2015-2018 Suzuki Vitara review the original Suzuki Vitara with a small SUV with big ambitions it proved that to go off-road you didn’t need a big car and quickly made a name for itself

amongst those who wanted to venture off road by comparison this latest Vitara is a different animal altogether it’s been designed to take on the new generation

of small stylish SUVs cut off such as a stiction c4 cactus go to Yeti and best-selling in the sand Juke these cars are all about image because while they

may have the chunky styling and high set driving position of a full-blown SUV they’re more at home on the school run than trailing your local country park

you can choose between two petrol engines and one diesel with Avatara and all feel pretty nippy we recommend the entry-level 1.6 litre

2015-2018 Suzuki Vitara review

petrol because it feels smooth if you go for the 1.4 it’s more powerful yes you heard it right the smaller engine is more powerful thanks to a turbocharger

it’s also more expensive if you’re doing the – so definitely go for the diesel because that way you’ll enjoy low fuel costs and high levels of torque the

Vitara has a fairly firm ride but it never really feels uncomfortable it doesn’t lean too much in the corners which is good and even after a long

drive you can still get out and feel fairly fresh the diesel engines do quieten down after a while but be warned all models do suffer quite a lot with

Road and wind noise the standard manual gearbox is slick and precise we like the Vitara is handling which is precise and grippy but it’s steering

well doesn’t give you much feedback despite that though the Vitara is very good fun to drive along the bee road go to the S version which gets stiffer

suspension and the Vitara corners even better although the rides does suffer it’s easy to get comfortable in here and this high seating position certainly helps with

parking as does the optional reversing camera the dashboard controls are logically laid out and are within easy reach overall nothing is particularly

luxurious or posh however it certainly feels durable and well bolted together so if you’ve got young children or pets it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do much

damage this clutch screen system certainly looks smart and it comes with integrated sat-nav there’s also a smartphone links you can control many

aspects of your phone using a car’s own screen its intuitive easy to use and logically laid out but it is a little slow to respond if you’re sitting on the

fence about whether to go for it or not we think it’s going to help sell the car when you’re done with it if it has got this system now I’m going to see how

easy it is to pair my phone so first of all I can see if there’s no phone connected so if we press that a device and scroll down I can find Suzuki a pair

and is it the same on the back of my phone connecting Rebecca’s iPhone wow that was really quick and very very easy next up let’s program the sat-nav see

how easy that is so we’ve got nav and no instruction at the moment that butto and destination new address country that’s a good start

let’s go for United Kingdom and let’s go to London let’s go and see Big Ben shall we can be tourists for the day nothing okay and start guidance

calculating route we have been calculated please drive over identified room there are traffic disruptions on you well I’m not too sure about the voice but it

looks like we’re going to be tourists for the day let’s go to London now remember this small SUV needs to take a whole family and if everyday clutter

thankfully is off to a great start in the front because there’s plenty of storage places decent sized open two cupholders and a glove box as well as a

few other cubby holes and it’s not slightly taller you will find that you can find a comfortable driving position as well as you’re not quite the tool

like myself with adjustment in the steering wheel as well moving to the rear of the car even with two people up Frances plenty of leg and Headroom

especially few avoids the panoramic roof on the top spec fz5 model the middle seat does fit an adult although things are a little tight and if you’d like to

load lots of bulky heavy items you’ll be pleased to know that the seats flip and fold in fact the Vitara has one of the biggest fruit in its class and there’s

no nose lit which means loading those bulky items is a doddle and there’s even secret storage underneath the floor because the Matara is powered by

relatively small engines running cost on low compared with other SUVs and it fared well in our 2 mpg tests four-wheel drive wedges are less efficient than

two-wheel drives so if you’re not going off-road often we recommend sticking with a two wheel drive version bear in mind the Vitara isn’t expect to hold its

value as well as its rivals which offsets the savings made in other areas it does have a lot of standard equipment though stick with the s led T model

because that gets you the integrated sat-nav and media system 17-inch alloys and some rear privacy glass which help to make the Vitara feel quite costly in

size when the Vitara was tested by Euro encap in 2015 it was awarded a full 5 stars all models get 7 airbags and top-end versions come with automatic emergency braking as well

this is nuclear Achara is one of the cheapest small SUVs around but is alsoone of the most spacious and best equipped so if you’re looking for a car

in this market it really sells deserve to be near the top of your shortlist for plenty more on the suzuki vitara