 2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport AWD. Click image to enlarge |
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Review and photos by Michael Schlee
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2012 Suzuki Kizashi
Build a great car and sales success will follow. This is what most would believe to be true in the auto industry. Just look at Hyundai and Saab over the past 10 years. Every new vehicle Hyundai brings out is better than the one it replaced and the public are buying them up in bushelfuls. Saab on the other hand cruised through the last decade selling primarily rebadged cars and is on the brink of disappearing from the automotive landscape forever.
So where does that put the Suzuki Kizashi then? Three years ago Suzuki released a new mid-size sedan that seemed to check off most of the boxes buyers in this segment are looking for. Optional all-wheel drive, manual or automatic, gorgeous exterior styling, luxurious interior and solid build quality were all featured in the original Kizashi. But for some reason the sales have been a slow for Suzuki. Most reviews of the car since launch have used a common phrase akin to ‘the best kept secret in the mid-size car segment’. Ever since I first read about the Kizashi in 2009 I have wanted to get behind the wheel of one. With a Suzuki in my household’s current two vehicle fleet, there was more than a little interest in this mid-size sedan.
 2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport AWD. Click image to enlarge |
Fast forward three years and I am finally behind the wheel of a Suzuki Kizashi. For 2012, Suzuki Canada has simplified the Kizashi line-up and dropped front-wheel drive versions as well as the six-speed manual option. All Kizashi’s now come with standard i-AWD and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). This is bad news for enthusiasts, but great news for the average car buyer who can now get AWD in the base Kizashi S.
The test car featured here is the mid-range 2012 Kizashi Sport AWD. The Sport features aggressive exterior trim including sport side-sill covers, door garnishes, front bumper, fog lamp bezels, lower grille, 18-inch alloy wheels with meaty 235/45R18-inch tires and an exclusive trunk-mounted spoiler. Performance wise, the Sport doesn’t differ much from other Kizashis and features a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine developing 180 hp @ 6,000 rpm and 170 lb.-ft. @ 4,000 rpm. Not bad output numbers, but when coupled to a CVT and 1,622 kg of weight, the engine has seems underpowered.
 2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport AWD. Click image to enlarge |
Offering a single four-cylinder engine in this class means Suzuki is going for great fuel efficiency. The Kizashi Sport AWD is officially rated at 9.3 L/100 km city and 6.8 L/100 km highway. During my wintery week with the vehicle I was able to average 10.4 L/100 km in a mix of city and highway driving which is about my average observation for this class; not bad for a vehicle featuring fulltime AWD. One interesting feature on the Kizashi is a 2WD/AWD button that can limit the amount power sent to rear wheels to save on fuel. The Kizashi spent most of the week in AWD mode since the weather was a mix bag of snow, freezing rain and rain.
Now on to the big question; can a vehicle with all these sporting pretensions, back it up on the road? The short answer is, “yes and no”. First, let’s start with the drivetrain. The CVT is too eager to let the engine drone. When using full throttle it eagerly holds high rpms, but doesn’t vary the engine speed, which can become tiresome to the ears since full throttle is needed quite often when accelerating up to highway speeds. Further magnifying this issue is the engine which I found to be loud. On a cold day I had to double-check if all the windows were actually up since so much engine noise was filtering into the cabin. Once up to speed, most of the noise issues disappear. The engine itself has decent power for the most part and 95 per cent of drivers will probably never find it lacking, but I found it could use more. Like many CVTs, this one is reluctant to allow initial acceleration, unlike the brand-new Subaru Impreza’s CVT. This is not to say this one is bad, but rather it is just average.
