Suzuki undoubtedly took a massive gamble in introducing the first midsized car in its history with the Kizashi, but not only that, it has now introduced an all-wheel-drive Kizashi Sport model to complement the current front-wheel-drive.
Now, one could expect that the all-wheel-drive would be a more powerful version of the sedan but that is not so - the car shares the same 175 horsepower four cylinder engine of the front driver.
Sports Suspension for Kizashi
The idea, says Suzuki, is that the Sport is intended – obviously - to be a more sporty drive than the standard car, with revised spring and damper settings that not only stiffen the suspension but lower the car by 10mm.
But the front-drive Kizashi already drives exceptionally well, with a compliant ride that nonetheless manages to out handle virtually all of the competition, with a stable cornering attitude and plenty of lateral grip. That means that the all-wheel-drive Sport has plenty to prove, but in practice it falls a little short.
Yes the handling is sharper, but at the expense of ride quality – where the front-wheel-drive car absorbs bumps in the road easily the Sport tends to bounce hard into them.
Only One Gearbox Available
Rather confusingly for a car called ‘Sport’, the only gearbox available is an automatic CVT unit. While promising better fuel economy than a conventional automatic transmission, the CVT in the Kizashi Sport suffers from the same ‘clutch slipping’ sound of the engine as the gearbox keeps the engine revs at the same rpm while continually changing the gear ratio to accelerate the car. While the Kizashi’s engine sounds good at high rpm the droning sound does get tiring after a while.
But still, in situations where all-wheel-drive is an asset, such as in slippery and icy conditions the all-wheel-drive is desirable, so it’s really up to what the buyer wants out of the car.
Inside The Kizashi
The rest of the Kizashi Sport is standard Kizashi. That means a well built, high quality interior, with all the ergonomics spot on, and especially obvious is the choice of soft touch trim where the driver and passengers interact with the car. This is most easily illustrated by the door grips, which are covered in soft trim, where all of the competition have hard plastic trim.
The all-wheel-drive Kizashi Sport is a good car, but it just isn’t what buyers would expect given the name and the all wheel drive system, which conjures up images of ‘proper’ sports cars.
There will no doubt be people who will prefer the Sport over the standard car, but it really doesn’t offer much in advance of what is already a very impressive car in front-wheel-drive.
Sam Domett - I have been a motoring journalist for over 15 years, beginning with my own website. I then moved on to the Manukau Daily News. My next job ...
