-4. I wouldn't want to go with the added weight of a V-6. The car does not need more understeer. It can use a larger anti roll bar up front. That won't hurt the ride quality, but should help with turn-in. A bar slightly larger for the back should pivot the rear end around nicely too. Those two items would be my first mods. I consider the Kizzy a momentum car: get it going fast and keep it going fast. That judging from the videos I'ev seen of the car on road-race tracks. A bit of power would fix that.The Kizzy is much more refined than my 02 REX. It's larger in the rear seating area, and much quieter on the road. If that 4-banger was putting out an honest 240hp the car would be very nice. Of course adding a turbo might mean a minor suspension upgrade, hopefully. Imagine a Kizzy with a turbo, a 6-speed and AWD like in the 2010 Legacy GT. I wonder if the current AWD, which can be disengaged, would be strong enough to take a 6-speed and a turbo? We'll see.
Well, that's what I think of the Suzuki Kizashi. Nice car (this coming from a 60-year old with a recent double hip replacement). I must be getting old!
Flyby out
PS I've found that adding larger bars to my little REX made it a real joy to use in the twisty roads. Aside from the stiffer bushings that came with them, those are the only suspension mods I have made. At one time I had the Cobb Access Port and an APS 85mm CAI with a the APS/Cobb turbo-back exhaust. That brought my car to a dyno'd 222hp at the wheels with 222lb/ft of torque. I sold that stuff and reverted the car back to stock. I never did to Auto-X or track days with it. It's still a blast to drive
Drive that thing or pull over! (Either common sense ain't all that common, or it ain't what it's cracked up to be)
-
quickzilverfox
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 6:21 am
- Location: Houston, TX
Just picked up my brand new 2010 Kizashi SLS AWD tonight! I'll try to take some picks this weekend and post them. Only three SLS AWD were available in Texas...now there's two!
2010 Azure Gray Metallic AWD Kizashi SLS
Just picked up my beautiful silver Kizashi SLS AWD last night. I took an hour long test drive a couple of days ago and just couldn't get the car out of my mind. I had been driving a Chrysler Sebring Tourning Edition for the last 3+ years on a lease but the test drive on the Kizzy made me realize what I had been missing. Life is too short to drive a boring car so I turned back my lease, ate the 9 months that were left on it and grabbed one of the very few Ks available in our area (Vancouver, Canada). I can't understand why there aren't kazillions of these wonderful cars being snapped up but....I'm happy I found my baby;-)
Happy Kizzing, All....
Happy Kizzing, All....