2009 Suzuki SX4 Long-Term Road Tests Archives

Our 2009 Suzuki SX4 is gone. Read the wrap up and then come back and see our parting shots, and don't forget to add your own!

Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 20,174 miles

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Just before the holidays our 2009 Suzuki SX4 started to intermittently display brake system warning light. This indicator happens to be red and federal safety regulations reserve this color for Serious Business such a brake system problems or air bag faults, so this is not a "live with it" situation.

The light routinely comes on when the parking brake is engaged as a reminder to release the brake before driving off. I check to see if the switch near the parking brake handle was faulty, but that was a dead end.

Next stop: under the hood for a look at the master cylinder... 

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Call it a case of killing two birds with one stone. Our 2009 Suzuki SX4 was due for an oil change. I have been encouraged to make more use of video in my posts. Why not document the oil change process on video?

Well, I don't have any experience with video editing software and the only software I have is MovieMaker, the Microsoft default that came on my PC. My "video camera" is nothing more than a mode in my small Canon ELPH point-and-shoot still camera.

But, what the heck. I do have a couple of tripods and the weather is good on this dead-of-winter SoCal morning.

So I trotted down to the local auto parts store for 5 quarts of oil and a new filter. Cost me $28.21.

I was going to add narration, but that seemed time-consuming and I decided the background sounds were interesting in their variety and the ELPH's little built-in mic picked them up reasonably well. I do need to figure out how to muffle the wind noise for next time, however.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 20,052 miles

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

This morning I was minding my own business, just standing there and casually opening the hood of our 2009 Suzuki SX4 in preparation for an oil change. And then I saw what you see above.

What the? How did this happen? I don't think it could have come off on its own. The motor mounts prevent the engine from torqueing over too far. Besides, there has to be some torque. (OK, that was a low blow.)

Could someone have left it off while poking around in there, looking at something? Or maybe they took it off thinking they'd discovered some hot-rod performance trick. Not likely. This set-up ensures that engine breathes nothing but hot underhood air. The pipe brings cooler, denser air from outside.

Luckily, the air filter is integrated into the engine cover to the left so the engine wasn't wheezing on dust and twigs and bugs.

Let's pop that baby back on there.

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Our 2009 Suzuki SX4 rolled past the 20,000-mile mark on the way home yesterday. I missed the big moment because traffic speed was varying wildly between 35 and 70 mph just as the odometer rolled over. I had to wait.

A few miles further back I had refueled the SX4 with the low fuel light on, the needle buried past "E" and 276.4 miles on the trip odometer. Divide that by the 10.35 gallons I added and you get a respectable 26.7 mpg. Not the best tank we've seen--that was 28.3 mpg--but pretty good for mixed driving.

But a quick check of the Zuk's fuel log shows that the 276.4 miles I got out of this tank represents the longest range we've EVER coaxed out of this car during the entire 20,000 miles we've had it. And I only managed it because I had ignored the low-fuel warning when it came on at 250 miles so I could stop at my favorite station.

Why is the range so lousy when the mpg is this decent? Our AWD SX4 holds just 11.9 gallons of gas. As Brody might have said had he owned this car, "You're gonna need a bigger tank." Or maybe Brody should buy the 2WD version. The lack of a rear driveshaft means it has a 13.2-gallon tank and slightly better mpg. It should get to 300 miles once in awhile. Heck, once would be nice.

But a stick-shift won't help the cause. The Suzuki SX4 is one of an increasing number of cars that gets better mpg with an automatic than it does with a manual.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 20,040 miles

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

I recently had the need to make use of the rear cupholder in our LT SX4. I was in a hurry to get somewhere with the kid, I had a Sigg water bottle (.6L) to stash and the front two cupholders were already full. "Ah! rear cupholder," I thought. So I tried to cram it into the little center-mounted rear cupholder. No dice; it was too wide (and round) for the squarish cupholder's small space. I tried switching the Sigg bottle with a Solo-style to-go cup that had already been up front (where the Sigg does fit). Nope, that cup didn't fit in the rear cupholder either. Argh. There's also the problem of the front armrests' eating into the vertical space above the rear cupholder. Only the narrowest of tall drink containers will fit between those armrests. Even if the Sigg had been slimmer, it still was too tall for those armrests.

So what does fit in that cupholder?

