Suzuki Verona

alpha01 · January 2004

in terms of performance testing (even as much as I like to emphasize how anemic the Veronas I6 is). Motor Week always seems to extract the quickest times. I put my confidence in the 0-60, street start, quarter, and 30-50 and 50-70 from Car and Driver. These represent the broadest range of usable accel. tests, their procedures are clearly outline in the "Road Test Digest" section of the magazine, and as are MT and MW, I believe... standardized mathematically for atmospheric conditions. That said, I'd say holding engine/vehicle/transmission/equipment combinations constant would yield a range of about .5 seconds either way from that combinations average... due to tolerances, break-in, etc.

~alpha

fwatson · January 2004

Quote "Just as people have different risk aversions to investing in the stock market, people have different tolerances regarding the safety net of acceleration their vehicle provides. "

====================================

That's more an excuse for hot rodding than anything else. To extrapolate that statement, nobody would be safe with anything short of a Viper or Farrari. I can tell you that I am, without even trying, the first away from a stoplight with my 170 HP MM. I have also had NO problem climbing any hill, merging under any circumstance or passing under any condition. If you want to play race, buy a 500HP sports car. But please quit insinuating that there is anything unsafe about either the Verona or other cars because they take an extra second or two to get from zero to 60. That is just plain silly. I know that from personal experience, and have had this same discussion with other people who keep insinuating you can't get by with under 200 HP. You can very nicely, and probably 90% or more of the worlds drivers do.

alpha01 · January 2004

You read into my statement and went off the deep end with it. Nowhere did I say anything about the world's supercars, the Verona being "unsafe", needing 200hp, or whatever. I even backed my statement by explaining my personal lack of tolerance (hence then analogy) for our 2000 Camry, with its acceleration characteristics similar to the Verona's. Perhaps you should relax, not be so defensive, and take statements posted here for what they are worth. If you read my post and extrapolated that I was calling the Verona, or the previous generation Camry, unsafe, you're clearly reading words that aren't there. (Or conversely, maybe you missed phrases like "adequate for daily activities")

~alpha

marvinlee · January 2004

One of the great Verona virtues is the excellent fit and finish of the body. The space between the door edges and the body is as small and consistent as any car that I have seen. It is better than the 2004 Chrysler Pacifica that I looked at and surpassed the latest Cadillac big sedan.

As for the engine power, I think that 2.5 liters is (just barely) large enough for the car weight, for most users, but that General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology (GMDAT)should plan on adding a five or six speed automatic and variable valve timing. That could boost both fuel economy and power. The other benefit of a five or six speed automatic is that shifting is less perceptible and a downshift does not change the engine sound level as much.

The discussions on car weight are interesting. I like the solid Verona body but have no way of knowing how much the weight reflects stronger construction and how much is due to lack of the latest high technology, high strength steels and assembly science. If the extra weight actually buys a stronger body, then any benefits in reduced squeaks and rattles might not show up until later in the car's life span.

fwatson · January 2004

My problem with what you post is that by using terms like "risk aversion" and "safety net of acceleration" you are inferring that the Verona is unsafe. I am saying that IMO that is not true. There are far slower accelerating cars and trucks on all the roads of the world, and they are very seldom the cause of accidents. Other than playing stop light Gran Prix, there is little reason to have more power than is provided by the low line 4 cylinder and small 6 cylinder cars you seem to be suggesting are unsafe because they can't do a fast enough 0-60 for your taste.

This doesn't need to be an argument. You have your idea of how much power a car needs, and I simply do not agree with you.

rasup · January 2004

I object alpha's use of the word " anemic" as regards accelaration. The so called " anemic" nicely manouvers me on hill roads with consumate ease as well as the silky glides on the city roads. I could have used words like " bland" for styling of some of the cars but i would'nt as I respect others choices.

alpha01 · January 2004

"You have your idea of how much power a car needs, and I simply do not agree with you."

That is precisely the theme of my post. People have different preferences regarding power, and neither the Verona nor the previous generation Camry do I find sufficient for my preference. For you to make the leap that I am calling either "unsafe" is simply illogical. NOWHERE in my post did I imply this, nor did I imply that others should have the same wants/needs as do I in purchasing a car.

