(Photo by Kurt Niebuhr)
Like everyone else here, I'm not thrilled with the pathetic range of our 2009 Suzuki SX-4. It's mostly due to the small gas tank made necessary by the all-wheel-drive system, and could be fixed, for us here in Southern California, by deleting that option. But this Suzuki has a neat little trick up its sleeve that, in a sense, increases the range on the AWD SX-4.
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX-4: Options.
Below are the fuel economy numbers for October 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.
As usual, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.
| Car |
Best
|
Worst
|
Average
|
|
| 2009 Audi A4 Avant |
26.8
|
15.2
|
21.7
|
|
| 2009 Audi S5 |
22.3
|
10.8
|
16.2
|
|
| 2008 BMW 750i |
21.8
|
13.0
|
17.3
|
|
| 2009 BMW M3 |
20.7
|
10.8
|
15.7
|
|
| 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS |
23.1
|
13.1
|
17.3
|
|
| 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T |
26.4
|
10.3
|
16.6
|
|
| 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 |
19.4
|
10.5
|
14.1
|
|
| 2009 Ford Flex Limited |
26.7
|
13.3
|
19.2
|
|
| 2007 Honda Civic GX |
47.3
|
12.7
|
31.5
|
|
| 2009 Honda Fit Sport |
39.0
|
24.9
|
30.9
|
|
| 2010 Honda Insight EX |
43.9
|
27.9
|
38.1
|
|
| 2009 Hyundai Genesis |
28.5
|
14.3
|
21.2
|
|
| 2009 Infiniti FX50 |
22.0
|
10.7
|
17.1
|
|
| 2009 Mazda 6 |
30.2
|
18.7
|
23.7
|
|
| 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 |
26.7
|
16.3
|
20.1
|
|
| 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X GSR |
22.6
|
11.0
|
17.0
|
|
| 2009 Nissan 370Z |
24.4
|
13.2
|
18.4
|
|
| 2009 Nissan GT-R |
21.8
|
11.5
|
16.4
|
|
| 2009 Pontiac G8 GT |
24.3
|
12.0
|
18.0
|
|
| 2009 Suzuki SX4 |
28.3
|
17.2
|
22.2
|
|
| 2010 Volvo XC60 |
19.0
|
12.7
|
16.5
|
After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.
Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: October 2009 .
Driving around in the Suzuki SX4 this weekend, I noticed the car gets a lot of looks.
I spotted people sneaking peeks in their mirrors or turning heads while walking down the street.
At first I thought it was my new haircut (just kidding, of course) or that they were giving me the stink eye for some reason.
But then I realized, the Suzuki is a good-looking vehicle, especially in its light blue paint.
Passersby were just appreciating its handsomeness in the golden sunlight.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 17,225 miles
I'm going to have to disagree with Erin's assessment of our SX4's seating. After spending about four hours in the blue box yesterday, I realized that average-sized American males may have issues with the driving position.
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX4: Comfort Optional.
Thanks to its low beltline, big greenhouse and useful little port-type windows by the A-pillar, the SX4 offers pretty good visibility. That might be enough for most manufacturers, but Suzuki takes things one step further by including the hugest side mirrors this side of a Dodge Sprinter. These massive slabs of glass are the antithesis of the skinny little side mirrors seen on cars like the new Camaro -- form-over-function mirrors that look stylish, but don't offer much acreage for viewing purposes. Sure, the SX4's mirrors are a bit on the homely side -- they're the side-mirror equivalent of dad jeans in that respect -- but they're a pleasure to use, and offer a wonderfully expansive picture of the road behind you.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 6,971 miles
As Mark mentioned in an early post, our Suzuki SX4's steering wheel makes a weird robotic sounds when turned.
Here's a video of the steering wheel. It's hard to capture sound on my Flip. Turn up the volume to hear it.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
This weekend I was trying to find a theatre on the UCLA campus in Westwood. I knew how to get there in general but I needed help finding the exact location once I got close. I didn't really need the navigation but I wanted the map open.
The Suzuki SX4 has a funny little nav. I often forget it's there because it pops out of the top of the dash.
With such a tiny screen, it takes some getting used to. If you zoom in close enough to see street names, you lose the frame of reference around you because you see such a small area of the map.
