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DETROIT – Let’s get right to it: for less than $30,000 the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi sedan is a bargain.
I had the Kizashi SLS AWD, that’s the top of the line model, for a week-long test drive and found it snazzy and practical.
The car really did look good from any angle. It had a dominating grille with a Suzuki “S” in the middle. And the dual exhausts in the rear accentuated a sporty profile.
My test vehicle had a 2.4-liter four cylinder engine that made 180 horsepower and 170 pounds-feet of torque. The engine was mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that had been programmed to simulate the gear changes of a six speed transmission. The car even had paddle shifters.
 I’m not wild about CVTs; some are pretty loud particularly under hard acceleration. But Suzuki managed to tamp down the noise and I could barely tell that the Kizashi had a transmission that dealt with ratios versus gear changes.
I found the driving characteristics of the Kizashi very sporty which is what Suzuki wants. The car accelerated well on the expressways here, the suspension was firm without being harsh and the sedan remained flat while cornering. And the car was quiet despite the CVT.
Although the Kizashi was a relatively small sedan, it provided a fair amount of interior room. The back seats were comfortable. However, headroom was a little tight but legroom was adequate. The bottom line is that I think two adults could ride in the back seat comfortably for more than 30 minutes.
It had a 13.3 cu. ft trunk and the cargo space expanded to 105.4 cu. ft. with the rear seats folded. That’s what I meant by practical. The Kizashi was more than an attractive piece of sheet metal.
The Kizashi had a 16.6 gallon fuel tank which I thought was sizable for a smallish sporty sedan. That’s why I used only half a tank of gas during my week-long test. One of my peeves is that though four cylinders get great mileage the fuel tanks are so small you still end up at the gas station frequently.
I averaged 34 MPH and 23.8 MPG and drove 160 miles in city traffic. That wasn’t bad as gasoline prices start to hover around $3.00 per gallon.
The instruments were not overwhelming. In other words, there wasn’t a blizzard of buttons and knobs that can be confusing. The layout was simple, easy to read and easy to reach. The center stack was bordered on each side by an understated strip of silver satin; generally I don’t like sliver colored plastic but it was nicely applied in the Kizashi.
The dash and instrument panel were a textured black. The instrument pod was dominated by two large gauges: one for RPMs and the other for MPH. The RPM gauge held the engine temperature read out while the MPH gauge also held the fuel gauge.
The test car I drove didn’t have any optional equipment. Still, amongst its creature comforts were Bluetooth, a moonroof, voice controls, heated front seats and sideview mirrors, a premium audio system, dual climate controls, reverse parking sensors, a tilt-telescoping steering wheel and a tire pressure monitoring system.
My Kizashi was chock full of equipment. For $27,484, it seemed like an awfully lot of value for the money.
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