RASUP- If you're hesistant to use the word "bland", I imagine you do a lot of filtering of word choice in daily life. I am not criticizing ANYONE for purchasing a Verona, indeed, reread my post and you will see that I state it offers excellent value. However, I am criticize the FACT, for example, that Suzuki makes a big deal of the Verona's 6-cylinder engine (it its Rod Stewart "The Way You Look Tonight commercials), meanwhile, it posts slower times and worse MPG than 4 cylinder vehicles in its class.

Also, if you dont like the word "anemic" you may want to send a letter to the edmunds.com editors for the following:
"The driving experience is easily the least enjoyable aspect of the Verona. The trouble begins under the hood where you'll find one of the weakest six-cylinder engines currently on the market. Rated at just 155 horsepower, the Verona's 2.5-liter inline six feels slow down low, in the middle and up high. Using passing lanes on two-lane roads was a dicey proposition, as the car took what seemed like an eternity to build up enough speed to overtake trucks. The power delivery is smooth, but since the engine has to work so hard most of the time, the sound of its labors gets old quickly. The standard four-speed automatic transmission makes the best of the situation by generally picking the right gear at the right time, but most of the time, acceleration is barely adequate."

They used such harsh negativities as "least enjoyable", "weakest", "slow", "dicey proposition", "labors", and finally "barely adequate". Thats a whole 5 additional negative adjective phrases!!! How come you arent offended by that, but you are when I say it?

~alpha

pat · January 2004

Hold on here, there is no need to get personal.

You folks have different opinions about this vehicle and there is nothing wrong with that. Just accept it and move on rather than trying to convince each other that any opinion is somehow "wrong" because it isn't the same opinion that you hold. It is a different opinion, but it isn't wrong.

dnksen · January 2004

If some of you may recall, we are the ones that are having all the issues with our Verona. White smoke, burning smell etc.
Well, it has gotten worse. The dealership said they emptied out the gas and oil (not sure that I believe that or not) but they had hoped that doing that would somehow fix the situation, and it hasn't. Recently we were sitting at a stop light and the speedometer starting flipping up and down. Then when we starting to drive I was maybe going 10 mph and it said I was going 60ish. Ughhh. And the most recent thing that happened was our keyless entry has quit working. It has almost become a joke to us as to what is going to break next, and we only have 2,900 miles on it now. After going back and reading all the messages I truely believe we just got a lemon since no one else is having these issues.

Anyhow, we got a call on Wednesday and Suzuki has decided to do a "buy back" on our car and get us into a new one. We are so thankful because I love the car itself, I just hate the issues we have had with it.
Now we just can't decide on which color to get. We have it in black now and I think it looks really sleek in black, but it gets dirty so easily, even dust shows on it. I really like the silvery blue color, I believe it is called Saphire Gray Metallic and I also like the Silver but my husband is stuck on black. Who knows what we will end up with!
Just wanted to give you all an update! I am glad everyone else is happy with their cars!

veronaowner · January 2004

Sorry to hear of all the troubles you have had with your Verona. I am very happy for you that Suzuki has made the decision to do the "buy back" on your car and get you into a new one. I am sure all the colors are nice and you will make the right choice. I wish you trouble free driving in your replacement car. Enjoy it.
Ken

mopar67 · January 2004

If you want "low power" come take a ride with me in my vitara 4 door, 4 banger SUV!

w0bymagnus · January 2004

I was wandering if anyone could tell me this - which is cheaper to have repair done in the shop and/or easier to do it yourself...a regular V6 or an L6? I thought I saw someone mention something about the L6 being a pain to work on and it's going to cost big bucks to get something fixed if something goes wrong?

