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2007 Suzuki SX4
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Comments
what you've experienced is not unexpected. I just finished watching a tv 1 hour review for the SX4 and I am reconsidering this purchase. The review was quite exhaustive and invoved mechanical inspection and closed circuit tests.
Conclusion:
weak points: engine feels very sluggish under 30mph, breaking distance is way too long, it has the smallest rear break pad and master cylinder they had seen in years, rear suspension is absorbing in one direction only, not bidirectional, front direction stabilizing bar is way too long and causes 'jumping' of the front wheels in sharp turns, exhaust system in one single piece, lots of heat generated so they had to remove some protection pannels to allow cooling.
good points: AWD, great body design, great engine supports (ie no vibration at all), quiet, lots of room inside.
So, apparently still worth it because of AWD and price if that is what you are looking for, but if you don't need AWD you should look elsewhere.
I really don't notice the sluggishness mentioned in the review but the revving between shifts seems a little inconsistent. It happens sometime;other times not.
I have to agree with the person who said that on the highway fifth gear felt like fourth gear. I kept thinking I needed to shift to a higher gear.
This problem with the exhaust system heat does worry me alittle. Wouldnt it create problems over the long term?
I would think that Suzuki will have to address certain issues if they want to avoid any problems.
Owners of the 2007 Suzuki SX4 please do put your SX4's through some "paces" and see if you can duplicate any of these "problems" while you're out driving and report what you find. As rjared1 said it behooves you to find out because as a group you do have a better chance of getting a fix done at no cost to yourselves. I smell rotten Karl Malone socks though on this one. Very suspect report...reads like a mock witchhunt of some sort. You'd think the car in question is a 1999 Kia Sephia or something.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
It would be interesting to get feedback from real owners with real experiences. Brakes, noise, other experiences... positive and negative feedback.
on that note any feed back on the stock Bridgestone tires are in snow (again I know this hasn't been out during winter yet - but any previous cars)
thanks in advance,
John
2007 Suzuki SX4
2005 Isuzu Ascender
He is really serious about his thing, and very trusted. He evaluated the yaris sedan, the caliber and the versa the three weeks before. One full hour for every car! You can see the car's behaviour live, so you don't have to trust his word only.
In any way, all I've described earlier has been shown: 0-100kmph acceleration gets decent time, but slow to start. The car's front plunges significantly when braking from 100 kmph and the distance is around 44 meters, when yaris and versa go around 39. Industry stadard is 40 The front wheels were jumping a bit during slalom...
there were other good and bad points about the car, but I can't remember all:
other good points: Good radio, no engine vibration inside, conmfy seats, security systems, powerful (but noisy) ventilation system, large windows
other bad points: washer fluid reservoir neck very small, with electric connections right underneath (so don't spill) tiny tiny rear pad (although the disks are nice and big) unidirectional rear suspension (ie absorbs on the way up, but drops strait when going down, plastic inside the rear door poorly assembled on his vehicle (JX AWD, auto), only 4-speed auto.
Anyways, the guy does not have anything against suzuki, his last review of the Grand Vitara was great. But here again, unless you need AWD, the yaris, versa and caliber got better reviews from him. It all depends on your need, and he would say.
Anyways, I was not pleased very much since I was considering the car, but I just can't ignore what I saw .If you have any specific question about the car, I can tell you if it's been discussed in the show.
but so far I have to say the SX4 is great for what I needed. Just traded in a 2002 Montero Sport which is (was) much bigger, slightly more power. Also netted about 17 mpg and since I have a 100 mile round trip commute to work each day. And I live in CT where we get a good amount of snow on and off during the winter. Did I compromise - with out a doubt.
Only had the SX4 for a few days thus far - I got to say its quick enough, solid enough, comfy enough and "cheap" enough to buy and enjoy! I knew it wasn't a "fast/quick" road rocket.
as you stated maybe its only a good choice if AWD is the number one "need"... but I'd like to think the SX4 is a good choice either-way.
did he go into any details on the awd system?
TQS (gotta love the translation - "The next emission of RPM") :shades:
pierremichaud.ca
I actually agree with the reviewer that if you don't need AWD, there are a ton of good cars that would probably be better choices. I wouldn't even look at the Suzuki if I weren't a believer in the benefits of AWD
I too was disappointed by the live axle rear beam suspension (like the old and new Ford Mustang) and I'm not suprised braking suffers with the extra weight of AWD. Another big factor in braking is tires. Good tires can make all the difference. Subaru's don't do all that well, although their brakes have gotten bigger recently.
It will be interesting to see some performance numbers... hopefully in the near future.
To those ends, we will be shutting down the general make/model discussions and work exclusively with specific issues. This requires us to populate the make/model subsections with relevant, interesting and timely topics. Rather than having the hosts simply create boilerplate topics for each make/model, we feel that you, the owner, the make/model enthusiast and the prospective buyer can best judge what those topics should be.
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For over 6 years I've followed the Edmund's site and formums and participated when my particular interests or views were piqued.
Now with this new format of 1001 topics for every vehicle I believe it is time to say farewell.
