samurai swat team - Suzuki Singapore

FEATURE SIBLING RIVALRY
SAMURAI SWAT TEAM
The current and previous generations of the Suzuki Vitara are designed to
conquer suburbia with their special weapons and tactics.
• Story David Ting • Photos Desmond Teo
B
BEFORE crossovers started
crossing en masse from the
hatchback metropolis to the
pseudo-SUV jungle, Suzuki
had already crossed the river
between the city and the
countryside with the first Vitara,
which put its four-wheel-drive
tyres on/off the road here in
1991 (see box story on next
spread, Venerable Vitara).
What we have here is the
latest fourth-generation
Vitara, together with the thirdgeneration Grand Vitara.
The newcomer is a few
months young, while the
old-timer is approaching its
72
10th year, so any comparative
comments on my part have
to be taken with a pinch of
salt – or maybe a pinch of
sand, from a beach resort
somewhere in Malaysia, where
countless Vitaras have rambled
and played since the 1990s.
Today, the new 1.6-litre
Vitara plays in the same local
playground as the Honda Vezel/
HR-V and Nissan Qashqai 1.2.
Yesterday, the old 2-litre
Grand Vitara played in the
same playground as the old
Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester
and Toyota RAV4, alongside
two Korean kids destined
for greater things when
they grow up, the Hyundai
Tucson and Kia Sportage.
The designs of the two Vitaras
are separated by a decade of
development, not only in
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the fields of manufacturing
and vehicular aesthetics, but
also in terms of SUV culture.
The previous Grand Vitara is
made in Japan and styled like
a traditional off-roader, with a
“backpack” spare tyre. The new
model has a flat-tyre repair kit
instead, which saves weight
but might not save your skin
in the middle of nowhere like
a full-size fifth tyre could.
Both Suzukis can be specified
with a variety of outdoorsy
accessories (original or
aftermarket), such as skid plates,
fender extenders and roof racks.
But only the old one came
with a choice of five-door
and three-door bodystyles
(Champion Motors sold just
the five-door version). The
older, second-generation
Vitara had more variants,
THE LAST SAMURAI
Suzuki’s sports-utility expertise extends
“downwards” to the Jimny. It’s a tiny SUV in
1.3-litre export format, even tinier in 658cc
domestic form for Japan, but it’s a pukka offroader with a rugged ladder-frame chassis,
ballsy ball-nut steering, ample ground
clearance and a guerilla of a gearbox.
This bonsai SUV can climb farther than
Mount Faber and tackle tougher ridges
than Kent Ridge Park. It has the skill to
make a molehill out of a whole hill. And its
five-slot grille pokes fun at Jeep, whose
distinctive seven-slot grille has been
part of its brand heritage since 1945.
In a slightly muddy way, the Jimny is
Suzuki’s last Samurai, a walk-on-the-wildside small warrior standing its ground as
city-slicker crossovers explore the outdoors.
These are
practical
interiors that
can endure
punishment,
but the new
model (top)
has more
equipment.
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SIBLING RIVALRY
SUZUKI VITARA 1.6 (A)
All-new
Vitara cabin
(far left) is
almost as
spacious as
the old one
and a lot
more stylish.
which included a stretched
seven-seater called XL-7 and a
two-door soft-top convertible!
The new Vitara, built in
Hungary, is only available
as a practical five-door,
reflecting the SUV segment’s
evolution from “weekend fun
for a twosome/threesome”
to “everyday functionality
for family and friends”.
Its size is closer to that of the
three-door Grand Vitara, but
superior packaging has given
the new-era Vitara almost as
much interior space as the
old-school five-door Grand
Vitara. The boot, for instance,
offers 375 litres of cargo
capacity, expandable to 710
litres with the rear seatbacks
folded; compared to 398-758
litres in the retired sibling.
There’s also a significant
improvement in efficiency,
which starts with weight loss.
The Vitara tips the scales
at just over 1.2 tonnes,
about 300kg lighter than
the Grand Vitara. That’s like
leaving four excess adults
on the roadside for good.
