Suzuki Vitara long term update

We find that driving a car for longer than the regular weekly review period helps us provide a more rounded view of what it’s like to live with and own a particular product.

Two months of Vitara

In our two months with the Vitara, the team has racked up over 7000km which has included many open road excursions and the daily commute. The Vitara is a team favourite and despite the fact that a few rather exotic key fobs have passed through the Autodealer office, we find ourselves looking forward to driving the small Japanese crossover each week.

Understanding the SUV

All three members of the Autodealer editorial staff have struggled to understand the rapid and unprecedented shift in consumer automotive buying habits from the hatchback and sedan, to the traditional SUV and crossover. But with the Vitara now being Autodealer’s fourth SUV long-termer on the trot, the team has begun to understand why SUVs and crossover-type vehicles are currently the segments experiencing the most growth within the motoring industry.

Weather the storm

Take the recent extreme weather in Gauteng as an example. Editor Sean Nurse found himself stuck in severe thunderstorms for two days in a row. In an emergency, he even had to load his mountain bike in the back to avoid the storm. This was where the Vitara’s less than satisfactory 375-litre boot, which extended to 710-litres with the rear seats folded down to accommodate the bike, was exposed.

Despite the fact that the car swallowed the bicycle up and impressed with a wide loading bay, we still feel that for a crossover, the Vitara needs a larger boot. Once the bike was loaded, Sean began his commute home, which included a labyrinthof gravel and sand roads, as well as a rather rutteddriveway.

The aforementioned roads were absolutelydiabolical both during and after the two daydownpour.The Vitara has some 185mm of ground clearance,which isn’t exactly full-blown off-roadmaterial, but was enough, in combination withthe brand’s AllGrip system, to allow Sean tonavigate his way home in some of the worstweather in recent memory.

Previous Vitara models have had off-roading asone of their key features and despite the latestversion being available with an all-wheel drivesystem, it is more of a soft-roader, which, dependingon how you look at it, is either a good or a badthing.To us at least, what the Vitara has lost in all-outoff-road prowess, it has gained in ride comfort andcar-like handling characteristics, making the latestiteration a far more agreeable car to live with.

Fuel sipping

During our time with the Suzuki, it has had two primary nicknames, Che Vitara (like Che Guevara) and R200, the latter because whenever any team member drives the car, they seem to top-up with R200, which takes them pretty much anywhere they’d want to go.

Since last month, the average fuel consumption has come down to a commendable 6.8-litres/100km, which is not exactly the 5.8-litres/100km claim, but considering that the majority of our driving takes place in an urban scenario, its more than acceptable.

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