It has some really helpful features, however. Across the top is a green bar that lets you know what street is coming up. It posts every little side street, even if it is not a turn-off. I found this most useful when driving around Westwood. I knew if I hit Sunset Boulevard I went too far. As I was looking for the theatre's parking structure, I could see Sunset just ahead. But then the nav pointed out a little driveway on the left, which was the street name I was looking for. It saved me a lot of time.
In the picture above, you can see in the middle left of the frame, the nav tells you the speed limit of the street you are on. And just below, it tells you the speed you are traveling. Nice touch. In Southern california speed limits can change in the middle of a block with no warning, depending on what town you are in. Cross an invisible border and suddenly you're speeding.
Another cute feature: Your position is marked on the screen by a little car icon. I wonder if this image is always blue or if it is blue on our screen because our SX4 is blue. Any SX4 drivers out there know the answer?
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4 hatchback deserves credit for its steering wheel design. Not only is this an attractive, three-spoke wheel, it's comfortable to grip at 9-and-3. This is due both to its leathery wrap and the stitching used to join the sections of leather (or leather-like material). 
Too often, cars in this price range have rough stitching that scratches against my thumbs. But both the thread and the method of the stitchwork in the SX4 have resulted in a seam that feels smooth to the touch.
It's a small thing, I know, but it really made the SX4 more pleasant to drive during my recent 2,000-mile road trip.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 16,725 miles
After returning from my 2,100-mile road trip in our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4, I checked the tires and the oil. I added 1-2 psi of air to each tire. The oil level registered just under the halfway mark on the dipstick, so I added a smidge of 5W30. As one would expect on this class of car, the owner's manual is lenient on the type of oil you may use, suggesting only that it should be a bottle of 5W30 with the American Petroleum Institute seal.
The dipstick is conveniently located (red arrow), as is the filler cap (yellow arrow). However, the mouth is recessed a few inches, so a funnel would really be helpful. I'd left mine at work, though, so I had to dab up some spillage. 
On an unrelated topic, I've forgotten to mention how good the low-beam headlights are on this car. Some time ago, a friend pointed out how large the headlights' reflector boxes are -- which should translate to a good spread of light on dark roads. Turns out he was right. I did a lot of night driving on my Oregon road trip, and the low beams did a great job of illuminating the road -- I only used the high beams on a couple occasions.
Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 16,708 miles
My LA-to-Portland-LA road trip in our long-term 2009 Suzuk SX4 hatchback spanned 2,125 miles. I put in 84.891 gallons of 87 octane fuel.
My best tank was 26.9 mpg over 249.9 miles; my worst tank came during the Mt Shasta climb -- 20.4 mpg over 171.7 miles.
My average mpg over the whole trip was 25.0 mpg. That's obviously not very good if you consider the SX4 a rival to the Honda Fit, but for a modestly-powered, all-wheel-drive car driven on a route with plenty of elevation changes, it's not bad. That said, I would have done just as well with the mpg in a roomier, better-performing Subaru Impreza, which also isn't that much more expensive.
Our SX4's lifetime average is now 23.2 mpg. More numbers and opinionated comments after the jump. Bonus point for anyone who knows the location of the Stardust Motel.
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX4: Oregon Road Trip, Part 4.
I realized today that titling this series of blog entries about our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4 hatchback "Oregon Road Trip" is misleading. This is literally the only photo I have of the car in Oregon. The rest of the time it was locked up in a downtown Portland valet while I was busy driving other cars. The SX4 and I spent Wednesday night in Grants Pass, OR, but it didn't occur to me to take a picture of the car in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. Sorry.
This is not to suggest that it wasn't a long trip. It lasted about 2,200 miles, and I'll have final totals with best, worst and average mpg on Monday morning. Yesterday was the longest single day with 850 miles of driving on Interstate 5, U.S. 199, U.S. 101, CA Hwy 299 and then Interstate 5 again. I'd never used 199 to cross into California from Oregon, and it's pretty lovely, though you'll see just as many redwoods if you use 101.
