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By
EWAN KENNEDY
8 September 2008
Suzuki's Grand Vitara is becoming an increasing rarity in the 4WD
field, because it really is a 4WD. This is not a people mover
dressed up in a macho body and (sometimes) with drive to all four
wheels.
Grand
Vitara is a genuine off-roader with a tough body that can cope
with real off-road work. Better still it has a two-speed transfer
case to give serious torque multiplication to the wheels when
ultra-low-speed running in extreme conditions is needed. However,
the body is no longer sitting on a separate chassis, instead
it’s of car-like monocoque construction. Albeit with plenty of
added strengthening fixtures underneath.
The
current Grand Vitara was launched in Australia and has just
received a midlife freshen up. Which means an external facelift,
with a special emphasis on foglight appearance, to let drivers who
are that way inclined to take part in the somewhat odd fad of
running around with all the fogs on in brilliant sunshine. The
radiator grille has a more aggressive look, with a strong emphasis
on the central ‘S’, for Suzuki, logo
There
are also changes to the dashboard, revised instruments and changed
to the interior design and trim. Nothing special there, but Suzuki
has never been a company to put a lot of emphasis on appearance.
Instead there is big news under the bonnet.
Major
revisions to the mechanicals mean the previous 1.6-litre and
2.0-litre engines are gone. Replaced by an ultra-modern, twin-cam,
2.4-litre four-cylinder unit that punches out 122 kilowatts, and a
healthy 225 Nm at 4000 rpm. That latter rev figure may seem a bit
on the high side, but there's decent torque from about 2000 rpm
upwards to the engine works nicely in real life conditions.
If
that’s not good enough news on the engine front, the previous
2.7-litre V6 engine has been replaced by an all-new design of
twin-cam V6. This time with a displacement of no less than 3.2
litres. This powerplant puts out a very creditable 165 kW, and 284
Nm at 3500 rpm.
Those
who know their Suzuki V6s will be aware that maximum torque figure
is 1000 rpm lower than in the superseded engine. That one-grand
rev drop in the new Grand is much appreciated in real, slow-speed
4WD work. We gave the new Grand Vitaras a solid workout on the
sandy hinterland of Queensland's North Stradbroke Island. There,
the V6 engine made easy work of dry beach sand, steep washaways
and root-trapped inland tracks.
Having
said that, the big new 2.4-litre four-cylinder was also extremely
impressive. Generally when there's this sort of choice between
powerplants we would plump for the six-cylinder. But this
big-capacity four is so good that we would probably go for it.
Unless, that is, we needed the extra grunt it offers to carry a
lot of passengers and luggage. Or haul a heavy boat trailer or
caravan. The really striking feature of the four-cylinder Suzuki
engine is its refinement. It really is a smooth and quiet as many
a six-cylinder engine of a decade back.
Not
only is this brace of new Suzuki engines significantly more
powerful than the ones they replace, but also use less fuel and
produce fewer emissions.
The
existing 1.9-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine remains as
before. Suzuki didn’t have one along on this drive program for
us to try. Our memories of the diesel during a previous test is
that, while the engine is torquey and economical, it’s not the
quietest unit around. That may be less of a problem now as Suzuki
has made some improvements to the overall NVH (Noise, Vibration
and Harshness) features of the body as part of this midlife
makeover.
Despite
the huge improvements in engine output, Suzuki has kept price
rises to a minimum. Look at prices of the old 2.0-litre and
2.7-litre compared with the new 2.4-litre and 3.2-litre engines to
see what we mean:
2.4-litre three-door manual: $24,990
2.4-litre three-door automatic: $26,990
2.4-litre five-door manual: $29,990 (previous 2.0-litre was
$28,990)
2.4-litre five-door automatic: $31,990 (previous 2.0-litre was
$30,990)
DDiS 1.9-litre turbo-diesel five-door manual: $34,990
Prestige 2.4-litre five-door automatic: $36,990 (previous
2.7-litre Prestige was $36,990)
Prestige 3.2-litre V6 five-door automatic: $39,990 (previous
2.7-litre Prestige was $36,990)
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Marque Publishing Company
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