This is the Suzuki Vitara, a small SUV in a super competitive class, up against the
likes of the Seat Arona, Renault Captur, and Volkswagen T-Cross.
This fourth-generation model first went on sale in 2015, but it’s recently had a facelift
to update its styling, bring in a new engine and tweak its pricing.
In the past the Vitara has always stood out from the crowd thanks to its low pricing - but
is that the case now and is it still a good choice?
Well that's what we are going to find out in this review. And if you want to buy a Vitara
or any of its rivals head to whatcar.com were you can find the best new car deals around
go to the new car buying section when you're there click on the Vitara and you'll be able
to see all the deals available to you and if you want to stay up to speed with the latest
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So let's first talk about those styling changes that the facelifted model gets and if you
look at the front you can see it gets a slightly redesigned light clusters,
grille and bumper, while at the rear there is again a more intricate design for its tail
lights.
Inside, Suzuki has really tried to lift the quality of the interior for the first time
the Vitara gets soft touch materials on top of the dashboard and there is no doubting
that the Vitara looks as good as it ever has inside, however, it's not all good news the
soft touch materials here are the best you will find because elsewhere, it’s pretty
cheap especially inside the door here the plastics you can hear pretty scratchy brittle
hard and just generally not very good and these air vents especially are quite flimsy
too. But to be fair to the Vitara all the other cars in this class also have a similar
mix of qualities in their interiors for the materials that are used at least.
In the Vitara finding a comfortable driving position is really easy there is loads of
adjustments in the seat and in the steering wheel too,for height and reach and these front
seats are pretty comfortable as well plus the facelifted model now gets a central arm
rest here. There is still no adjustable lumbar support.
The box-like body and large glass area mean it’s easy to see out of the Vitara. But,
a big drawback of the interior is the infotainment system.
SZ-T and SZ5 get this touchscreen display as standard - but perhaps the kindest thing
you can say about it is that at least it does get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.
The infotainment system itself is easy enough to navigate, but the icons are pretty small
and it can be pretty slow to respond to your touch inputs as well, so as you can see these
shortcut buttons are on the small side and not that easy to hit when you're on the move.
The worst thing about it is this touch sensitive pad on the side here for the volume it’s
really fiddly trying to turn up the tunes when you're driving, so actually a physical
dial would be much easier. But there are at least some helpful buttons on the steering
wheel to help control it. All things considered though rival systems are much better.
Space up front is good with lots of head and leg room and we have already shown the adjustability
that you can get in the driver's seat - but the storage compartments are a bit on the
small side, these cubby holes here aren't particularly big. Although what is good is
in this central armrest actually there is a decent amount of storage under there.
In the back, leg room is very generous, even if you’re sat behind a tall driver and headroom
is really good as well, but it’s worth bearing in mind that if you have a panoramic sunroof
then it really cuts into headroom that’s available in the back and in the front. So
a panoramic sunroof is standard on SZ5, so that my be a trim that’s worth avoiding,
but if you really want a small SUV, that’s generous in the back then this is impressive
but a kia soul is bigger still.
The boot is pretty good by class standard as well and it’s been thoughtfully designed.
There’s no load lip, there is decent underfloor storage and the boot floor itself isn't actually
that high off the ground. Plus you have got some helpful storage pockets on either side.
The rear seats are split-folding in a 60/40 configuration, but they don’t slide or recline
like they do in some rivals like the Citroen C3 Aircross, and when they’re down the bootspace
is generous - but the C3 Aircross is bigger still.
The Vitara now has a very simple engine lineup just two engines. so for the facelift Suzuki
ditched the 1.6-litre petrol and the diesel option from before and now you’ve got 1.0-litre
and 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engines.
So this 109bhp 1.0-litre engine is definitely the pick of the range and it’s borrowed
from the Suzuki Swift, so the 1.6-litre engine from before had to be revved really really
hard to get anything from it at all really, but this 1.0-litre turbo pulls much better
from low revs, so actually even getting up to motorway speeds is no drama for it at all.
It’s a very impressive engine it can definitely go toe-to-toe with equivalent units in its
rivals.
If you do want a bit more power and regularly do long journeys then the 1.4-litre is still
an excellent option - but it is a little bit pricey.
This five-speed manual gearbox is pretty notchy compared to the Seat Arona’s, which is just
slicker and more precise and be aware if you go for an automatic or indeed a four-wheel
drive model in the vitara, then it does blunt the performance somewhat.
The Vitara has firm but well-damped suspension. Big bumps or potholes will send a dull thud
through to the interior, but the ride rarely gets unsettled and never becomes jarring.
All things considered, this is one of the more comfortable small SUVs on sale.
You can even have some fun hustling the Vitara along a twisty B-road, thanks to its tight
body control. But the steering does let it down a little bit, it’s very light, and
there's no real connection to the front wheels,but that’s no problem around town and the vitara’s
very comfortable and relaxing at lower speeds, But if you are driving quickly you will definitely
notice that a Seat Arona is more controlled.
One of the reasons the Vitara was so popular in the past was because of its excellent value.
But has the facelift changed that? Well These are the most important things you need to
know about buying and owning a suzuki vitara.
Well the facelift has brought some punchier pricing for the Vitara. Whereas before it
used to undercut the vast majority of cars in this class, now it’s actually similarly
priced to the Arona, C3 Aircross and Renault Captur. So it’s not quite the bargain it
once was.
But if you go on whatcar.com we can save you up to £1000 off the cost of a new Suzuki
Vitara. Click on the link in the top right to find out more.
It does help that economical engines, reasonable insurance groups and sensible servicing costs
all mean the Vitara is an inexpensive car to run.
But the Vitara doesn’t hold onto its value as well as rivals like the Arona, so that
does offset some of the savings you might make elsewhere.
On the plus side, it makes up for this by offering much more equipment than its similarly
priced rivals.
The best trim is SZ-T which gets cruise control, 17in alloys, a sat-nav with smartphone mirroring,
Bluetooth, DAB digital radio and a rear-view camera.
The Vitara is also a reliable cars in its class - in our latest reliability survey Suzuki
was rated as the most reliable manufacturer, and the Vitara was third in its class behind
another Suzuki - the SX-4 S-Cross - and Peugeot 2008.
As with many of its rivals, a three-year/60,000-mile warranty comes as standard, while a 12-year
anti-perforation warranty should stop any concerns about rust.
The Vitara got the full five-star safety score from Euro NCAP, but that was on the older
style of testing in 2015. If it was tested today it might not score so highly, because
the two entry level trims don’t get automatic emergency braking.
So, the Suzuki Vitara is better than ever inside and on the road. But an increase in
price, and an increase in the competition means that it doesn’t look like such a bargain
now compared to cars like the class-leading Seat Arona. But if you want a comfortable
small SUV with a spacious interior, some off- road styling and capable engines, then the
new Vitara is certainly worth considering.
To save money on a new Suzuki Vitara head to whatcar.com and while you’re there you’ll
find our full extended written review of it and all of it’s key rivals and if you’ve
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