We take Suzuki’s new Vitara out for a spin!
Despite being on the roads for quite a few months already, we’ve gotten our fair share of compliments from random people while we were cruising around Manila and Baguio the past few days on our ride. Suzuki’s 2018 Vitara GLX is certainly a head-turner but has more to offer than just a handsome face. With class-leading features, excellent driving characteristics and a price that’s hard to beat, the top-end 2018 Vitara GLX should be at the top of your mind if you’re looking for your family’s next ride.
The new Vitara sure looks sportier.
It is. While other companies are making their vehicles bigger with each succeeding generation, Suzuki took a step back and actually made the Vitara smaller, shrinking it enough to be considered a Crossover while still retaining enough of the design identity that made the previous generation Grand Vitara great.
There’s plenty to appreciate in the Vitara’s design: a two-toned exterior with a black top complimenting the dazzling blue color of our review vehicle certainly turned heads while we were driving it. The chiseled flanks and stylish clamshell hood are complimented with LED headlights and daytime running lights. The 17-inch polished wheels finish the muscular-looking Vitara.
Like we said earlier, Suzuki shrank the Vitara, dropping the Grand moniker that was attached to the previous generation. Believe it or not, it’s slightly shorter than the current generation Honda City, and has its ground clearance reduced from 200mm to 185mm.
How’s the interior?
Plush and feature-packed. The top-end GLX gets an absolutely gigantic 10-inch Android display that acts as the heart of the entertainment system, something that tech nerds like us appreciate. It doesn’t come with either Apple CarPlay or Google’s Android Auto, but you can just install and use Waze with a WiFi hotspot and use it instead.
The center stack is clean, and we rather like the nice retro touch of the analog clock right between those two A/C vents. The steering wheel has hands-free controls for the entertainment system, along with cruise control that we found extremely useful while we were traversing TPLEX and SCTEX on our way to Baguio.
The interior is pretty lush too, as the seats are of the leather-suede wrapped variety. There’s also a panoramic sunroof on top, which has a fabric cover. It’s fairly large and gives you a nice top down but not really feeling when you’re driving, though we have a feeling that it’ll probably contribute to added heat when you’re using it during the summer since the factory tint on it is so light.
Suzuki says that you can probably fit around 375 liters worth of stuff in the luggage compartment of the new Vitara, which is plenty. The rear seats can fold to accommodate even more stuff, though it doesn’t completely lie flat.
How’s the drive?
Pretty good. Because the new Vitara is just barely higher than most sedans, it has better driving characteristics compared to a proper SUV, i.e. less body roll when entering and exiting corners. There’s obviously a compromise though – while the 185mm ground clearance is fine for small puddles, you probably don’t want to wade into knee-deep water with the Vitara.
Purists will also probably hate the fact that the Vitara is no longer a 4WD vehicle, with all the variants available being 2WD (and front wheel drive at that). That’s ok – a large majority of the intended customers for the Grand Vitara rarely touched 4WD anyway, so it’s not really a big problem. If you’re the type that likes galivanting in mud, you should really be looking at the company’s newest iteration of the Jimney anyway.
The Vitara is powered by a 1.6-liter (1586cc to be precise) M16A engine. It makes acceptable power (115hp@6000RPM) and torque (156Nm@4000RPM). That’s paired with a new 6-speed, automatic transmission with a paddle shifter.
You’d think that the Vitara would feel slow and sluggish with that puny engine under the hood pulling all that weight, but that’s not the case. The car has ample acceleration given its size and doesn’t feel slow or underpowered. It has enough oomph to be able to safely overtake in mountain passes like Marcos Highway on the way up to Baguio, with the automatic transmission working well enough that we never really felt the need to override it with the paddle shifters. We did like that we had the option to do that though.
Since the Vitara is shorter than most crossovers and SUVs, it’s extremely easy to use on tight city streets and congested roads in Manila and other similar urban centers in the Philippines.
The Vitara is filled to the brim with top-end tech that you only usually see on more expensive rides. You get 6 airbags, parking sensors on the front and rear bumpers, hill hold control, Electronic Stability Program (ESP), automatic wipers and lights as well as push-button start.
How’s fuel economy?
Very, very good. Combined city and highway driving (during the holiday season no less!) yielded us around 12.2km/l, and that’s with spirited driving going up to Baguio. A large portion of that mileage is thanks to the cruise control function that we abused the heck out in the long stretches of TPLEX and SCTEX, allowing us to stretch our right leg as we cruised at 100Km/h.
So, should you buy it?
Absolutely. If you’re in the market for a crossover, Suzuki’s 2018 Vitara GLX should be on the top of your list. This thing has all the features you’ll ever want from a crossover.
The thing that really puts the Vitara over its competitors is the price. The top of the line GLX variant is priced at Php 1,148,000 which is pretty reasonable considering what you’re getting.
