Suzuki Motor Corp. may be the Rodney Dangerfield of car companies.
The Japanese importer has not gotten much respect from the automotive press in the 10 years it has been selling cars in this country, and it is still trying to live down the "not acceptable" label its Samurai sport utility vehicle earned from Consumer Reports in 1987.Suzuki still offers one model of the Samurai, compared to a dozen of its Sidekick sport-utes and four variations of its Swift hatchback. The Samurai has been moved to the back of the shelf where it likely will remain.
Through it all, Suzuki has soldiered on - sales topped the 300,000 mark this year - offering some offbeat alternatives to four-wheeling with the Sidekick and fuel-efficient commuting with the Swift. Yes, the relentless rise of the yen vs. the dollar has sapped some of Suzy's value, particularly against domestic competitors, but it's still in the game and its products seem to climb another rung of the quality ladder with each new model year.
That's certainly the case with the 1995 Suzuki Sidekick JLX sport-utility I've been driving this past week. No, it cannot go head-to-head with the Jeep Grand Cherokee, or the new versions of the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Blazer, but try getting into one of those high-demand vehicles for $17,269.
That's the base price of the JLX, which was only $370 (destination charges) less than the $17,639 bottom line of my "Sapphire Blue Metallic" test car. There were no other options.
But that doesn't mean there were no goodies. For 17 big ones and change the JLX comes with a 95 horsepower, four-cylinder, 16-valve engine mated to an electronically controlled 4-speed automatic transmission with lockout overdrive, a shift selector button with "normal" and "power" modes, and a lockout torque converter.
You also get tilt steering, cruise control, power windows and door locks (and the rear windows roll down all the way; a rarity these days), a transfer case (and automatic locking hubs) with 2wd, 4wd and low range 4wd, a decent AM/FM cassette with four speakers, nice cloth seats, a split, fold-down rear seat . . . a lot of neat stuff.
Not impressed? Go check out the price of all those goodies on one of the "prestige" sport utilities. You could take a long trip around the world for the difference, or make a down payment on a house, or put your kid through three years at a state university.
That's not to say there are no tradeoffs; the roads and highways would be clogged with Sidekicks if that were the case. For example, the Sidekick is not as big as its more upscale competitors. That means it isn't quite as roomy on the inside (except for headroom, which is excellent) as, for example, an Explorer owner has come to expect, and the shortish wheelbase of 97.6 inches translates into a somewhat bumpier ride (but it rides like a Cadillac compared to the early Samurai.)
On the plus side, the cargo area is free of the intrusive spare tire, as found on the Grand Cherokee, for example. The Sidekick's full-size spare is mounted on the side-opening rear door, which is nicely balanced and opens wide with little effort. True, the spare blocks a bit of the rear window, but not so much as to be dangerous.
Another plus, the rear seatback flops down with ease - no broken fingernails or sprained wrists - to provide an impressive 45 cubic feet of cargo space.
For those who have become accustomed to the poor fuel mileage of most sport utility vehicles, the Sidekick is EPA rated at 22 mpg city and 26 mpg highway, with the automatic transmission - very impressive numbers for this category of vehicle. The manual only increases the city mileage by one mpg and there is no difference in highway driving.
The Sidekick is not as solidly made as its pricier competitors. Slam the doors hard and they go WHAM instead of CHUNK. Past Sidekicks have been described as flimsy by the automotive press, but significant improvement has been made for the '95 model. It's no Range Rover or Toyota Land Cruiser in the quality quest but, again, you generally get what you pay for and the Suzy is not competing in that lofty market niche.
Engaging 4-wheel drive is not the hassle I recall in past Sidekicks I have tested. It's not a push-button affair, but the transfer-case is now relatively smooth and easy to engage. This is important since the day when sport-utes were strictly for macho types who bought them to go play in the dirt is over. Today, they have become a replacement for station wagons.
Performance from the fuel-injected four-banger is only adequate. The motor is buzzy at higher revs but, again, this vehicle is not a boulevard cruiser. You want smooth and quiet, buy a Lexus.
My biggest complaint with the Sidekick is lodged on behalf of my left foot. With the right foot busy handling the accelerator/brake pedal duties, the left foot has nothing to do. This is fine, except it dangles there in space and you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where to put it. Virtually every other Japanese carmaker provides what is known as a "dead pedal" on which to rest one's left foot and the Sidekick needs one in the worst way. Are you listening, Suzuki?
Attention, tall people: the Sidekick has a ton of head room. Leg room isn't bad either. Just thought you'd like to know.
The four-door Sidekick is available in six hardtop versions, with and without 4wd and automatic transmission. Prices range from $13,499 for the JS 2wd model to $17,269 for my JLX test car.
The two-door sidekick is available only with a canvas top and prices range from $11,699 for the 2wd version with the 8-valve engine to $14,099 for the 4wd with the 16 valve motor.