The Kizashi is a midsize sedan with sporting aspirations. But its aggressive looks and a six-speed manual transmission don't quite make up for an average power plant.
Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
With the Kizashi, Suzuki reaches into the midsize sedan segment, competing with the likes of the Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, and Mazda6.
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With big headlights and a painted, wire grille, the Kizashi presents an aggressive appearance. This look is played out on the sides and rear of the car with bold fenders and exhaust pipes molded into the rear bumper.
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The engine is pretty average for this category, being a 2.4-liter four cylinder. It produces 185 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque, bringing the Kizashi to 60 mph in a Suzuki-claimed time of 7.4 seconds.
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Seating is comfortable for four, but five can easily fit in the cabin.
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Suzuki fits the suspension with stabilizer bars, giving the car decent cornering, but no better than the Nissan Altima.
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At the SLS trim level, the seats are leather and the cabin shows some quality construction.
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Suzuki integrates audio and cruise control buttons on the spokes of the steering wheel, and Bluetooth buttons strapped to the hub.
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The display between the gauges offers trip information, while the instrument cluster itself uses a spare graphical design.
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The six-speed manual transmission has close ratios, and is not typical for cars in this class.
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Its iPod interface is standard, but requires a lot of scrolling to get through artist and album names.
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Bluetooth streaming audio is another audio source included, but there is no real interface.
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A Bluetooth phone system is also standard in the car, with a simple voice command system for dialing numbers.
