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Suzuki Forenza Gets Thumbs Up from HispanicBusiness.com

Since reviews for the Suzuki Forenza are rare now that the car has been out for years without major changes, I'm always on the lookout for a review. HispanicBusiness.com made an unusual move of combining two different vehicles together into one review: The Forenza and the recently introduced all-wheel-drive SX4. Overall the review was positive for the Forenza, not so much for the SX4. Here are some noteworthy quotes:

"Suzukis are popular vehicles in the Hispanic market."

"The Forenza comes through with what seems like oceans of legroom. That and a surprisingly smooth ride lets the Forenza travel long distances in relative comfort."

"SX4 lack cruise control and that's good. It's not a highway cruiser. It's a city commuter with scant inside room. The driver and passenger are very cozy and the backseat offers less room."

"Like SX4, the Forenza also serves plenty of notice if it's driven too hard into curves. Yet it feels livelier in traffic than the 10.5 seconds 0-60 would indicate."

One complaint about the Forenza from the article that I agree with is the lack of ABS standard. This can be forgiven somewhat since the Forenza has disc brakes all around. But the problem is not just that it isn't standard equipment, its that the Forenza can't be ordered with ABS in conjunction with any other package, apparently. To get ABS you have to get a base Forenza, forego the cruise control and other Convenience Package & Popular Package luxuries, and get ABS as a rather pricey separate option. Its a bit bizarre - like ABS cannot coexist with some of the other options for some reason.

That said, I've driven plenty of cars without ABS and never thought a thing of it. And all of them had rear drum brakes. With the Forenza you get so much standard that something like this really stands out, perhaps more than it should. I'm thinking that it's not going to matter in the end, from the mouths of Forenza owners at Suzuki-Forums.com who say they've never felt their Forenzas were unsafe during hard braking.

But back to the review. Anyway, its good to see the Forenza still winning kudos after having been on the market for so long. KIA and Hyundai are now offering some stiff competition, however, and aside from the still very affordable "long" wagon (as opposed to the hatchbacks some companies are passing off as "wagons" these days) the Forenza is due for an update to stay in the game.

Forenza sales were down recently after carrying Suzuki's sales for some years now, and are not setting the kinds of records they were before, and I can only think that this is due to the new product from KIA/Hyundai. Unfortunately for Suzuki, as this review shows, the SX4 while new is not a good "replacement" for the Forenza, and I fear the SX4 sedan will also be more of an Aerio replacement.

It will be interesting to see how the Forenza fares in the months and years to come, and whether or not it will get any upgrades from GM Daewoo.

Source for full article/review

2007 Suzuki Forenza Wagon Still Looking Good, Despite some Decontenting

So I took a trip down to my local Suzuki dealer today after reading glowing reviews of the new SX4. I was fully prepared to like it.

Side by side on the dealer lot were two cobalt blue vehicles - the Forenza Wagon and a new SX4.

Unfortunately the "small station wagon" as it is called on its sticker, was just a bit TOO small. While it appeared to have ample headroom and stands a bit taller than the Forenza, the paper specs I'd read on the Forenza being larger inside were proven noticeably correct. The cargo area without the rear seats folded in the SX4 is almost non-existent. "Station wagon", indeed.

The Forenza looked huge by comparison. And the stick-shift SX4 actually gets worse highway fuel economy (not that I was looking for a stick, but still) than the Forenza Wagon automatic. The SX4 auto is supposed to get better fuel economy --- funny, I'm used to seeing that the other way around.

After a little research at www.truedelta.com regarding the Forenza Wagon, I found to my dismay that the 2006 model had more valuable features standard on some trim levels, such as ABS and standard alloy wheels than 2007 models. It seems all Forenzas come with rather obvious plastic wheel covers now that are only attractive from a distance. ABS cannot even be had as an option on higher trim packages - only on the base model now for some strange reason. At least that's according to the website, I'll check with the dealer when I order mine. On the plus side, the 2007 model has MP3 CD compatibility and a tire pressure monitor, and no doubt is a more solid vehicle after years of production now. And I did intend to order the optional SWT gunmetal wheels anyway.

Yes, I'm swinging back to my 3-year long Forenza fetish. I just love the styling, the price, and the wagon versatility that much. And if for any reason I need to sell my Bonneville, the Forenza wagon could step in and do that duty. The SX4, while a great little car, simply isn't up to the task for a family man like me. It looked like a baby seat would eat up a full half of the rear seat. And the side curtain airbags that looked so great on paper almost seem like a must have in such a small vehicle.

But given that TrueDelta shows the new Forenza as being worth 900 dollars less than the 2006 model due to lost expensive features, I'll be looking for another 500 dollars on the hood of incentives. Even if that means waiting until early Summer when incentives usually rachet up.

Suzuki SX4 Review

Good review of the SX4 over at the Evo Auto Blog: http://evo.blogsome.com/2007/01/08/suzuki-sx4/

"For just $15K fully-loaded, the Suzuki SX4 is a hell of a deal. We came in fully expecting to be disappointed in this car but came away from it with a healthy amount of respect for it. We’d fully recommend this car to anyone looking at a Fit, Yaris or even a Civic. If the aftermarket picks up on this thing, the SX4 will have the potential to be a WRX-killer. You can’t say that about the Fit."

Full review at link above.