By the way I love Daewoo...I am going to hopefully purchase a Verona sometime soon...a few months ago I had someone ship to me from Korea the Daewoo Magnus/Prospekt grill/ stand-up hood ornament / and lettering for the back of the car.

lil302000 · January 2004

I6 engines are not any more difficult or complex to repair. I have found that ease of repair is more of an engineering issue on the cars and trucks I have worked on. The I6 in my Chevy truck was as easy as it gets to reach normal maintenance jobs. Just from looking under the hood of the Verona it's hard to tell how access to the plugs, starter, oil filter, etc. will be due to the cover over the engine. I could only guess that it might cost a little more initially due to the fact that parts for this new model could be harder to get from the auto parts store. They do have a 7 year 100,000 mile drive train warranty on the car so that should help offset cost. dnksen I am glad to hear that Suzuki is going to make things good with you, all manufactures run the risk of having a bad vehicle roll of the line so it's important that they take care of the consumer when it happens. Good luck and enjoy your new car when you get the color picked out. We have the gold one, not really my favorite color but easy to keep clean and I like my car to look clean. We had two red cars before this so we did not pick that this time, black and dark blue show dirt soon after you clean them so we did not go with those either. Old men like me are supposed to drive earth tone color cars anyway.

anonymousposts · January 2004

The fact remains that for the Verona to make a mark on this segment it would've had to come to the market with something other than low price over the segment-leaders. It's low on power, features, and some could say it's low on safety without even the availability of side airbags.

Unless Suzuki can make the Verona stand out more than they have by bringing it here with 155HP it's going to be a lower-tier sedan moved only by it's low price, rebates, and financing incentives and not by the merits of the car itself.

dkuhajda · January 2004

The local dealer is selling the Verona as fast as they can get them in stock. Everytime they get the cars delivered, half of them are already sold and a waiting list for people to test drive them.

They are advertising them something like $1000-$1500 under MSRP as well. Talk about even better value.

So far when I have stopped by, only once did they even have one left on the lot for a test drive.

sodsman · January 2004

As per my previous post, I testdrove a Verona and was very impressed on all acounts - great vehicle. I have over the past 3 weeks tested how long average 0 - 60 times on my drive to work have been. I drive 28 mi. to work with a combination of 2 lane and freeway driving. The average has been 28 seconds. Most of the time I did faster than that was because A. I was by myself or B. I happened to be first in line at a stoplight or sign. Bottom line is with modern day traffic you simply CAN'T do 0-60 in less than 12-15 seconds on most occasions. In this light, who cares if your car isn't a rocket off of lights?! It also shows off the strength of the Verona in that it is a high value, extremely well put together good looking car. For anything else close from other manufacturers you are going to pay 5-8K more (120-160 dollars/month) and for similar pricing, you cant come anywhere remotely close on content. 2 last things 1. The Verona's engine sounds and runs much smoother than any of the other 4's and sounds much better and 2. In case you thing I just don't care about power, I also ride a Yamaha R1 on the street. Congratulations to all Verona owners - Great choice!!

anonymousposts · January 2004

The 0-60 time isn't the biggest issue. The Verona is also underpowered at highway speeds which could make a difference between getting around that rock-throwing dump truck and being stuck behind it.

boughtaverona · January 2004

Obviously, I agree with you about the Verona being a great choice. I thought Car and Driver gave a pretty fair and positive review of the car. Maybe I need to study the scoring sheets for Edmunds. I know it's a competitive market for mid-size cars and Verona does not compare favorably on power, occupant safety (side airbags) or perhaps reliability (with no track record) but how could this car finish dead last, 10 out of 10 in Edmunds recent review? Something about the scoring or weighting must be unfairly biased because all things considered (including price which that review was suppose to include) I don't see how this car should have ranked last. A number of those cars were not even worth a look to me in my buying decision.

dkuhajda · January 2004

Do you think they could adjust what is more important in the ratings to change the outcome of the score?

Not that the Verona has been side impact tested yet; But what if the Verona had nearly as low of side impact injury numbers without the side impact air bags as other cars that needed the side airbags?

Then there is the issue of comparing the price of an orange to an apple.

