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Suzuki Forenza Road Test

A Better Buy?
It is not easy to buy a Suzuki vehicle knowing that there is significant
depreciation and a smaller dealer network than its many rivals. Suzuki obviously
knows this and is offering an excellent warranty, pricing well below the
competition, and an abundance of standard features. However, even though the
result is an enjoyable vehicle to drive, it still lacks the sophistication of
its rivals and you are limited in your choices of safety features and engines.
On the plus side, you are certainly getting good value for your money and a
spacious, nice riding conveyance. And, if you can wait a bit, the Forenza is
going to appear as a station wagon with a price around $17,000 (US) and that
should make it the most economical cargo hauler around.
Dad's view:
This is a quandary. If you order the five-speed manual you get a transmission
that has an exceedingly long throw to fifth gear, is reluctant to change gears
rapidly, and is difficult to get into reverse. If you order the automatic you
don't have any of these problems, but you get much less performance and gas
mileage. It is a tough choice so test them both.
The 126 horsepower, 2.0-liter engine is peppy and runs extremely well. The
downside is that the gas mileage is about five miles per gallon less than the
competition, although the Forenza does offer a slightly larger interior and
trunk. Daily driving is quite relaxing in the Suzuki, although the horn borders
on downright useless. In these days of cell phone talking SUV drivers who may
not have discovered turn signals or rear view mirrors, a smaller vehicle such as
the Forenza needs to announce its presence in a manner that gains respect. The
Suzuki horn is more of an annoyance than a warning. Other than that the car
drives well, stops adequately, and holds a great deal. I wouldn't challenge any
corners with it as the Forenza goes from understeer to oversteer quite suddenly.
The construction feel solid and visibility was good, but the rear view
adjustment buttons are difficult to reach for shorter drivers.
Speed wise, the Forenza accelerates better than most of the competition and
stops with precision. The fully independent front strut/rear dual-link
suspension does its work well and only an unruly bump can disturb its composure.
As such, the soft setting provides a fair amount of body lean around corners,
but let's face it, you aren't going to buy a Forenza for its corning abilities
because the dynamics just aren't its forte even though the steering feel
progressive and feedback is adequate. Despite not having ABS the car stopped
straight and true and the four-wheel disc brakes seem well matched to the
2700-pound front wheel drive sedan.
Mom's view:
Don't get the manual transmission if you have short arms. You have to lean
forward and press against the seat belts to get it into fifth. The good news is
that because the engine has a gutsy you can skip second and fourth. The cabin
was comfortable, but the center console needs more storage room. What I didn't
understand is why Suzuki didn't take the much more powerful engine from the
Liana and put it in the Forenza to make if much more automatic transmission
friendly. As it now stands the Liana is the better deal, if you like its
styling, with more room, more power, and more safety features.

I like the looks of the Forenza
with sort of a European flavor, but by far my favorite thing is the number of
items that Suzuki offers for the money. Our test car, which listed for $14,300
(US) had a sunroof, four-wheel disc brakes; air conditioning; eight-speaker, a
fairly nice 140-watt stereo with a CD player, equalizer and steering-wheel audio
duplicate controls; and power windows, mirrors and locks.
There were some items that bothered me as the testing went on and which should
be checked by potential buyers who usually only get a short drive. First, the
speedometer is difficult to read as the markings are very limited. The small
light that goes on when you are low on gas is difficult to see and there is no
audio warning. The trunk does not open wide enough when you unlock it with the
remote. When you have your hands full of shopping bags you want the rear deck to
open enough so that you don't have to get your hands dirty on the rear bumper.
The engine sometimes runs rough, especially with the air conditioner off. Once
it stalled at a stoplight, but it quickly restarted. I want side airbags. The
low beam headlights are very good, the high beams border on very weak. The horn
buttons need to extend to the center of the steering wheel. As it is you have to
find one of two small buttons located near the side of the wheel to use activate
the horn. This is non-intuitive. The stereo is good, but the reads should
include more if you are playing a CD.
On the plus side of the ledger is a well laid out dash, storage space except for
the center console, good seats, spacious trunk, nice interior gauge illumination
at night, comfortable cruising ride, peppy engine, and the warranty.
Young working woman's view:
Anyone in the business of business knows that you need to find a niche if you
hope to survive with the big people. Suzuki is going against the titans in the
form of the Neon, Sentra, Echo, Scion, Corolla, Focus, and even the Kia and
Hyundai to name just a few. But to me, the greatest challenge is within its own
company. The Liana is similarly priced, comes with available all wheel drive,
and has the same warranty and nearly the same price and it has better crash test
scores.
The Forenza is available in three trim levels but all of them are well equipped.
As you move up in price Suzuki provides more items to make travel easier such as
cruise control, remote entry, antilock brakes, and some interior trim bits.
Fortunately, the Forenza has seatbelt pre-tensioners, dual-stage airbags and
daytime running lights.
I never felt deprived when driving the Forenza. It is comfortable and quiet
while giving you such goodies as a cabin air filtration, a rear seat that has a
60/40-split folding arrangement and a 12.4 cubic feet trunk. I could keep up
with traffic and, once you get used to the manual-shifting pattern, easy to
downshift. But, I would highly recommend you spend a lot of time getting to know
the gearshift because it does not like to be hurried. I never needed more power.
Driving on even rutted roads wasn't a chore, but the softly sprung Suzuki did
not cater to turns at anything but conservative speeds.
Overall, this is a car for those who seek a computer vehicle with a low base
price and are willing to forsake the glamour and higher resale of the
competition. For the money, there is little that can compete feature for
feature. The crash test scores, lackadaisical fuel mileage, and lacks of side
airbags temper my enthusiasm.
Young working male's view:
Since I have recently been accused of judging things by their looks I will start
there with the Forenza. It isn't bad and I wouldn't feel badly about fixing up
my buddy with it, but this Suzuki is just too plain for my apparently jaded
taste. (Can you tell I'm between girl friends?) The Forenza is not offensive
inside or out, has a meat and potato type of driving feel, and makes you feel at
home.
Behind the wheel the seats offer some nice manual adjustments or tilt, lumbar,
and enough room for the long legged. The cupholders are okay, but if you have a
tall drink and are driving a stick shift beware. At night, the ignition switch
has a nice glow that makes finding it easier than in the day. Once up to speed,
which does not take long, the stereo is easy to figure out, although the
equalizer is a bit primitive for my tastes, but at least it has one, and the
layout of the radio is too busy for me. What bugged me the most about this
Suzuki was the location of the switch for the power mirrors near the front
driver's side mirror. It worked, but not smoothly. The Forenza is easy to drive
well, but think seriously about the automatic transmission because the clutch
take-up is high and it gets tiring to constantly shift in thick traffic.
The rear bench seat is okay, there isn't much problem getting in and out if you
are small, and the rear fold down center armrest has cupholders. I would rate
the rear seats are average.
Family conference:
Money talks, and so the Forenza doesn't shout look at me too well. It needs some
thought before buying because of its shortcomings in fuel, lack of side airbags,
and resale. On the positive side the Forenza offers a lot for the money and the
100,000-mile transferable warranty with a seven-year limit is a comforting
financial pillow.
Sometimes, new cars can be very surprising, for better or for worse. Expecting
the comfort and civility of a Corolla, the Matrix can seem harsh and cheap; but
expecting the cost-cutting interior of a Focus or the ride of a Civic, the
Suzuki Forenza seems especially well-made and comfortable. What makes it even
more remarkable is the low starting price of under $12,000.
As with many new low-end cars, the Forenza sports an expensive-looking exterior
which leads people to think it is much pricier. More interesting is the extent
to the which the interior picks up cues from more expensive vehicles, such as
Mercedes and new Chryslers, and executives them quite well. The general look of
the dashboard is pleasing, with a chrome-style smooth plastic covering most
surfaces, and textured grey and black panels covering the rest, in a scheme that
is echoed on the doors. Tight tolerances keep it looking good, and we must admit
we didn't hear a single squeak or rattle - putting it above even the
Camry we recently
tested.
The instrument panel features silver trim rings around the gauges for a luxury
look, accented by an intelligent choice of typefaces and the large
white-and-black speedometer. There are luxury cars that don't look this good.
The sheer number of conveniences and features in this $16,000 car (the top of
the line EX model, which lists for $4,000 more than the base model) are
astonishing. We can start with an unusually good stereo, featuring excellent
stereo separation and both CD and cassette, built in equalizations for different
types of music and voice as well as optional bass boosting and on-wheel
controls, air, four-speed automatic, speed-sensitive steering, cruise, tilt
steering, driver's seat height adjustment, leather, alloy wheels, fog lights,
remote, power windows, locks, and mirrors, and moonroof. Topping off that rather
amazing feature list is a 100,000 mile, seven year transferable powertrain
warranty, roadside assistance, and free loaners for certain warranty repairs.
Our fully loaded test car did not have, and did not need, a single option.
Suzuki avoids the usual gimmicks of a steep destination charge - theirs is $0 -
and overpriced floor mats - theirs are included. That's a sign of class.
You may ask how a Japanese automaker can do it. Well, Suzuki is owned by General
Motors - and Suzuki owns Daewoo. The Forenza is made in Korea, with substantial
components including the engine coming from Australia. Overall, 4% of the car is
from North America, 73% from Korea, and 23% from Australia.
Given all these features, which could add up to thousands and thousands of
dollars in an ordinary car, one might expect a harsh, buzzy ride, lots of wind
noise, and an engine that can barely keep going. None of these are true. The
ride is quite pleasant, similar to the Mitsubishi Lancer, and does an amazing
job of smoothing out harsh and bumpy roads without over-insulating the driver.
There's a sense of control which is refreshing after our experience with the
cushy
Camry,
yet it's hard to find a street that can jar the passengers. What's more, most
bumps don't give any audible feedback - no annoying subsonic boom. Few shocks
will be strong enough to intrude.
Cornering does not appear to be compromised by the good ride. It's not a sports
car, but it will handle anything most people throw at it, and it feels good
doing it. Stability at speed is good.
Visibility is good in all directions, enhanced in bad weather by the standard
(on EX) heated mirrors - which, incidentally, fold in when you need to free up a
little more space or think there's a risk of having them taken off. The side
windows have dedicated demisters, and an electric rear defroster and
intermittent wipers are both standard. The wipers could cover a greater area on
the passenger side, but that probably won't be a big issue; and the sun visors
could be a little better designed. The gentle green backlighting is easy on the
eyes and quite effective, without hurting visibility in twilight. Interior
lighting is surprisingly good, with dual map lights up front and a dome light in
middle.
Acceleration is not a strong spot, but it isn't too weak, either. The engine
could use some updating - gas mileage of 22 city, 30 highway isn't bad, but it
isn't great either; the V6 Camry is only one mile per gallon less, and there are
many bigger, faster cars that do better, albeit not in this price range. The
smog index is fairly good, meaning that this engine is relatively clean.
The Forenza feels fairly sprightly on city streets, but doesn't do as well in
highway merges; the transmission is responsive, but the 2-liter engine needs to
rev high to get quick acceleration, and it takes time to get there; then there's
a sharp first-second drop, as the gap between gears makes itself known.
Situations that left us wanting quicker takeoffs were fairly few, to be fair,
and there's something to be said for the saying that it's more fun to drive fast
in a slow car than to drive slowly in a fast car. The Forenza is not slow, but
it's also not going to be beating any Neons.
While the transmission shifts fairly smoothly and firmly, and is good at
figuring out what gear to be in, we still advise drivers to go for the
five-speed manual transmission to get the most out of their vehicle: it will
increase gas mileage quite a bit while making acceleration faster. A manual
transmission is probably the easiest power boost you can give to a car like
this, but we don't think you can get it with the EX model.
The engine is not overly noisy, and idles fairly quietly, but it can be a little
raucous on acceleration. Most people will not mind, but it is not a Camry
engine, and will make itself known when you hit the throttle. The engine note
clearly says "four-cylinder import," not "American muscle" or for that matter
"four-cylinder Toyota." It's a matter of taste. We can't say we found it
objectionable but, then again, we like to feel the road and hear the engine; we
just don't want to be hurt by either one.
Aside from a less than ideally efficient engine, it's hard to figure out where
Suzuki economized in making the Forenza EX. The power trunk release is unusual
in this price class, as is an express open feature for the power moonroof and
the driver's window. The moonroof even has a vented sliding cover, so you can
tilt the moonroof open and slide the cover shut, avoiding the sun's rays while
letting hot air escape; and the moonroof has a screen pattern to block out harsh
direct sunlight. Aside from the clearly mechanical vent switch, all the controls
have a good quality feel (we do have to note that the Forenza has separate horn
buttons on either side of the airbag, which no doubt saves a few dollars). The
key goes into a switch with a lighted ring that looks better than just about any
competing ignition switch, including those used by Toyota and Volkswagen. Just
about the only places we can see overt frugality are the simply cupholder, the
horn buttons, rather small sun visors, firm seats, and a single visible trim
screw (not that we have anything against seeing trim screws, by the way - it
certainly makes it easier on mechanics!).
Interior space is neither generous nor cramped, reflecting the increasing size
of entry-level cars; it seems roomier than the previous-generation Corolla. Up
front it certainly is spacious, with good headroom even when the seat is raised
to the highest level; in back, legroom is moderately tight, though it seems more
generous than the past-generation Corolla. The only way to tell how easily you
fit is to try it out. Entry to the back seats is easy, and once there, occupants
have their own door speakers (standard) to help with stereo imaging, their own
map pockets on the doors and the back of the front seats, and a fold-out center
armrest with integrated cupholders - all features often lacking in considerably
more expensive cars. An ashtray folds out of the back of the front center
console. Our only complaint is that it's a bit hard to put in LATCH car seats,
but this is something that doesn't have to be done very often. The rear LATCH
mounts have flip-up covers that won't be lost, and are directly behind the seats
they serve.
The front cup holders are simple, but there really is only a one-cup capacity: a
pair of openings share a single flipping template which holds a cup quite firmly
(if it's the right size). The rear cup holders are also simple, but there are
two of them. A sunglass holder above the driver's door is a clever and unusual
feature.
A large area under the center console includes a power outlet and space for
whatever stuff you keep around: shaver, power adapter, EZ-Pass. The power
adapter there and the cigarette lighter are both keyed to the ignition: take out
the key, and you lose the power. There is no power memory: everything shuts off
when the key comes out. In addition, as in past Korean-designed vehicles, the
power locks operate all at once when you use the remote, which is fine for most
people, but those who use low-security parking areas may have some concern. (Of
course, you can always use the actual mechanical key.)
The stereo is large, with big buttons and a big, clear display. Our main
complaint is that the steps on the volume control are fairly large as well.
Built-in equalization curves cover several types of music as well as voice, and
bass, treble, balance, and fade are all done by pressing a SOUND button and then
using the volume control. There's a bass-boost feature, which can be shut off at
the press of a button; we like this system better than those stereos which keep
bass boosted all the time, making voice more annoying than audible. Switching
from mode to mode is done via individual buttons for each mode. This is one
stereo that was apparently tested on humans, rather than being designed and
produced without any end-user testing.
The climate control system is also easy to use, and is tuned to be fairly quiet
except at the highest setting. The air conditioning is not especially strong but
we appreciate the separate a/c control. The tiny sun visors do include mirrors
(with flip-up covers and ticket-holders built in).
Given Suzuki's relationship with General Motors, it should come as no surprise
that the Suzuki Forenza is equipped with daytime running lights (even the
Corolla has these, because GM sold a version as the Prizm). In another
standard-GM vein, a light labeled "DRL" (daytime running lights) remains lit
unless you turn the headlights on. At least they labeled the switch more
sensibly - GM vehicles tend to just have a little headlight pictogram, which
lights up when the headlights are off. We suspect we'd yank out the bulb...we'd
also prefer to eliminate the DRL entirely except in Canada, where it's
mandatory.
Cruise control is handled by short-travel buttons on the wheel, with an on/off
button that keeps its setting from trip to trip, and no "cancel" button - if you
want to temporarily go off cruise, you need to hit the brake. The wheel also has
simple stereo controls: power, mode, radio-station seek, and volume up/down. As
we noted earlier, the horn buttons themselves are small and mounted on either
side of the wheel. The horn itself gives a meek small-car sound. Horns are easy
to replace.
Unlike many pricier cars, the Forenza has both a remote gas cap release and a
power trunk release. Both are easy to find and to reach with the door closed.
The gated transmission shifter echoes those of more expensive cars, and we can't
say we like them much there, either, but one does get used to them. The EX
includes a HOLD button, which keeps the transmission either in a gear or in a
range of gears, according to a moderately complicated algorithm which "lets you
shift for yourself." Like the AutoStick, we suspect it will go unused 99% of the
time, but it can be handy in some situations. The gear you've chosen shows up
both on the mechanical shifter, and also on the odometer in a single large
letter.
The trunk is surprisingly roomy; underneath the carpet is a spacious bay for the
full-size spare and tools, with room for other emergency equipment you may care
to add - flares, jumper cables, and such. Unfortunately, you have to take
everything out of the trunk to get to that compartment, because it's covered by
an oversized board - but the same is true for the
Toyota Camry. The equipment bay is well
organized and the board is supported to hold real weight. The back seats fold
down for increased storage.
Overall, the Forenza is a surprisingly likeable and enjoyable car, offered at an
amazingly good price. If you're not into straight-line performance, seek out a
Suzuki dealer. With an interior that easily beats the Ford Focus, a fun quotient
that beats the Corolla, and value that Hyundai must envy, the Suzuki Forenza
should be on your short list.
Written by The
Car Family |