The current model also feels
lighter on its feet. Whatever
advantage the old 2-litre model
has in low-end torque (183Nm
versus 156Nm) and high-revs
power (140bhp versus 118bhp) is
negated by the current 1.6-litre
drivetrain’s sweeter, uh, drive.
VENERABLE VITARA
Before the first Vitara came to Singapore
in 1991, Suzuki already had a swarm
of SJ413 Samurais working hard in
construction sites, industrial areas
and ulu parts of the island. The little
4x4 vehicle was a tough panel van for
equally tough men.
The original Vitara (extreme right)
was less austere than the spartan
Samurai, but it was still as tough as
an SAF sergeant’s boots, with a boxy
body ready to bash its way through
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Its 6-speed automatic
transmission, versus the
predecessor’s ancient 4-speeder,
is smoother and more
responsive. The acceleration
seems more urgent on the
expressway, even though the
official 0-100km/h timings are
identical for both Vitaras. The
maximum speed is now 10km/h
faster, which might be useful
to road trippers in a hurry.
The vehicle is less thirsty,
too, able to travel about six
kilometres further (estimated) on
every litre of petrol. Although I
couldn’t find the CO2 emission
figure for the old Vitara, I
reckon it’s significantly higher
than that of the new one.
undergrowth, a hardworking 1.6-litre
engine and a three-mode 4x4 system
(2H rear-drive for normal roads, 4H
four-wheel-drive for abnormal roads
and 4L low-ratio, low-speed four-wheeldrive for off-road journeys).
In 1994 (1995 when it reached
Singapore), Suzuki put a 2-litre V6
engine into the Vitara to create its
flagship, complete with a heavily
chromed grille, two-tone paintwork and
optional leather upholstery.
Priced at just over $100,000 excluding
Category 3 COE, the car served as a
THE TWO VITARAS
ARE SEPARATED
BY A DECADE OF
DEVELOPMENT IN
MANUFACTURING,
VEHICULAR
AESTHETICS AND
SUV CULTURE.
As for ride and handling,
the current Vitara is generally
quieter and more comfortable,
while the defunct model is both
rougher and tougher on the
move, and seems to be better
prepared for suburban warfare.
Suburban welfare is more
relevant these days, though,
especially for soft-roaders
like these. Which is why the
current Vitara’s weapons and
tactics, which include enough
equipment for everyone’s
convenience, sticky AllGrip
multi-mode four-wheel-drive,
steady hill descent control and
colourful paint schemes (like this
demo unit’s Savannah Ivory),
work well in our Garden City.
ENGINE 1586cc, 16-valves, inline-4
MAX POWER 118bhp at 6000rpm
MAX TORQUE 156Nm at 4400rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT
95.2bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 6-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H
13 seconds
TOP SPEED
180km/h
CONSUMPTION
17.5km/L (combined)
CO2 EMISSION
131g/km
PRICE INCL. COE
$114,900 (after $5k CEVS rebate)
SUZUKI GRAND VITARA 2.0 (A)
ENGINE 1995cc, 16-valves, inline-4
MAX POWER 140bhp at 6000rpm
MAX TORQUE 183Nm at 4000rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT
92.1bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 4-speed automatic
0-100KM/H
13 seconds
TOP SPEED
170km/h
CONSUMPTION
11.1km/L (estimated)
CO2 EMISSION
Not available
PRICE INCL. COE
Not applicable
The fender
garnish,
along with
the clamshell
bonnet
and flared
fenders,
provides a
stylistic link
between
new and old
Vitaras.
cheaper alternative to the Mitsubishi
Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser of the
mid-1990s, while providing a similar
kind of ruggedness in the wilderness,
which would include concrete forest.
In 1998, the second-generation Vitara
range (right) made its debut. It was
improved in every area, but retained its
body-on-frame and rigid rear axle.
If the V6 Vitaras were anomalies, the
Vitara-based X-90 (right, centre) was
pure absurdity. The weird two-seater
with a two-piece removable glass roof
looks like a car-toon, drawn by a silly kid.
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