By Marty Padgett
thecarconnection.com
Frugal is its own reward - but it's also its own punishment.
What to do if your heart wants a Mazda3, but your wallet is sized more to the Toyota Yaris end of the econobox range? Pout a lot? That's not attractive now, is it?
You could turn to Suzuki and its new SX4 Sport, a subcompact sedan that it promises will deliver much of the driving pleasure of that well-reputed Japanese sporty compact without as much of the payment pain - and with a bit more verve than the likes of the Yaris.
It's a tall order to fill. The SX4 Sport is aimed at a narrow window in between the least expensive new cars on the U.S. market, and some of the finest-handling economy cars sold here. It's sized in between the subcompacts and the true compacts, and gets sandwiched in between their prices at about $15,000 fully outfitted. And while Toyota and Mazda have big reputations to lean back on, Suzuki is still growing an image here.
But filling that tall order is a bit easier for the SX4 Sport, since it's based on the SX4 sport wagon, which is itself pretty tall for its class. And because some of its suspension design is inherited from the non-U.S. Swift - noted for its sweet handling by our Euro colleagues - the SX4 also brings a deft touch to its controls that's largely missing from the Yaris and its Rio, Aveo, and Accent brethren.
The SX4 Sport starts winning friends with its 2.0-liter four, which spins out 143 horsepower and 135 pound-feet of torque in a happy, smooth patter. Mazda's 3 puts out 148 hp, and the Yaris only 106 hp, and horsepower is half the battle even for in-town runabouts. The sweet-shifting five-speed manual that comes with many Sports suits the engine ideally, with well-spaced ratios, a short throw and a grippy shift knob. Pert is a good word to describe this drivetrain - and to describe shampoo and conditioner in one, but we're "not going there," as they used to say in 2001.
It's no fuel-economy champion, though it's pretty good at sipping rather than quaffing the stuff. The government rates the SX4 sport at 22/30 mpg (plus one more mile per gallon each for the automatic version, which we didn't drive). Mazda's base 3 with a manual shifter is estimated at 24/32 mpg under the new rules, while the Yaris is champ here at 29/36 mpg.
In handling and chassis feel, Suzuki's done small wonders with the Sport's MacPherson strut and torsion-beam suspension. It's a point-and-shoot affair with its light, direct steering and fairly nimble ride. In the twisty hills surrounding Ojai, California , we zipped around construction berms and in and out of traffic on the 101, and the Sport complied handily. Larger cars would smother highway ripples, sure, but probably couldn't squirt into short traffic gaps like the Sport. Even with 17-inch wheels, which would have seemed titanic on a car this size ten years ago, there was little of the thrumming and hopping that often comes with a cruise on the major California interstates.
Part of the reason the Sport feels so light-footed is a sort of visual psychology. The front doors' windows are cut lower than any vehicle in recent memory, and because you see more of the road moving alongside the car, the impression of speed and quick response is greater. Honda used to have the low-beltine feel cornered-and someone at Suzuki remembers why that philosophy works.
There's ample knee room for drivers and front passengers, too, something more rare these days in subcompacts. But for a four-door, the Sport's interior package is pretty much all about the driver. Big guys can set the front seats to their liking, but that won't leave a lot of room in the back seat. The Sport is roughly the same size as the more spacious Mazda3 - it's a fraction of an inch longer, but its wheelbase is 5.5 inches shorter, and those rear accommodations prove out the numbers. The wheelbase is even two inches shorter than the Yaris, but in both cases the rear seats just aren't the place to put large adults.
The Sport leans in Mazda's direction in terms of styling, inside and out. It's a conventional look, but a neatly detailed one. The "sport" touches fill out the SX4's frame nicely, from the deep chin and side skirts to the blackout trim. The rear end gets no spoiler, and that's good, because the deep but stubby trunk would look a little silly having attention drawn to it.
The dash is attentively styled. Like the bigger XL7 ute we drove this year, the Sport's gauges are sharp, and there's a high-quality look and feel to the radio faceplate and dash textures that's very appealing. We're smitten with steering-wheel radio controls and finding them available on a $15,000 car is like finding a secret $20 in your wallet near closing time.
Suzuki hasn't spared much from the equipment list, when compared to the Yaris-class cars. Six airbags are standard, as are anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights.
Other features well appreciated are the standard CD stereo with MP3 capability; available iPod integration and in-dash CD changer; and a Bluetooth option, for chatty types who need to keep both hands on the wheel for ethical and legal reasons. Option packages include cruise control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with those marvy radio controls, fog lamps and stability control. The automatic transmission is an $1100 option. All cars come standard with a seven-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
We're assuming that a plain SX4 sedan, minus the racy trim and maybe a few hundred bucks, will appear soon. Leading with the Sport version isn't a bad tack - it fills a small but distinct niche that the cheapest Mazda3 and the most expensive Yaris S leave unfilled.
Copyright © 2007, TheCarConnection.com
