2009 Suzuki SX4 Sedan and SX4 4X4 Road Test

THE SMALL CAR SEGMENT in Australia is where the action is right now. While large cars and mid-sizers stagnate in the sales charts, the small car class has turned into a hive of activity.

But it’s a densely populated market segment.

Manufacturers have not been slow to recognise the lure of a car which is large enough to accommodate a small family, frugal enough to drive on a whim, and cheap enough to appeal to budget-conscious families and first car buyers alike.

For years, Suzuki has had a range of options in the small and light car classes with just such buyers in mind.

Small Suzukis are a long-term fixture on the Australian landscape. The Suzuki badge might not be the first to spring to mind when looking for a small car but it’s earned a solid reputation for low cost, hard wearing cars.

Launched in 2007, the SX4 debuted as an all-wheel-drive hatchback and has since been joined by a front-wheel-drive hatch and sedan. Co-designed with Fiat primarily to tackle the European market (where it sells as the Fiat Sedici), the SX4 picks up where the unloved and awkward looking Liana left off.

To see how the SX4 stacks up, TMR took to the wheel of an automatic sedan and manual 4X4 hatch. Offering both AWD and FWD is something of a rarity in this market segment; we were keen to see what this expanded range had to offer.

Styling

Originally penned by Italdesign, the overall form of the SX4 takes on two vastly different looks between the hatch and sedan versions. While both share the same sheet-metal forward of the B-pillars, the handsome profile of the hatch is a little lost in translation on the sedan.

As a small crossover the SX4 works well. Above the beltline the glasshouse rises steeply and between the steep front windscreen and short rear cargo compartment, there is a handsome balance to the lines.

In sedan form, the proportions are a little heavily skewed towards that high roof making the car seem strangely narrow. The quarter windows in the A-pillars sit oddly in the four-door version too, whereas they look quite at home on the hatch.

From head-on both cars look handsome and modern with a trapezoidal mesh-filled grille flanked by expressive headlights that curve around the form of the bonnet at the outside edge.

From behind, the hatch’s clean lines with tail-lights mounted high into the rear quarter panels and glazed D-pillars, increase the visual width.

Up-spec SX4 S versions of the FWD hatch and sedan also gain a subtle body kit which adds a front and rear lip and side-skirts. They also get a set of alloy wheels to set them apart from the standard versions tested here.

The SX4 AWD wears a slightly different front bumper and gets black plastic highlights on the lower bumpers, side skirts and wheel arch flares.

Interior.

Once inside the SX4 twins, neither version pushes the envelope with adventurous stying. Dashboard layout is clear and simple however and the entire package is easy to use.

Dark grey and black tones dominate with matte grey trim-highlights on the doors and steering wheel, and semi-gloss metallic highlights on the centre stack.

In front of the driver, a three-gauge instrument cluster provides a simple, easy-to-read central speedo flanked by a tacho and fuel and temp gauges on either side.

Seat trim on the AWD hatch is highlighted by mesh-knit centre panels with blue hues underneath and black fabric bolsters. The sedan favours grey mesh-knit seats for a slightly more mature ambience.

Front seat space is excellent with plenty of legroom and a great range of adjustment making it easy to find a comfortable driving position. The driver’s seat features height adjustment, but misses out on lumbar support.

Rear seat accommodation is not so commodious. Three across the rear bench will find themselves squeezed in, and all but the shortest front seat occupants will leave little in the way of knee room for those in the rear.

Thanks to the SX4’s towering roof, headroom is never an issue with plenty of clearance for both front and rear passengers (unlike some in the class).

Cargo space in the hatch is a little tight with just 270 litres of cargo space behind the rear seats. Conversely the sedan offers a cavernous 515 litre boot, with deep useable space and a wide opening making loading and unloading easy.

Both models feature 60:40 split-fold rear seats to extend cargo space and all three rear positions are equipped with three-point seat belts and adjustable head rests.

Equipment & Features

Standard equipment on the base SX4 includes remote central locking, power windows and mirrors and an eight-speaker single-disc MP3 compatible CD player.

Air-conditioning comes standard, as does a basic trip computer, variable intermittent winscreen wipers and height adjustable front seatbelts.

Dual front airbags, ABS brakes and seatbelt pretensioners make up the basic safety specifications.

The better equipped S versions of the SX4 add alloy wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, keyless start, cruise control and climate control.

Sedan and FWD hatch variants also come with a body kit to add some visual difference over the standard model.

S versions also receive side and curtain airbags. A little disappointingly, the SX4 does not offer Vehicle Stability Control, even as an option, across the range.

Mechanical Package

Across the board the SX4 comes powered by a 2.0 litre 16-valve four-cylinder petrol engine which produces 107 kW at 5800 rpm and 184 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm.

The dual overhead cam, multipoint injection engine does without variable valve timing but still manages to produce class-competitive output figures

The sedan tested here was a four-speed automatic, which offered fuss-free operation via its gated shifter (but no manual mode). Top gear is tall, which meant low revs at highway speeds, and while it may not be the smoothest or smartest self-shifter available, it performs well when faced with shift-intensive city work.

The AWD hatch came equipped with a five-speed manual. With a well-weighted clutch and defined, if not totally precise shift action, it is the better of the two transmissions on offer.

Suspension is MacPherson struts up front with a torsion-beam rear axle. AWD versions also get an additional 35mm of ground clearance.

Braking hardware consists of four-wheel disc brakes for the AWD, vented up front and solid at the rear. The sedan does without rear discs with drums on the rear instead.