New owner from IA

garf · Thu Feb 14, 2013 3:25 am

Just purchased a new 2013 Kizashi, very good deal from Suzuki of Wichita. Compared to the Subaru Impreza which is the other car I compared, this car is much nicer, not only in looks, but performance. Been a manual tranny driver for years, first auto, still feel the need to shift, but my wife can now drive...hmmm good or bad!

Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:33 am

Welcome.
I am also a fan of the Subaru Impreza, having owned one for a long time in the past. That being said, the Kizashi is more car for the money but both are great cars.
I have a manual transmission Kizashi. Did you get an auto for the available AWD?

Northernstar · Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:45 am

welcome~~

WIKizashi · Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:59 pm

Welcome to a fellow midwesterner! I also came from a history of driving manual but was OK with the CVT; been using and liking the "manual" option quite a bit in the snow the last couple weeks.

KuroNekko, at least for me, the GTS was above my price point and no manual available in the SE. Very few S models around so I went with the SE. The AWD was a factor for me and I liked the Kizashi better than the other cars I test drove w/manual.

garf · Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:27 am

KuroNekko wrote:Welcome.
I am also a fan of the Subaru Impreza, having owned one for a long time in the past. That being said, the Kizashi is more car for the money but both are great cars.
I have a manual transmission Kizashi. Did you get an auto for the available AWD?

I obtained the SE FWD silver, considered the AWD, but my other vehicle is a 4WD Nissan Frontier, so if I have to be out in the snow, I will go with the truck.
Manual tranny's are not available in the SE version, no selection of S models, plus I had to consider my wife, who is a non manual driver.
Intrigued with the use of the manual mode in the CVT....any tips?

WIKizashi · Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:37 pm

So far I've not used it for normal driving. I've only used it for engine braking on slippery roads. When I approach somewhere I need to slow down like a stop sign or hill I just slide the shifter over to manual and downshift from there.

KansasKid · Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:46 am

garf wrote:
Manual tranny's are not available in the SE version, no selection of S models, plus I had to consider my wife, who is a non manual driver.

Funny, I picked this car for the same reason...

garf wrote: Intrigued with the use of the manual mode in the CVT....any tips?

I use the manual mode on my CVT when I need to take a turn in a hurry, or make a quick changeover onto a highway/busy thoroughfare. Shifting from 5th (or sometimes 6th if you were going faster than 42 mph) to 3rd feels solid when cornering; I'll usually go to 2nd though because I like to accelerate through turns more often than I should.

If you are coming off a highway and merging onto a street with a more temperate speed (35-50 mph), going from 6th to 4th is what I usually do, just in case I need a little extra get up and go to merge into traffic.