Brand new kizashi with high speed vibration

[gdiamond]

I purchased a kizashi last saturday, and noticed a vibration in the wheel and the passenger footwell that occurs above 77mph as soon as I got on the highway. My service manager called suzuki for some engineering advice, and was told that they would not help at all because the state speed limit is 65mph. I am writing this to point out the obvious: that's weak suzuki!

[kizashigal]

Hopefully you will get your problem resolved, but this forum is not owned by Suzuki so feel free to rant all you want.

[Ronzuki]

What makes you believe it is not wheel/tire balance or alignment? Have you had an alignment done? Several folks here have had out of spec alignments from the get go on their brand new car. Some worse than others. Myself included. Not to the point of vibrations, but premature tire wear. One wheel was very far out of spec, and I know it wasn't caused by anything I had done.

Also, some tires are just plain bad. I purchased a set of Scorpion A/Ts for our suburban years ago and from the start I had deathly vibrations at 55-near 70mph. After a second balancing didn't correct the problem, tire dealer said rims (steelies) were bent. BS, they were fine up until those tires were put on. Had another shop balance them and while it improved, it was never eliminated and we lived with it until I replaced the tires again. Poof, new Firestone tires, no more vibes, back to smooth as silk.

My suggestion, if your dealer is trying to work w/ you, is to have them completely swap a set off another Kiz and take it for a spin (that is if this hasn't been attempted already).

[eatrocks]

Get the alignment checked at a real shop...preferably a shop that does custom alignments. I have a 3 month old 2012 sls with a bad cvt tranny...haven't had time to take it in but I kno it's goin to be a long ordeal getting a 'new' cvt put in

[chazyouwin]

From a different angle, I can vouch for tires being a possible issue.

In one of our Zuke XL-7s, for several years there was always a bit of increasing instability at higher speeds (greater than 60 mph). I could change the tire pressure and that would help, and tire rotation did not solve the problem. The problem to my great surprise was completely solved when I put on new Yokohama Avid tires all around. Nothing else different. And, regardless of tire pressure, the car ran true and silky.

Good luck solving the problem and welcome to the forum.

[NiteRider]

Sounds like the dealer is trying to figure it out. I agree with the earlier poster, swap out a complete set of wheels with another Suzuki and take it for a spin. I doubt the dealer will test it out since they can be liable if something goes wrong when going over the legal limit. So I see the conundrum. I'm curious as to what trim you have on your kizzy.

[~tc~]

Alignment and road force balance.

[gdiamond]

the problem was solved, and you all had the right gut instinct. changing out the wheels removed the shimmy in the steering wheel. the passenger floorpan does still vibrate pretty bad at 81-82mph though, and then immediately calms down again at 83. i can only hope it gets worse so I can get it fixed under warranty

[Ronzuki]

good to hear you're fixed and it wasn't something major withe the car itself. That would have been disappointing.