People have different tastes. The problem with most of the other cars in the line up, much sportier suspension and rougher ride. Some people still want an old big American car ride and feel, but don't want to pay for a Lesabre or bigger. Lets keep the wide choices available. Not everyone wants the Japanese ride and feel like the editors at Edmunds and other so called expert magazines. How about some practical real world type of reviews?

lil302000 · January 2004

The horsepower debate hits the two cars we considered when we bought our Verona. The two cars that we considered when we bought the Verona was the Neon SRT and the Verona. All of our kids are teenagers now and driving on their own, so when we went new car shopping we wanted to stay within a budget. The decision to buy the Verona instead of the Neon was price, features, and comfort so we sacrificed the high thirteen second quarter mile for the slower but loaded comfort of the Verona. That was our personal choice and we should have a market that supplies these choices. So it is our opinion that why people choose to buy is wide and varies but hp vs. price or whatever debate is raging on, neither one is the wrong choice.

mopar67 · January 2004

ifyou want low powered rigs, come drive my 4 cyl vitara.

rasup · January 2004

As I said earlier and also per PAT's suggestion I would like to say that there are different ways at looking for postives in a Car rather than harp on negatives alone. I could select more than 15 positives in any review for the Verona and qoute them here. There is no denial that there are far more positives to the Verona than the negatives and the proof is in the User opinions accross this forum. As far as anonymus comment on the low features, low tier low safety etc, I wonder if a host of standard features within the price are not enough?. Verona has yet to be crash tested and so one cant comment on the safety fully. The aspect of introduction of side air bags could be considered bu Suzuki ..as I said refinements are always possible.Remember lots of accidents are due to the fault of the driver and could be avoided by proper precautions. Some time back most Cars were available in the 150 HP range. I wonder how many got crushed by rolling rocks from a truck?. Most highways post 65 mph as speed limits. How many of actually travel at the posted limits?.
Verona is a great Car and wonderful to ride. It has its negatives but to get all the aspects one has to pay more....
The Car is no low tier, but Classy, smooth and excellent value for money.

mopar67 · January 2004

Remember the Pinto, the Vega, the Chevette? Were there issues back in the 70's with those little rounabouts? None of the above models broke the 80HP barrier. Nor did they have airbags, automatic seatbelts or side curtain airbags. Also, don't forget the japanese cars at the time with similarly low powered engines.

Recall too, the first K-cars generated all of 84 HP in both sedan and station wagon models. Don't remember people dying due to lack of acceleration in those models. I know, I once owned one.

alpha01 · January 2004

Who is talking about Pintos, Vegas, K-cars? The simple fact of the matter, that for whatever reason Verona owners seem to deny, is that compared to the rest of the midsize sedans out there, the Verona does not offer the acceleration of competing 4 cylinder units, nor does it offer the same level of optional or standard side impact protection equipment. Thats not an opinion, thats a fact. I'm not calling the car unsafe in any aspect, I just dont understand why ya'll cant accept that the low price/high conveniece feature content of the Verona is NOT WITHOUT tradeoffs.

~alpha

mopar- This is a sedans forum, not an SUVs debate. Your 4 clyinder Vitara is irrelevant.

boughtaverona · January 2004

Speaking for myself, I absolutely do accept the facts and do understand the trade off. The issue is simply whether the trade off makes for a good product or a good buy, and that's where personal preferences and taste play into it.

Personally, I think too much negative emphasis is placed by some auto enthusiasts and auto reviewers on the Verona's engine performance shortcommings and I don't think those preferences for performance features are consistent with the vast majority of average drivers of family sedans.

But, then again, that's just me

alpha01 · January 2004

Thank you very much, and I agree with most of what you say. My only contention is that I feel some of those who drive this car back to back against its 4 cylinder Accord/Camry/Altima counterparts will note that those vehicles accelerate more strongly, and offer better fuel economy. (For what its worth, notably impressive on this count is the 3.5L V6 Malibu). But then, veronaowner, it will come down to preferences, exactly as you state.

~alpha

rkw2 · January 2004

I'm looking to buy a new car during the summer and have started my on-line research. Based on what I have seen and read, the Verona has a lot of positive features and a lot going for it. However, I am concerned about the mediocre power combined with mediocre gas mileage and no side airbags or curtains.(ABS and traction control should be standard on all models.) The Verona has entered a very competitive arena. These negatives have been noted in all of the reviews I have thus far read. For a new car, they should not be there. I think it was a marketing mistake that GM/Suzuki made. I will wait for the crash tests and test drives. I currently drive 4 cylinder Subarus so I am accustomed to mediocre power, but I get about 26 mpg in combined driving in congested NJ on both vehicles and would expect to achieve this in my next vehicle.

saber86 · January 2004

"The 0-60 time isn't the biggest issue. The Verona is also underpowered at highway speeds which could make a difference between getting around that rock-throwing dump truck and being stuck behind it. "

I once had a geo metro as a rental and it had no problem with passing a dump truck on the highway.

tekrek · January 2004

Guilty as charged! I must confess I bought a 2004 Suzuki Verona knowing full well it had 155 horsepower. Yep, thats right, knowing fully it had just 155 ponies under the hood. How, you must ask does a person make such a decision? Well, it was easy. When your local Honda dealer offers to sell you a stripped 4 cylinder 5 speed Accord LX at $1000.00 under MSRP of $20500.00 and the Suzuki Dealer offers a 2004 Suzuki Verona EX at $16998.00(over $3000.00 off MSRP of $19999.00). The Verona is loaded with leather, moonroof and automatic transmission while the Accord had a tin roof, terry cloth seats and a stick.(in the computer world youd call that barebones). And how about that Accord suspension talk about bone rattling. Being in touch with the road is nice to take your mind off the shifting but for my money Id much rather sit back and relax on my way to work and not have to be one with the road. The Verona steering is effortless and the ride smooth.
Before the Verona I drove a 2000 Dodge Intrepid R/T. I bought it for the innovative 3.5L 242 HP engine, its wide track stance and good road manners. It had the highest horsepower of any Dodge sedan at the time. I also was going to give it to my son . And he loves it. It got an average of 23.5 MPG in mixed driving and has never been in the shop with the exception of a recent recall for the seat bolt. But, the engine was a loud in hard acceleration. The suspension was a tad too rough for my taste and the road noise while driving on wet roads was very annoying.. Believe it or not even though the Dodge is only about 100 pound heavier than the Verona and the engine is some 87 HP greater the Dodge didnt accelerate noticeably faster than the Verona. The much lauded Chrysler Infinity sound package is no better than the Verona and Its sales price 4 years ago was more than the Verona today.
Well, that about tells it. Yep, I bought a Verona and am happy I did.

mopar67 · January 2004

You made a sound choice based on your preferences, your finances, and for what fits your needs.
I honestly doubt your friends and neighbors will chastise you for buying a six cylinder powered car that has less HP than competing four cylider models. What they will do is commend you for making a smart choice.
Oh, and you forgot to mention that the "faster" Honda does not offer a seven year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

For that matter, I am willing to bet Suzuki will raise the HP next model year. They did that with the Grand Vitara (155 to 165), the XL7 (170 to 185) and the Aerio (141 to 145 to 155).

Hope your new Verona continues to give you thousands of miles of satisfaction and pleasure.

retiredguy · January 2004

I just read your customer's review where you state that Chrysler provided warranty service.

Does Chrysler do normal maintenance? This is of interest to me because the Verona dealer is a 130 mile round trip from my home. Whereas the Chrysler dealer only 5 miles.

I thought GM controls Dawoo..or is there some other connection? TIA

veronaowner · January 2004

The Chrysler dealership here (here being Melbnourne, FL)is also the Suzuki dealership and the normal service and maintenance and maintenance under the extended warrantee is by the Chrysler dealership. The extended warrantee is issued by Chrysler also. I would not know about any other Chrysler dealerships.
To all the Verona owners, congratulations on the purchase of a fine automobile. Considering all the pros and cons, I still think I made a wise choice of automobile. Enjoy driving yours.
Ken

lil302000 · January 2004

We own a motorcycle and have owned a Trans Am so we have had and do have a performance vehicle now. So when we made the decision to buy the Verona versus the Neon SRT speed times did not carry that much weight in the non performance segment of family sedans. In other words we sacrificed the performance of the Neon for the economical price and comfort of the Verona. But I still feel that for the price the Neon is a competent little rocket. If you are looking for performance your $20,000 to $25,000 could be better spent outside of the family sedan market. I don't think anyone on the board is boasting the engine power of Verona, it's real power is price for features and it's level of comfort.

