Suzuki Grand Vitara Review
Published: 22nd July 2003
Grand Vitara
How It Looks - Exterior
We liked the new Suzuki exterior styling – it looks much more substantial than previous models and other compact 4 wheel drives. However, I’m not too sure about the twin tone paint work, but there are other colour schemes available, my colleagues liked it so it could just be me.
The bottom of the car is plastic and designed to take light scratches from hedges and more likely parking dents from other people in car parks. The spare wheel has a hard cover to protect it against the elements, theft or vandalism. The aerial is mounted in the A pillar of the car and has to be manually operated, which may cause a problem if you are considering going off road through undergrowth or along Devon lanes where the hedges overhang the road.
How It Looks - Interior
We loved the dashboard Suzuki has really considered the end user and has designed a dashboard that looks right and above all feels right. We liked the way in which the instrument panel lights up it is back lit by fibre optics to reduce eye fatigue and for greater clarity, which wouldn’t be out of place on a far more expensive vehicle. We even laughed at the welcoming start up and goobye message which was displayed on the odometer when turning the key.
The air conditioning / heating controls are excellent, both easy to use and nice to the touch. The air conditioning quickly chilled the car and you would only know that we were experiencing a July heat wave thanks to the outside temperature indicator.
The seat material was very good and again of above average quality, we particularly liked the fact that it wasn’t patterned, we can’t stand wild patterns on upholstery.
There are two 12v power outlets (one in the boot) plus a cigarette lighter excellent for laptop users / outdoor pursuit enthusiasts alike.
There is a box recessed into the floor of the rear luggage area which was useful to store items whilst out of the vehicle it is not lockable which would have been more secure (A lockable box is available on the Land Rover Freelander). The boot has a pull over load cover, which is adequate but we would prefer to see the option of a hard cover, as it is far more secure and you cannot see down the sides.
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