I have no interest whatsover of checking so many sub-topics. Also, the difficult to read colors of text contribute to poor legibility and all of the bugs in the sofware are the last straw.
Inside Line is very well done, however, the forums and Carspace must be designed to appeal to the ADD generation, which I'm not a part of.
Farewell.
I agree with you. I am not ready to give up yet but am getting close. It's OK when someone is interested in 1-2 cars. But for people like me who have broad interests in the car world, it's getting to the point where the effort isn't worth it.
There IS such a thing as a Search function in these discussions, after all.
I'm with the others on this -- WAY too many sub-topics! If someone like myself wanted to keep tabs on what owners think of 3 or 4 newly-introduced models, I would have to track 50-100 discussions in order to stay on top of all aspects of the ownership experience.
BAAAAH! We're not all retirees with 18 hours-a-day to spare.
You guys changed the board for my current model last week and the new posts went to ZERO!
They'll just be pre-sorted a bit for you instead of having, say, an iPod question butting up against a squeaking U-joint (even though the answer may be to turn the volume up on the iPod to drown out the squeak :shades: ).
Just curious on its designed and how good it should be in the upcoming weather :-)
The seats also divide 60/40, so maybe you can consider putting the small panel down, and even double-folded and clipped to the front headrest. That should give you enough room to fit your daughter and her stroller in the back.
You can also use the remote control on your keys to open the doors.
My front map light (on the roof by the rearview mirror) sufficiently illuminates my glove compartment. Those are bright lights!
The lack of passenger vanity mirror is a bit odd. Of all the things to skimp, that seems to be something rather inexpensive that they could have added.
I had the SX4 out in the heavy rain yesterday and drove alittle agressive (in auto mode) to see how it would behave and it was well mannered. Stopped quickly on rain slicked surfaces and maintained secure footing on quick turns. The wipers worked well, quietly and kept the front and back windshield clear. The front and rear defrosters did their job.
Milage so far in 2WD mode is on par with my previous Elantra. The display is showing about 22 MPG.
Also wanted to note that eveb though I have only driven a couple hundred miles the engine seems to be more responsive.
For most purposes it is a fairly peppy engine.
TIA
RedRyder344
The book must be made for the other versions that are sold overseas. I believe there is a 2WD-only version sold in Europe or Japan, and it says you can tow that no problem.
Go to http://www.newcars.com/, click on "Rebates and Incentives," and find the SX4's.
A new financing deal apparently kicks in during the first week of every month, but not necessarily on the 1st of the month. For example, the October one didn't start until October 5th.
I'm loving my little car. No regrets whatsoever in my purchase decision.
Ever been to a dragstrip or seen a drag race on TV?
They take a vehicle from a dead stop and accelerate as quickly as possible over 1/4 mile distance to measure elapsed time and speed at the end.
Probably means something to gearheads, but virtually nothing to the everyday commuter -- especially on vehicles that are not performance-oriented.
On that note what do you folks recommend for:
* wet
* snow
* dry
I'd prefer to stick with an all season as I drive about 130 miles a day round trip to work and the roads in CT during the winter seasons are not always snow covered. In fact it snow little but when it does it does!
Thanks in advance,
John
I'd like to know from those of you who own a 5 speed if this has become a real issue, is something that you've adapted to while driving your SX4 or, is something that you don't even notice ? Also, how are the gas mileage figures for a 5 speed ?
Thanks,
You have to be at least in the midst of releasing the accelerator when you stand on the clutch for the sudden revs to not happen. I think this is because the drive-by-wire is set to rev very high very easily when the car is in neutral.
At first I thought you needed to fully release the throttle to eliminate the rev hanging. I have since found out that this is not the case. The notion of fully releasing the throttle clashed with the way I've been taught to drive stick, because I only partially release the accelerator to maintain a certain amount of revs for the next gear to avoid the engine jerking. So, I have "experimented" to see if I can do a shift with a partial throttle release, and sure enough I am able to do it without the revs hanging.
Mind you, I'm also rather a beginner stick driver, so I don't put my pedals through all those racing manoeuvers that the guys speak of.
To answer your question, I have noticed the problem, but I've adapted to it.
My gas mileage has risen since when I reported last week, under the same driving conditions! I'm getting 28.7 avg mpg over the past week, about 500 miles total, a lot of freeway, some stop and go, some street, and some country-highway-with-stoplights.
In keeping with trying to save gas, with the help of the on-board instantaneous mpg meter, I've also stopped my habit of maintaining an average speed of 75 mph. I can now see how driving 75mph versus 65mph really affects your gas mileage. Compared to driving at 75mph, the math tells me that I only lose 6 minutes for every 50 miles I drive at 65 mph.
During my morning commute, I find myself feeling happy when the flow of traffic drops to 55mph, because my mpg shoots way up. So that's why they lowered the national speed limit to 55mph in the 1970s!
There is usually a break-in period for engines in relation to miles-per-gallon and I doubt that Suzuki motors are an exception there. So many of your mpg's should improve with time.
This still sounds like it wants to be my next new car!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Next choice would be the Techno Blue Metallic. Has anyone driven their SX4 through snow or ice yet?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Still waiting for my Copper Sport to ship!