rasup · January 2004

I wish you a pleasant driving experience and best of luck with your new Veronas. Also Keep posting your experiences and observations about Verona.
rkw2...its good that you have considered Verona. Apart from the curtains your other concerns about Power and mileage are valid especially in the tight driving situations you describe. Since you drive a subaru, you could compare the HP and torque characterictics with Verona.Personally I dont find any problem in passing or quick accelaration. The Car rides very smooth and feels solid. Generally the features you describe like ABS and Traction control etc are afforded by paying more. Verona EX does offer these. Safety features mentioned by you are important and I hope Suzuki addresses these in future models.
Good Luck.

rasup · January 2004

Sometime back I had raised a question on the effect of plugging devices on the 12 V outlet or the lighter outlet. From the electrical forum I learnt that it does drain the battery and also affects the alternator in the long run.
I had also raised the question of inproved performance on adding Octane 93 fuel. Has anyone to report on their experience?
Verona is running great!!!
Its 550 miles now.

fwatson · January 2004

Assuming the Verona manual does not call for 93, and unless your car has a high compression ratio, knocks/pings or is specifically tuned for 93 octane you are wasting your money buying it.

The high octane = better performance myth has existed for decades. In reality there is more energy in a gallon of Regular 87 than in 91 or 93 because the additives used to raise the octane do not contain energy and displace some of the fuel. In the case of my car, an '01 Mazda Millenia P with 2.5L V-6 there is a TSB specifically saying NOT to use 93 because of carbon buildup.

On plugging appliances etc into the outlets, be careful. Even if you blow a fuse an overload can do permanent damage under some circunstances.

rasup · January 2004

Thanks for the info fwatson. Verona's manual specifies minimum 87 grade or higher.I dont know why millenia's TSB suggested no addition of 93 fuel. Are'nt 93 fuels supposed to be "cleaner" with compounds present to remove carbon deposits or retard deposits?. I agree about the compression ratio aspect.
Your reply on the electrical question is helpful. Thanks

rctennis3811 · January 2004

Buying 93 octane isn't wasting money. It actually DOES improve acceleration, as I have noticed...but some cars it does nothing. You also get a cleaner engine overall. The only downside is the cost and what gas station you use. Shell/Texaco is the only gas we use..it was rated the best.

fwatson · January 2004

The reason Mazda put out the TSB was because the 93 octane was causing carbon buildup in the 2.5 engine. All gasoline sold in the US is required to have cleaners to keep the injectors from getting clogged. I have seen some people argue that Techron does a better job than others, but have also seen that called bunk. And all of my owners manuals have said to not use cleaner additives, so they must figure the factory supplied cleaners are sufficient. BTW, the cleaner is added at delivery, not at the refinery.

I have never run anything but 87 of whatever brand was cheapest at the time, and have never had to have injectors cleaned in any of my cars or trucks. That includes Ford, Olds, Ford Trucks and now my Mazda. The Olds has had ignition system problems, but none have had any fuel system trouble.

rasup · January 2004

I understand that there was carbon build up in the engine. Since 93 Octane is cleaner fuel it prevented fuel injectors from being clogged. But it appears that incomplete combustion was occuring in your Mazda. Which means that the compression ratio for the fuel may have been mismatched. In that event it is better to use regular fuel. The verona manual also suggests not to add any external fuel additves or enhancers. It also suggests no addition of anything to the engine oil.I have noticed however that there is better running and accelaration ( I have not measured it) since adding the 93 Octane fuel. Ofcourse this depends on the gas you get and also the place you buy gas.I use BP.
Thanks

fwatson · January 2004

Quote "Since 93 Octane is cleaner fuel it prevented fuel injectors from being clogged."

==========================

93 isn't "cleaner". In fact the addition of antiknock compounds can be said to make it dirtier. Cleaning agents are added to all grades of gasoline making them essentially the same in the "clean" department unless you factor in the antiknock additives.

My own car did not suffer from carbon buildup, but I have run 87 octane from the beginning. I really don't know why the "Premium" gas caused the carbon buildup, but to me that is evidence that 93 is at best no cleaner than 87. If you perceive an improvement in performance, that may be enough to make it worth an additional 20 cents a gallon to you. But unless I could see proof that it does improve performance in a given car, I would not pay that "premium" (pardon the pun) for something I do not believe can help your car in any way.