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Below are the fuel economy numbers for December 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.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

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Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD

"Wait, was I driving with the emergency brake on this whole time?" I chastised myself when I was on the freeway and noticed the "Brake (!)" warning light on the dash. I hadn't noticed the car driving differently from the time I left the Edmunds garage and jumped on the 10 East. And when I went to check the e-brake, it was down as far as it could go. But then the warning light switched off when I pressed the e-brake button.

Later when parked, I pulled up the e-brake to see where its last detent before off was and it was at about a 15-degree angle from off, so it would have been pretty obvious that it was still on. Well that's a relief anyway. That I didn't drive with the emergency brake on.

However, throughout the weekend that brake warning light kept popping on and off, leaving me to wonder if this was my car would I be motivated enough to get this fixed or would I just learn to live with it. It's not like it affects the driving.

It reminded me of how my brother drove around with the "Check Engine" light of his Nissan Sentra on the entire time he owned it. He got the car checked and the shop canceled that light but then it ended up popping on again anyway and he gave up.

Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 19,343 miles

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Go ahead. Tell me what's going on in the back the SX4 in this photo. Because I'm yet to figure it out.

Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

That's a gingerbread garage in the cargo area of our LT Suzuki SX4. I made it for our staff's holiday sweets extravaganza and needed to transport it to the office this morning. Last night, as I was plastering the tiny Farrah Fawcett poster to the interior wall with royal icing, it occurred to me that all the doodads I had painstakingly stuck on the thing might fall off during the ride to work. Or worse, it might just collapse alltogether (in which case, the plan would be to claim that it was a post-earthquake gingerbread garage.)

Would the SX4's ride be too bumpy? Should I have requested the 7 Series instead? Should I wrap the thing with blankets, strap it in with a seat belt, set it on a pile of mini marshmallows, walk the 7 miles to work holding the tray in my outstretched arms?

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

I'm a big fan of the SX4. I dig its roomy cabin, standard nav system and relatively smooth ride quality; still, it doesn't exactly sprint with the lightning speed of Usain Bolt. With this sort of tepid acceleration, the payoff is usually stellar fuel economy. But the SX4 ain't no champ in this area either, bringing up the rear in its category.

I thought about all this as I was making a recommendation this weekend to a friend who's in the market for a new car in the sub-$20,000 price range. My buddy's goal? He wants a cheap ride that's decent to drive and easy on the wallet at the pump. I love you, Suzy, but in this case, the smart money's on the Fit. 

Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 18,872 miles

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

OK, so that isn't our SX4. It's the crazy SX4 Zuk race car thing dropped on us a few months back that had a racing seat sized for .86 Riswick. I was a good 2.5 inches from the seat bottom, stuck on the side bolsters. Magrath said, "hey, go grab the SX4." I laughed and answered, "um, unable to comply."

Any way, I don't fit in the regular SX4 either. There is no driver seat adjustment and the set position is too high in the back (photo after the jump). I feel like I'm hovering above the controls and I'm needlessly close to the roof despite the greenhouse being the size of Biodome. It makes an otherwise pleasant car to drive completely miserable. But I suppose it could be worse ^^^.

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 18,812 miles

P.S. You happy dougtheeng?

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Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

I appreciate cars that have a "dead pedal", that cryptically-named foot rest located on the far left side of the driver's footwell.  To clarify, not all cars have a dead pedal.  In fact, it used to be only high-performance cars had one so your left foot/leg wouldn't slip while you ripped through some tight corners. 

The SX4 has a dead pedal -- nothing fancy, just a piece of semi-grippy black plastic that does the job of keeping one's left foot from sliding.  But as it turns out, this dead pedal is alive. Press down on it a little and it flexes and squeaks as if it's one of those old-school, floor-mounted headlight high/low-beam switches.  A minor build-quality issue, evidently as there's space underneath the SX4's dead pedal that allows the flexing, as opposed to it being affixed solidly to the floor pan. 

John DiPietro, Automotive Editor at 18,787 miles.

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Here's something I like about our SX4: Suzuki hasn't tried to reinvent the wheel with its center stack secondary controls. Both the audio system and the ventilation controls follow accepted industry norms and are efficient and simple to use. The volume knob is on the left and the the tuning knob is on the right. Ventilation adjustments are made simply enough through three knobs and three buttons. Simple and good.

There's room for improvement in this design, but at this price point most manufacturers make it more difficult to use when they change the design. Thanks, Suzuki.

Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor

Categories: 2009 Suzuki SX4

Below are the fuel economy numbers for November 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.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading...

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD