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Suzuki Vitara 1.6 Allgrip SZ5, review: The youngsters’ runabout that’s now all grown up

Twenty seven years on, its boxy shape has been transformed, and last summer's revamp made it appealing for mums and dads, too.

Lisa Markwell
Wednesday 09 December 2015 17:32 GMT
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Suzuki Vitara 1.6 Allgrip SZ5
Suzuki Vitara 1.6 Allgrip SZ5

It’s 27 years since Suzuki launched the Vitara – I used to see them around west London where I lived (soft-tops, usually) driven by kids going to parties I wasn’t invited to. Back then, its boxy shape and faux-rugged styling were quite innovative – the intervening decades have seen the Vitara get left in the Kings Road dust by others.

Of course, in that time the car has changed too, but last summer’s revamp is the most transformational; and perhaps it’s just me, but it feels like a car aimed at who those youngsters turned into – mums and dads with their own teenagers to contend with.

It’ll never get the cool vote again, but there’s enough swagger and tricks to stop it being terminally tagged “the mum-mobile”.

The bodywork is lightweight steel (which helps with fuel efficiency) but has add-on styling reminiscent (to this reviewer) of a designer sneaker – from the back, certainly. Distinctive diamond-shaped cluster of lights at the rear, chrome roof rails, contouring on the sides and black-edged wheel arches give the Vitara a placid tweak from the standard-issue SUV looks.

Once you’re up and inside – and the car sits quite high in classic style – it’s not quite as expansive as it looks from outside, but there’s enough boot space to cope with a family’s weekly shop. And if there are five of you tucked in, safety features are very 2015, including seven airbags.

The lightweight body and good all-round visibility made the manual version a confident, decisive drive, but, on the motorway, I find myself reaching for a sixth gear that isn’t there, the 1.6l engine seeming to strain a little above 80mph (I’d welcome the even-newer six-speed automatic model).

It’s on the winding roads and imperfect surfaces of more rural locations that the Vitara works better, its four-wheel drive and radar brake support coping well with the quick-quick-slow of country lanes (and the dashboard’s rear parking camera is useful for those inevitable reversing incidents, too).

In fact, the touch-screen audio and navigation system is one of the functions that Vitara customers may like best. It’s quick to action and clear to read with, of course, smartphone connectivity. (All useful for the most likely owners, mums and dads responding to texts requesting pick-ups from parties.) In short, it may be a little middle-aged and not moving as swiftly as it once did, but this is a reliable car with plenty of experience. Sound like you?

PRICE: £20,299

ENGINE Capacity Four-cylinder, 1586cc, petrol

POWER OUTPUT: 120 @ 6,000rpm

TOP SPEED: 112mph

FUEL ECONOMY: 50.4mpg

CO2 EMISSIONS: 130g/km

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