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Posted on: Aug 18 2007

Suzuki Grand Vitara

Maruti was always going to have a tough time with this one — a Rs 15 lakh-plus price tag and a budget-conscious badge are not a good mix. However, despite its paltry sales, the Grand Vitara is a good SUV, popular in the West, practical and fun.

Design, Engineering and Interiors:  
The Vitara's design is generic, and very Suzuki, and even the bold new headlamps and grille haven’t helped much. The Grand Vitara XL-7 actually is quite SUV-like, more so than its rivals. The XL-7 is pretty long, actually, and this accentuates the stubby, wide-eyed front.

Under the skin, the Vitara is an SUV from the old school. Built on a robust dedicated chassis, the Suzuki also uses a non-independent live rear axle. It also has a proper transfer case that allows the driver to select between two-wheel-drive mode, with drive going to the rear wheels, and four-wheel-drive high and low modes. Concessions to chassis stiffness include a strut brace, with independent front suspension dialed up to make pointing the Vitara easier.

The Vitara's cabin is conventional, but luxurious. The insides are an expanse of grey, but they feel expensive, thanks to the chunky steering wheel, leather seats and the wood and chrome trim. Also special are the electro-luminescent dials, which illuminate when the car is started.

Storage space abounds: the centre console and central armrest both have useful boxes, and there's a cup-holder for all seven passengers. In terms of passenger space, the Grand Vitara holds the trump card, as it's the only seven-seater in its class.

However, to accommodate the extra third row, passenger comfort has been compromised. Suzuki has sensibly given the middle row a sliding mechanism as well, so that with all seven passengers on board, the seats can be adjusted to find the best compromise. The middle row, with seats that slide as well as tilt, is comfy if you don't have to worry about anyone behind. Clambering into the third row requires a certain amount of athletic ability, but once you're seated there, the deep footwell and reclining back support makes it surprisingly comfortable — if the middle row seat is not fully extended back. The Vitara with all its seats flipped forward has a decent boot; the high floor accommodates a useful storage tray, but the boot space doesn't increase by that much.

Performance, Fuel Economy and Handling:
The Vitara, with its large, aggressively tuned V6 is like a great white shark, with big teeth. The 166bhp V6 delivers grunt by the bucketful, and is incredibly responsive. Tap the throttle to make up that gap in traffic or to slingshot past a truck, and the Grand Vitara will lunge forward, even from as low as 1500rpm. The rev-band is meaty throughout, so this portly 1.7-tonne SUV blitzes the ton as quickly as a Honda City VTEC!

The Grand Vitara's cruising ability is excellent, and the effortless manner in which you can overtake makes it a great highway car.

But even more impressive than flat-out acceleration is the torque. Uphill sections were a revelation, the Grand Vitara merrily chugging up in third gear where other SUVs would struggle in second. On our off-road course, the transfer box never really needed to be shifted into low. However, the big, heavy Vitara, with its aggressively tuned 2.7-litre engine glugs heavily, barely making the 6.5kpl figure in the city and only managing 8.7kpl on the highway.

The Vitara's ride and handling are what really peg it back. The body-on-frame construction and non-independent rear suspension make for unimpressive dynamics. The Grand Vitara thumps over poor surfaces, and feels unsettled on anything that is less than perfectly smooth. Floor the throttle on a bumpy or loose surface, and it's easy to break traction. Potholes, ruts and speed-breakers are easily felt, and on an undulating surface, the Grand Vitara tends to pitch around, and feels nervous.

The saving grace is the steering, which is fairly accurate and direct. Off-road however, it's a different story: all that torque is put to good use. Short overhangs, good wheel articulation and the low range option will get the Vitara through most stuff. The long wheelbase may be a pain during ramp-over, especially when fully loaded.

Verdict:
The Grand Vitara has a lot going for it, like its lush cabin and fantastic engine, along with its decent off-road ability, seven-passenger capacity and smart looks. But there’s an equal amount of negatives: the poor ride and handling, the awful fuel economy and the big price tag. The Vitara, at over Rs 17 lakh, isn’t the best value for what is really a soft-roader, squared off against the CR-V and Forester. It’s loaded, certainly, with a superb engine, but it’s not a true seven-seater, and with its soft styling, doesn’t have SUV prestige. The biggest problem is the Maruti connection — no one wants an expensive SUV from India’s top maker of economy cars. Besides, it has no diesel option. The is the most ‘serious’ urban SUV, the one you’d want for utility value – and for the pleasure of gunning that jewel-like engine.
Source: autocarindia.com