 2011 Suzuki Kizashi. Click image to enlarge |
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2011 Suzuki Kizashi
For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost, so the fable goes. That story of the nail that lost the shoe that spoiled the horse and kept the rider from winning the battle might also be appropriate to describe the 2011 Kizashi, an all-new sedan from Suzuki: this could have been a much better car for want of a different transmission.
Although it was launched in the U.S. last year, Suzuki Canada held off until March 2010 with a low-key introduction (which is why the U.S. sells a 2010 model, but it’s officially a 2011 in Canada). It’s the first midsize sedan from the company since the smooth-running but thirsty 2006 Verona. Unlike that model, which was a rebadged twin of the Korean-built Chevrolet Epica, the Kizashi is the result of Suzuki’s in-house design and development, and doesn’t share its platform with anything else.
 2011 Suzuki Kizashi. Click image to enlarge |
Its 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine produces 180 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. Those aren’t huge numbers, given that Suzuki wants this vehicle to play in the sports-sedan segment, but for everyday driving, that’s more than enough, especially since the figures are comparable or better than many of its more mainstream competitors.
What brings it all to a crashing halt is its continuously-variable transmission (CVT). Many other manufacturers have moved their CVTs from the days of rubber-band performance into relatively crisp performance, but Suzuki’s version might as well be from the CVT Stone Age: it howls and groans as the engine speeds up or slows down, growling roughly whenever the revs fall around the 1,500 rpm mark. I don’t think any sports sedan should have a CVT, but this one is worse than most. There are paddle shifters for the pre-set points, which help somewhat, but it’s still not what I was expecting from a car that works so well otherwise.
  2011 Suzuki Kizashi. Click image to enlarge |
There is a six-speed manual transmission, but so far, it’s not available to Canadian buyers. Being a relatively small player here, it isn’t cost-effective for Suzuki to drop a lot of models into its dealerships, and so there is a single choice: the fully-loaded Kizashi, with CVT and all-wheel drive, for $29,995. In the larger U.S. market, combinations of front- and all-wheel drive, transmission choices and trim lines result in 11 available models. The stick shift only comes with the front-wheel model, but according to many American writers, it turns the Kizashi into a far more fun-to-drive vehicle. Suzuki needs to make that available here, or if not, to consider swapping out the CVT for a regular automatic, if it seriously wants to play in the sportier sedan category.
The company’s serious enough about the handling, which really is sweet, and not like anything I can recall coming from Suzuki before now. It feels more German than Japanese, especially in the way it goes in and out of hard curves, and in its firmly-planted stance. The chassis is especially stiff and there’s no body roll. The steering is nicely weighted, on-centre is tight without being twitchy, and the car feels cohesive.
It’s an odd size: larger than competitors’ compacts, smaller than their midsize offerings, so its measurements place it between models such as Toyota’s Corolla and Camry, or Honda’s Civic and Accord. Cross-shopping will be tough, because you’ll need to look both ways. Its size gives it sufficient rear legroom if you’re moving up from a compact, but back-seat passengers may feel cramped if you’re downsizing from a larger model. That in-between dimension does add to the driving dynamics, though, as its tucked-in proportions give it good balance.
