Suzuki’s new Vitara is a pleasant, if expensive, surprise

Susannah Guthrie
Nov 24, 2015, updated Nov 25, 2015

It's up to you to decide whether the luxurious seats are worth the extra cash.

Expert rating: 73/100

Engine, drivetrain and chassis: 15/20
Price, packaging and practicality: 14/20
Safety and technology: 15/20
Behind the wheel: 15/20
X-factor: 14/20

The name Suzuki, to me, conjures up visions of plasticky looking hatchbacks in naff colours that appear as though they could have come straight out of a Pixar movie.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but words like sleek, functional and luxurious don’t exactly spring to mind.

You can imagine my surprise when I went to pick up my Vitara for the week and found a slicker, sharper version of those Suzukis from my nightmares, not unlike the Land Rover I drove a few weeks ago… If you squint.

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Unlike the Land Rover, the Vitara is pretty small for an SUV, but you don’t notice that once inside.

Visibility is excellent and the front and back seats are a comfortable size. The boot is narrow but deep, and the back seats fold down nearly flat.

I was able to fit a large bike in there without much trouble.

In terms of its height off the ground, the Vitara doesn’t feel quite as elevated as other SUVs.

It sits somewhere between ‘practically flying’ and ‘scraping the ground’.

It also feels nice and light, and handles corners and stop-start traffic with ease thanks to smooth, responsive brakes.

The RT-X will cost you an extra $8000 for plush suede and leather seats and sunroof.

But there is a downside to this featherweight frame – the doors don’t secure as easily as one would like them to with armfuls of grocery shopping.

Thankfully, the car alerts you to this problem if you try to lock it without shutting it properly, emitting a neat little alarm sound.

If the Vitara’s agility isn’t quite cutting it, you can also slip into something a little speedier with the sport mode, which basically boosts the response of the accelerator. There’s also snow mode (I didn’t get to test that even though Melbourne weather came close) and lock mode for if you ever find yourself in a bog.

The RT-X comes with some pretty cushy extras for its price, which is around $8000 more than base models.

The plush suede and leather seats are certainly one of the most notable of those bonuses, with many of my passengers remarking on how luxurious they looked and felt (not without an inkling of surprise, I might add).

The Vitara I drove was in a muted gold/cream colour known as Savannah Ivory.

Whilst I like the fact this is essentially another version of my first name, I would advise against any light colours as the black grill and accents become more noticeable. Opt for a slate grey or black instead.

The Vitara’s gearstick can be difficult to negotiate and inconvenient in stressful situations.

You can also personalise the car with coloured dash inserts although I strongly advise against that to avoid the aforementioned Pixar effect.

One major flaw I found with the car was its gear stick.

It’s hard to determine which gear you’re in simply from feel.

You find yourself glancing at the gate, where D, N, R or P symbols help clarify.

In my humble opinion, being able to feel what’s happening with your car – being at one with the vehicle, if you will – is really important, especially in stressful driving situations; having to really think about that takes away from the otherwise straightforward driving experience.

If you’re reading this and considering the possibility that I might just not know how to use a gearstick, rest assured that I tested its confusion on a friend.

A simple attempt to get out of a park in reverse nearly sent us straight into a tree in neutral. Good. So it wasn’t just me then.

Otherwise, the Vitara is a smooth ride with little noise or vibration. Both the RT-S and RT-X (on test) score sat-nav and a reverse camera and the latter gets front sensors too.

The touchscreen is workable, as is the Bluetooth connectivity for your phone, but the sat-nav could be better.

It’s up to you to decide whether the luxurious seats are worth the extra cash.

It’s a bit fiddly and confusing (I struggled to turn down the British lady’s voice so she’d stop interrupting my favourite song) and I found myself using my phone’s sat-nav instead.

The Vitara’s air conditioning system is excellent and it sort of has to be as there are no vents in the back seat.

Regardless, the car cools down in a jiffy if you need it to. Automated systems are all in working order, aside from some slightly over-zealous automatic headlights. It’s 4.30pm, car, not midnight. Pull it together.

The keyless entry good idea in theory, but a bit hit-or-miss at times.

It’s hard to know whether you’ve unlocked the car in general, just a single door, the car minus the boot, or just the boot.

I think I’d rather the classic all-or-nothing lock, thank you very much.

One bizarre conundrum – the car boasts three clocks, an analogue one in the centre of the dash and two digital clocks (one on the touch screen and the other just behind the wheel).

They don’t match up and adjusting the analogue one is impossible. If you figure out how to do it, please do share.

Although quite small for a SUV, you won’t notice it once inside.

For my week of city driving, fuel consumption came in at 7.9L/100km in six-speed automatic which is a fair way off the 6.3L/100km Suzuki spruiks on its website.

For its price, the Suzuki Vitara isn’t exactly a bargain, but it’s not really outrageous either. However, a lot of the highlights were the extras, which leads me to… The part where I rant passionately about the “dual panoramic sunroof”.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in a car with a roof that opens all the way.

I am a woman of simple tastes, and this concept delights me no end.

To find that the Suzuki not only has a lengthy sunroof extending to the backseat, but that it opens all the way up, it’s like Christmas come early.

The only issue is that this feature only comes with the RT-X version, not the RT-S.

I’ll leave it up to you to determine whether feeling the wind through your hair is worth the extra dough.

2015 Suzuki Vitara RT-X 4WD pricing and specifications:
Price: $31,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 84kW/156Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 139g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA