Suzuki Kizashi: The soul of the Samurai
KIZASHI means ‘something good is about to happen’ or a favorable omen.
The word “Kamikaze” has, for the most part, been abused by being misused, being a negative rather than a positive. When the Japanese was invaded by the Mongol Empire in 1274 and again in 1281, a force far larger and far more experienced in warfare and invasion, outnumbering the Japanese Samurai in overwhelming numbers, the noble Samurai fought valiantly, and prayed for help. The prayers brought about the “Kamikaze,” or Divine Wind, to destroy the invading Mongol Empire’s fleet, of which 75 percent were lost, effectively handing Japan its victory.
It is this valiance, gallantry and the desire to find their own way that has made Japan into what it is now: rich, powerful, influential and technologically advanced despite limited resources. Suzuki, a modest car company in the face of behemoths Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi can be likened to the brave samurai.
Known more for their motorcycles than cars, at least outside of Japan, Suzuki have the Kizashi as their latest offering. Kizashi means “something good is about to happen” or a favorable omen, timely in this short history lesson. The Japanese never lost hope, and in the same way Suzuki has brought about a great midsize car for the first time to market.
Watching the presentation video, you can see that Suzuki engineers had a fighting spirit when they were developing the Kizashi, and where else to hone their fighting skills than on the race track, with numerous shots of pre-production Kizashis battling it out on famed race tracks all over the world.
As with all press presentation videos, I tend to get jaded and add some (or a lot) of salt into information being fed until I experience it myself. Months after, I find myself inside the Kizashi for a few, painfully short days. And I love it.
The Kizashi’s Macpherson strut front suspension and multilink rear suspension is tuned for a very sporty ride. If you’ve had the opportunity to drive a Subaru or even a BMW (firm, well-damped, responsive yet minimal harshness), the suspension is closer to that than say, any other Japanese brand. With the 17-inch wheels and 215/55R17 Yokohama all-season performance tires, ride comfort and more importantly, control is impressive, among the very best of Japanese cars I have driven.
THE KIZASHI’S Macpherson strut front and multilink rear suspension is tuned for a very sporty ride.
The steering though, can be improved a little bit. There’s decent feel and feedback, matched with surprisingly good accuracy that you can pinpoint easily where the wheels are and put in more or lessen steering lock. But it feels a bit nervous and edgy at speeds over 120 kph, and believe me, you will find yourself speeding a lot in the Kizashi. With reach and rake adjustment on the steering wheel, you’ll think you’ve stepped into race car in street car clothing.
The brakes a are a tad over-assisted, but get used to it and the anchors provide very powerful, consistent and fade free performance after continuous spirited driving, working in perfect harmony with the suspension to control the 1,485-kg curb weight, the vast majority of which I feel went into sound deadening and NVH cancelling insulation all throughout the serene cabin. It has ABS and matches well with the vehicle’s Electronic Stabilization Program or ESP, quelling understeer or oversteer. Truthfully though, you’d have to go really stupid fast to activate the electronic nannies as the car’s very well sorted and tuned such that the average driver will find himself well within the Kizashi’s vast performance envelope.
Kamikaze,Inside, the Kizashi seems somewhat dated. The fabrics and plastics as well as the electronics (HVAC and audio system)though tight-fitting and well-made, seem like they were lifted from a car one to two generations old and grafted onto a modern 2012-spec car. Nonetheless, it is very roomy inside with oodles of legroom even for people pushing 6-feet tall all around. Dual airbags are standard for the front passengers. Some modern niceties include an engine push start button in tandem with a smart key and MP3 AUX-IN connectivity.
The engine is a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder powerplant featuring 16 valves with variable timing and dual overhead camshafts, codenamed J24B. It produces 177.53 hp and 230 Newton-meters of torque on normal fuel. Using 95, 97 or 100 RON Octane fuel should yield better numbers. Attached is a CVT transmission with a manual simulation mode that gives 6-forward gears.
Admittedly, this is always one area I am wary of as most CVT’s tend to be sluggish and tuned more for fuel economy rather than performance. Not the Kizashi, as I initially thought the transmission was a regular torque-converter equipped affair. Response is immediate, and the CVT’s algorithm seems to default to aggressive street driving rather than miserly fuel economy. On the highway of course, cruising at legal speeds, the CVT cooperates and finds a nice balance between efficiency and responsiveness. The experience could be made much better with paddle shifters on the steering wheel as the manumatic gate on the shifter area is difficult to use, or at least seems to be at an odd angle for my right arm to effortlessly toggle through the simulated gears, up for an upchange and down for a downshift.
The Kizashi is an interesting proposition. I found myself going online and looking for performance parts because the price is really good at P1.288 million, and the size slots in between a midsize executive sedan such as the Toyota Camry/Honda Accord and a compact sedan such as the Toyota Altis/Honda Civic, but pricing keeps it within a stone’s throw-away of the smaller cars. Yet you get so much more: a bigger engine, more interior space, better refinement and better high-speed stability.
The best part? Fuel consumption, despite my aggressive driving was a very good 7.2 liters/kilometer in combined city and some highway driving with lots of traffic. I can see 8.5 to 9 km/liter very easily achieved, even 10 km/liter on a modestly long drive.
Would I buy a Kizashi? Let’s just say after finding performance parts online at Road Race Engineering in the United States, I bookmarked that page. Drive it, you’ll be surprised and amazed.
