Does the Vitara grab your field? 

The name Vitara is synonymous with Suzuki, it is probably the best known model the brand has produced, along with the Swift. Other names such as Liana, have disappeared in the midst. The first Vitara was produced in 1988, and since then over 2.87 million have been sold worldwide, including the Grand Vitara. We had one in the family in 1994, a dark blue car with a white soft-top, we had it for years, and in that time it never missed a beat. The Vitara does have history, and heritage, so will the new one live up to its parents and grandparents tried and trusted name, with their easy to manage dimensions, good on-road performance and genuine off-road capability.

This all-new five door, five seat Compact SUV, which spans a couple of sectors will be up against some strong competition. It is competing with the likes of the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Vauxhall Mokka, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Yeti and the new Fiat 500X.

The Vitara is available with ALLGRIP four-wheel drive as an option. ALLGRIP is normally in front-wheel drive mode, but as soon as the system detects any form of slipping, sliding or loss of grip, the rear wheels come into action. We did not get chance to try the ALLGRIP system, but based on Sukuki’s forty years of knowledge in this area, then you can assume it works pretty well.

There will be two engines available when the Vitara goes on sale next April, engines on offer will be a 1.6 litre petrol and a 1.6 litre DDiS diesel, and the target CO2 emission figure is 123g/km for the petrol and 106g/km for the diesel. The engines will both produce 120ps, however no fuel consumption or 0 to 62mph figures are available yet. 

While in the South of France, we only drove the 1.6DDiS in both 2WD and 4WD and found it had plenty of plenty of power. On tarmac they drove exactly the same and you really couldn’t tell which had 4WD. The DDiS engine was quite noisy on start-up, and at low speeds, but once it got rolling, then it becomes as quiet as any other diesel engine. But this could be quite annoying if you wanted to leave home early in a morning and not disturb anyone, and likewise if you wanted to creep back into home late at night. Suzuki UK estimate that the petrol engine will sell just as many as the diesel, but no sales figures have been released yet.

We drove the Vitara diesel from Nice up into the hillside and through some very pretty villages and also on some very wet motorways. The weather during the time we were in the Cote D’Azur was appalling, torrential rain and flooded roads all around, but probably good conditions to test this sort of vehicle. Being sat higher made driving easier as you can see further and you certainly feel safer. We really enjoyed driving the Vitara in all various conditions and it felt as solid as a rock, in what were pretty dire conditions.

The new Vitara is a good looking car, a bit Range Rover Evoque-ish, which isn’t a bad thing, and certainly adds to its appeal. It is as Evoque-ish, as the Swift is Mini-ish; it is a clever piece of designing which makes it just different enough to be unique, but still keeping some nice lines in the styling to attract potential buyers. 

Personalisation is being offered in the form of a different colour roof to the rest of the car, which again adds appeal and something a bit different in this highly competitive sector.

The interior works well, with some nice touches, but the dash and the upper door panels did seem a bit hard, and not nice to touch, it was described by somebody as a “bit scratchy”. But overall it is acceptable. There is plenty of room for five adults, and the rear seat has enough leg and head room for the average sized person. The boot has a capacity of 375 litres with the seats in the upright positon, and a great deal more with the seats folded down. The Vitara does have a long list of standard equipment, and also is not short of safety features. 

Suzuki have come up with a strapline of “grab your field” – we’re not too sure just what this means, and apparently nor did anyone else on the launch. It was probably, originally a Japanese strapline that somehow just got lost in translation. When you have got to start explaining a slogan, then you know it is unlikely to work. Hopefully Suzuki UK will be allowed to create their own and not use “grab your field”. The car is much better than that strapline.

Final prices have not yet been announced for the very competent new Vitara, and while it may look a bit like an Evoque, the prices are nothing like it, coming in around half the price of the baby Range Rover. Prices are expected to range from £14,000 up to around £19,000; it looks a lot of car for the money.

It is certainly light years ahead in every department of the 1994 Vitara, and that was a good car.

Martin Ward, Manufacturer Relationship Manager 

European Press Launch, Nice.