I’d been looking forward to seeing the much-awaited all-new Vitara from Suzuki. But when I eventually cast eyes on it in the flesh, I couldn’t help thinking it looked fairly familiar.
Make no mistake, it’s an all new car but I have to say the front end does bear a striking resemblance to the smaller members of the Range Rover family, like the Sport, the Evoque and the latest addition replacing the Freelander, the Discovery Sport.
There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure the folks at Land Rover will be working on the basis that imitation is the greatest form of flattery and at least the Vitara only looks slightly similar rather than the full-blown copy of the Evoque which the Chinese carmaker LandWind produced with its £14,000 X7.
It’s the front end clamshell bonnet which does it. That’s a hallmark of previous Vitara models but the latest incarnation does look awfully like the Range Rover’s, especially when coupled with the line of the LED headlamps, powerful grille and trapezoid front bumper.
The side profile is similar too, but then there are not that many radical changes you can make to a car such as this in the compact SUV market, which is why they all look as if they’ve come from the same basic mould.
This latest Vitara – the sixth generation to bear the name – is an impressive car, combining some of the latest technology with some clever touches and a comprehensive list of standard equipment, all for a highly competitive price, which starts at £1 short of £14,000.
However, if you want the easy-to-use yet competent four wheel drive system ALLGRIP, you’re going to have to spend about another £6,000 and more than £7,000 if you specify it with the 1.6 diesel engine. On top of that you can spend another £500 on either the chrome-influenced Urban Package or the Rugged Package which emphasises the car’s SUV toughness with front and rear skid plates, black fog lamp bezels, body side mouldings and loading edge protection. £430 will buy you metallic paint or for £800 you can have the stylish two-tone paint for the two top-of-the-range models.
The Vitara has been with us for 27 years and after sales of almost 3 million has earned a solid following from customers who like the compact dimensions, good road manners, remarkable offroad ability and Suzuki’s well-established reputation for build quality and reliability.
The latest version is built at the company’s European production centre in Hungary and will in time be exported around the world as Suzuki’s global compact SUV.
It comes with either a 1.6 litre petrol engine with a five-speed manual gearbox or a 1.6 diesel with six-speed transmission. A six-speed auto box should be available later in the summer for the petrol power unit.
Across the range, the car has useful ground clearance of 185 mms which makes it attractive to outdoor types who may want to venture off the beaten track into the wilds without wanting to fork out a fortune for a serious offroader. The ALLGRIP system is dead easy to use with four driver-selectable modes through a central rotary dial and has already proved itself in its brother, the S-Cross. Auto mode is designed for maximum economy and in typical driving conditions keeps the power to the rear wheels.
Sport mode does what it says to return a more sparkling drive, especially on twisty roads by combining the four wheel drive with tweaks to the accelerator characteristics for quicker response and improved cornering.
Snow mode is for any offroad situation or slippery surface by getting the most from the four wheel drive and that can be enhanced with the Lock mode for the limited slip differential to brake any slipping wheel and transfer torque to the wheels which are gripping.
There’s also a new feed forward function which can predict front wheel spin and then sends more torque to the rear wheels before the front wheels lose traction.
On top of all that, there’s Hill Hold which is standard on all models and Hill Descent comes with the SZ5 ALLGRIP versions.
The car looks good on the outside with not only the dramatic new body styling but there’s been a lot of good work done on the inside too. The cockpit controls are clean and businesslike with a bold round face clock in the centre of the dash – and you can even have that with Japanese symbols to reinforce its Oriental origins. Luggage space is one the largest in its segment and the rear loadspace floor can be adjusted for extra room or to keep a secret compartment to hide valuables.
Suzuki are aiming to sell around 6,000 of the new Vitaras in the UK this year. I don’t think that will prove difficult to achieve.
CAR: Suzuki Vitara 1.6 DDiS ALLGRIP Manual SZ5
PRICE: £21,299
POWER: 1598cc 4 cylinder diesel 120 PS TORQUE: 236 lb/ft
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 112 mph 0-62 mph 11.4 secs
MPG: 67 mpg combined
CO2 EMISSIONS: 111 g/km
TT Rating:
