Suzuki Kizashi review

What is it? The Kizashi is Suzuki's answer to family saloons such as the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat. However, unlike most its rivals – the Mondeo and Passat included – it comes with four-wheel drive.

At launch, the only engine option is a 176bhp 2.4-litre petrol that’s linked to a CVT automatic gearbox. Suzuki says it has no plans to offer a diesel.

What’s it like to drive? The Kizashi grips strongly in corners and resists body roll well. Unfortunately, you pay for this composure with a ride that thumps over urban potholes and generally feels unsettled at all speeds.
To make matters worse, your confidence in the car’s agility is undermined by inconsistently weighted steering.
Then there’s the engine. This is short on low-down torque, so the CVT automatic gearbox is forced to send the revs skyrocketing whenever you come to an incline or ask for a burst of acceleration.
You also have to put up with considerable wind noise at motorway speeds and some road noise over coarse surfaces.

What’s it like inside? The Kizashi is smaller than most its rivals, and this is reflected inside. Six-footers will wish there was more headroom upfront, and while things are better in the rear, you can’t stretch out in the way that you can in a Mondeo or Skoda Superb.
It’s a similar story when it comes to the boot. The Kizashi’s can swallow 461 litres of luggage, which is a decent amount, but the best cars in the class offer more than 500 litres of space, and there’s a big step in the Kizashis’s load floor when you fold down the rear seats.
The dashboard layout is harder to fault because most of the controls are logically positioned and clearly labelled. It’s just a pity the plastics are more robust than classy.
Should I buy one? Every Kizashi comes with a long list of standard equipment that includes leather upholstery, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, cruise control, Bluetooth and seven airbags. However, we can’t think of many other reasons to choose one.
There are a host of front-wheel drive, diesel-engined family cars that are better to drive, more practical and much cheaper to run.

New 2012 Toyota Innova Unveiled; Launch in India by mid-2012

For a while now, pictures of facelifted Toyota Innova’s test mule have been popping out here and there. And now we finaly get to see what the new 2012 Toyota Innova will look like as Toyota has unveiled the refreshed MPV at the Indonesian Motor Show.

From the looks of it, Toyota has given the Innova a major facelift, with new lights and a new grille and the profile has been altered a bit as well. The upright grille sits more vertically than the current car and this means the bonnet looks less van like. The new headlights have been stretched over the fenders, and the fogs and chin are new as well. It also gets new alloy wheels. The styling updates at the rear include a new bumper, re-styled number-plate housing and re-profiled tail lamps.

Interior changes will include the manual A/C control getting a bigger knob and the centre console with a wood-trim surround, and there is an all-new steering wheel which seems to be borrowed from the Corolla Altis.
The facelifted Toyota Innova will feature the same 2.5 Liter D-4D diesel engine and the 2 Liter VVT-i petrol engine. While the variants of the Innova abroad come with an automatic transmission, considering the higher price that the Innova will sell for if it comes with an automatic option, Toyota Kirloskar India isn’t likely to bring the automatic gearbox for the facelifted Innova.

As for launch plans, expect the new 2012 Toyota Innova to be out on Indian roads by mid-2012 as a half career product facelift . The 2012 Indian Auto Expo might probably be the occasion where Toyota unveils these facelifts for India. What remains to be seen however with this car is whether Toyota maintains the current price strategy.

Small but perfectly warmed: The Volkswagen GT up! concept

Just as the new up! compresses all the virtues of a Volkswagen into a compact city-friendly package, the GT up! concept promises to distil the driving pleasure of the seminal hot hatch, the GTI, into a powerful yet petite package.

Following in the wheel tracks of another sporty small car – the original Golf GTI – the GT up! exudes sporting style, from its wide-mouthed honeycomb grille to its two chromed tailpipes – one either side.
The wide central grille is distinctly larger than that on the standard up!, to allow plenty of air to the engine, which could potentially pack 100 PS or more. Either side of this, the broad bumper includes ducts to provide cooling airflow to the front brakes, these ducts also containing the wing-shaped LED daytime running lights.

The sporting theme continues along the flanks, which feature extended sills and black gloss-painted door mirrors. The wheels are arch-filling 17-inch alloys with wide
195-section tyres. At the rear, a deep roof spoiler helps reduce lift over the rear axle, while a black diffuser at the bottom is framed by an exhaust pipe on either side.
In the cabin, the GT up! is no less sporty. Beneath a black roof lining are anthracite-coloured seats offset by central panels with a blue chequered pattern that has more than a hint of GTI about it. The gloss-black dashboard and upper door trim panels are similarly offset by blue rings around the air vent nozzles, while the driver gets to grip a chunky leather-bound three-spoke wheel.

The GT up! remains a concept for now but certainly received a favourable reception when it was shown at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show.
Order books for the standard three-door up! are already open, and first customer deliveries are expected in spring 2012.