Before hitting the road yesterday morning, I wrote that performance is adequate with the car's 2.0-liter inline-4 and 4-speed automatic, and I stand by that today. However, I will say that after dealing with the numerous elevation changes along this route (varies between 1,000 and 5,000 feet), the continual planning and determination required to stay up to speed and complete passing maneuvers did get tiring. And a couple times I got stuck behind a V8-equipped truck or SUV on twisty sections only to have the other driver put his foot into the throttle when a passing zone appeared. Thanks.
Fortunately, the SX4's handling and ride quality make up for many an accelerative inconvenience.
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX4: Oregon Road Trip, Part 3.
When the 2009 Suzuki SX4 hit the 15,000-mile mark, we were climbing Interstate 5 through the Mt Shasta area. The first glimpse of Shasta always delights me, but the last time I came through here, I was in a 2006 BMW 330i, which undoubtedly added to the fun. And as we're all aware, this 2009 SX4 is down in the power department (143 hp at 5,800 rpm, 136 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm), and its four-speed automatic is down a couple forward gears.
I'm pleased to report, though, that the climb was very manageable. Suzuki provides manual access to all gears, and the transmission holds gears when it needs to. Killing the overdrive was enough on most grades, but when stepping out to pass particularly slow trucks, I would sometimes put it in second gear (which is fairly tall).
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX4: Oregon Road Trip, Part 2.
We've never taken a big road trip in our long-term 2009 Suzuki SX4, but that's changing this week, as the SX4 is in the middle of a 2,000-mile LA-Portland-LA journey. The trip had a familiar beginning, as I left Los Angeles just in time to hit traffic, found some open road on the Interstate 5 Grapevine, and then hit another 45-minute delay on the Tejon Pass (two northbound lanes shut down for resurfacing).
I tell you this because the traffic delays added at least 2 hours to my travel time. I logged 7 hours in the driver seat on the first day, followed by 9 hours on Tuesday, and the big surprise? Said driver seat is extremely well-shaped, comfortable and supportive. No kinks or aches in my back or glutes -- and this despite the lack of a telescoping steering wheel. Purely from the standpoint of road-tripping, this driver seat is as good as any I've ever experienced among cars in any price range.
But there's another aspect of road-tripping with the all-wheel-drive Suzuki SX4 hatch that isn't so surprising.
Continue reading 2009 Suzuki SX4: Oregon Road Trip, Part 1.
With the stereo off, the steering in our long-term Suzuki SX4 emits a noticeable robotic sound. I can best describe it as the electric motor sound that Robocop (or C3PO) makes whenever they move. It's a high-pitched whine that made me think that perhaps it has something to do with some sort of electric power steering unit - but our SX4 has a hydraulic assist. The sound itself isn't annoying, and with the radio on, you'd struggle to hear it at all. It's just weird.
Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 14,432 miles
Floor mats? We're talking about floor mats?
Well, why not? After all, Toyota just issued a humungous recall of 3.8 million vehicles because of a link between floor mats and sticking throttles. And I received a lot of questions in the immediate aftermath of that announcement, such as: Is this a Toyota-specific issue?
Well, this recall is specific to Toyota and Lexus, but my mind flashes back to numerous times when my own floor mats got fowled with the pedals in several of my personal vehicles over the years, Toyota and non-Toyota alike. And I know of the fear and panic that can come with a stuck throttle experience, because it happened to me at top speed on a racetrack, though that incident wasn't quite floor mat related.
So I grabbed a dozen random keys to some of our long-term test cars to see what I could see. No Toyota keys were handy, though. I'll catch the Prius later.
Before we make the jump, take a gander at the photo above. This is a typical Toyota/Lexus floor mat installation: An top-hinged "pendulum-style" gas pedal is paired with a generous cut-out in the mat to produce a large clearance. The floor mat is kept from creeping forward by two plastic hooks just in front of the seat. As long as it remains hooked and the floor mat is the right size and shape, things should be fine.
Moving on, in alphabetical order...
Continue reading Floor Mat Walkaround.
Saturday Poll: What's Your Favorite IL Long-Term Test Car Ever?
November 7, 2009 8:00 AM
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2010 Honda Insight EX: Hybrid System Walkaround
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2009 Honda Fit Sport: Honda's Shifting Priorities
November 6, 2009 11:35 AM