Vehicle Tested: 2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.4 Litre Five-Door

Price as tested: $32,990

Options fitted:

• Automatic Transmission
• 17-inch Alloy Wheels

The Brief: Suzuki’s revamped Grand Vitara is a vehicle for the closet adventurer. Our brief was to hit the highway, find a mountain and get bogged lost.

The Verdict: The Grand Vitara quickly won us over. Bogging it on a mountain, in the rain, in the middle of…well nowhere… that was our fault.

THE HISTORIC gold mining town of Walhalla is about a two hour drive from Melbourne, sitting at the base of a deep gorge at the ‘gate’ to Victoria’s high country. Its historic buildings line the single street, one deep, while houses further up precariously dot the steep eastern escarpment.

North of Moe, the Walhalla region provides the car enthusiast with an appealing selection of driving roads.

If it’s sweeping bitumen mountain roads that you want, then head through Erica to the Thomson River Reservoir. If switchbacks and hairpin bends are more your style, then take the road into Walhalla itself.

Or, if your thrills are to be found off-road, then head beyond the Thomson Reservoir and take your pick: there are numerous 4WD-only mountain tracks, fire trails and mountain streams to choose from.

No matter which way you head, the mountain scenery will continually stop you in your tracks – that’s guaranteed. We like the area so much that we’ve made Walhalla a regular base for our TMR road tests.

Our first foray was in the TRD HiLux, second cab of the rank was the new Suzuki Grand Vitara soft roader. We picked up a 2.4-litre automatic five-door base model Grand Vitara from Suzuki on an overcast Friday afternoon, and, three up, hit the road to Walhalla on a rather un-seasonally wet Saturday morning.

Suzuki has given the Grand Vitara a mid-life makeover, and the result is a handsome machine. Clean lines, a ‘clamshell’ style bonnet and spot-on proportions combine with the optional 17-inch alloy wheels to bring us arguably the best looking vehicle in its class. The styling is clever as well, as it neatly disguises the Grand Vitara’s compactness.

On the highway from Melbourne to Moe, it didn’t take long for the Grand Vitara’s on-road manners to win us over.

There’s an all new 2.4 litre four-cylinder under the bonnet (replacing the previous model’s 2.0 litre) boasting 122kW and 225Nm, giving a 19kW and 42Nm boost to performance and tractability.

The power and torque boost is good news as Suzuki has persisted with a four-speed automatic (you need to buy the 3.2-litre V6 to get a five-speed auto).

It’s a minor shortcoming however as the flexible new four-pot almost covers the missing ratio (most noticeable is the gap between 1st and 2nd), only ever sounding – and feeling - overworked when the right foot was hard up against the firewall, and the engine heading north of 5,000rpm.

In day-to-day driving though, most will find the 2.4 litre is a smooth and capable performer.