BTW, your car automatically adjusts for octane, which negates the difference between 87 and 93 unless your car does meet one of the criteria for needing the additional octane.

carrino · January 2004

Hello everyone.Where can we get accessories for the verona(car bras etc).I thought someone had put up the web site, but i can't find it.Also, did anyone get traction control? My dealer could not find a verona ex with traction control in new york. I really liked it in my saturn, and wish i had it in the verona

rasup · January 2004

Hi there,
Nice to see you after a long time!. You can try web sites: www.foreigncars.com or www.autosport.com. I am still in the process of finding it. I dont think its difficult to get Traction control models in PA. It seems available here. I got an S model for budget reasons and am very happy with it. I dont know how TCS makes a diff. Can you tell me?.

rasup · January 2004

Hey Pat is post #405 missing?.
Thanks

pat · January 2004

Well, we all have the ability to delete our own posts ... maybe someone posted something and then changed his or her mind ... it happens.

rasup · January 2004

Just today I drove my Verona S ( no track control or abs) on 3" snow. It drove very well. In fact its heavy structure kept it on the road and didnt slip at all. How do our other members feel about Verona on snow?. There was also ice formation of the road. The Verona has Kumho H rated tires on it.

marvinlee · January 2004

The discussions on power fascinate me. In 1960 I drove my 1959 Nash Metropolitan from Washington State to Chicago. It had all of 52 horsepower. Never had a problem keeping up with traffic. Not much passing though, there were not that many cars on the roads. Time passed and in 1973 I took my 1972 AMC Gremlin to Germany where I used it the next 4 years. The Gremlin was a step up in power. It had 110 horsepower. It cruised easily at 90 MPH on the Autobahns and kept up with all except the fastest Mercedes and Porsches. I never felt a lack of power. Now, I have the Suzuki Verona. It topped out at 120 MPH, according to the January 2004 Car and Driver magazine. Will I lack for power? I don't think so. But that's just me. If you drive a lot in high speed, cut and thrust traffic where rapid acceleration--Right Now--is essential for your style of driving, then you may be happier with more power.

rasup · January 2004

I agree about the power discussion. A lot depends on what you want from the vehicle an how you are used to driving as well as the driving conditions faced by the driver. I have found Verona to be very competent in all situations in the area I drive. The space it affords for me and my family is excellent. My Kids tell me that they feel more space at the back and find the ride very smooth.
How's your Verona doing Marvin?

marvinlee · January 2004

The Verona has only 600 miles on it due to a spell of inclement weather. The engine seems to rev more easily now and is silky smooth on acceleration. No mechanical breakdowns have appeared. The ride is excellent. I am surprised at how comfortable the car is. Not all is golden. I can feel a slight engine tremor in the steering wheel at idle. This is odd because the inline six is well balanced and road tests remarked on engine smoothness. At anything above idle the tremor disappears. It is never strong, but is noticeable when I do not have gloves on. The radio reception is not as good as my 1994 Chevy Caprice, perhaps due to the built-in antenna, perhaps not. Gas mileage is 19 MPG in a mix of local and highway driving. It is not as good as I expected. Still, the car is new and it is too soon to determine normal mileage. The seat warmers struck me as a useless frill. Now, I think that they are great. The car as a whole is the best assembled of any that I have owned. If I could make just one change, it would be to give my wife power seat adjustment on her side.

rasup · January 2004

Its good to know that Verona is doing well. Yes I too notice a very slight tremor at the wheel at idling..its barely perceptible. I find that the radio varies in reception..sometimes its great..depends on your location. I think rear window freeze affects the reception as soon as it gets heated the reception improves. My has 625 miles and I ride in the city mostly. I have yet to evaluate the exact mileage.The heating is excellent and I often have to turn it off!!.
Smooth ride so far with no start problems. Still using Octane 93 gas and the car runs great. I got a confirmation from Suzuki headQ that we could use 87 Octane or Higher fuel.Keep posting your views folks!!

Suzuki Verona

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