2007 Suzuki SX4 Hatch & Sedan Road Test
September 28, 2007 by Paul Maric
2007 Suzuki SX4 Hatch and Sedan Road Test
CarAdvice Rating: 
Recommended Retail Price: $19,990 – $26,390.
Options Fitted: None fitted.
- by Paul Maric
At the beginning of this year I reported on Suzuki’s latest entry to the Australian market – the All Wheel Drive (AWD) SX4 Hatch. I said that the drive was good and it offered good value for money.
Suzuki has followed suit with their latest two entries, the two wheel drive SX4 hatch and SX4 sedan. With styling cues from Suzuki’s Swift, the hatch – and even more so the sedan – carries a European look and feel when cruising on the road.
After driving both vehicles back to back, one thing quickly became clear. Suzuki hasn’t taken handling and ride quality for granted. Both hatch and sedan are very competent through tight, twisty roads and feel right at home with a few revs on board.
The interior uses a well laid out design for the dashboard and favours a modern, but simplistic approach to radio and climate control operation. The MP3 compatible CD-player stereo provides ample sound, while the climate controlled air-conditioning chills the cabin in no time.
On the road, two gearboxes are available. Drivers can opt for a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic gearbox. The manual unit is easy to operate and feels sure of itself when transitioning through the gears.
Although the four-speed auto is smooth and capable, it often doesn’t kick down enough when you sink the boot in. It requires a full mash of the pedal to drop down enough to give spritely acceleration from a rolling start.
Boot space is certainly far from lacking. The SX4 sedan boasts a 515-litre cargo capacity in the boot. Compare that to the Falcon’s 504-litres and you soon realise that the SX4 sedan – although small looking – is anything but a lightweight.
Under the bonnet, Suzuki’s J20A, 2.0-litre 4-cylinder motor produces 107kW and 184Nm of torque. Fuel consumption is rated at 8.4-litres/100km for the manual variant and 9.5-litres/100km for the automatic variant.
Standard features include: Power steering; keyless entry; power windows; air conditioning; 8-speaker CD-player with MP3 compatibility; steering wheel controls; pollen filter; trip computer; electric mirrors and engine immobiliser.
Available in two guises, the ‘S’ model also receives: Climate controlled air-conditioning; cruise control; fog lights; alloy wheels; keyless start and a leather wrapped steering wheel.
Safety features include: Four wheel disc brakes (SX4 2WD and 4WD hatch, the sedan receives rear drum brakes); driver and passenger airbags; ABS brakes; Electronic Brake-Force Distribution and Brake Assist. The ‘S’ model also receives side and curtain airbags.
It’s disappointing to see a lack of rear disc brakes on the SX4 sedan – instead Suzuki opted for ancient rear drum brake technology. Suzuki is also behind the eight-ball with Electronic Stability Control not even available as an option across the range.
Pricing starts at $19,990 for the manual SX4 2WD hatch and sedan, while the ‘S’ variants are available for an additional $3,000. An automatic transmission is available for an additional $2,000.
Suzuki has surprised punters by offering an extremely competent package, for an extremely competent price. With an impressive features list and looks that won’t offend Grandma, Suzuki’s SX4 hatch and sedan are certainly worth checking out.
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I would like to see Car Advice introduce a more comprehensive rating system for tested cars. It seems almost all cars get four stars ..err steering wheels.
Can we get something like
Value for money /10
Standard options /10
Performance /10
Fuel economy /10
Service costs /10
Street cred or X-Factor /10
Then an overall rating that we can compare across cars of the same class.
In the future can you show a grid of cars where we can sort / filter by the above ratings.
Love the site, I give it 5 steering wheels!
Excellent Idea Stevo,
ill put it down in the to-do list.
The fuel consumption is hideous for a car in the small car segment with that level of power and torque. What caused it?
Indeed… 9.5L per 100km/h is getting into family 6 territory. If I was to guess, maybe it has a low tech engine (no VVT?) and they had to squeeze that power out of it? Pure speculation. I find the rear drums on the sedan disappointing
Actually I dont believe that figure is true
when I had the car it used hardly any fuel, I told the Suzuki folks their fuel consumption figures were way off.
It actually returned far better fuel economy than the Corolla we have here.
The 9.5L per 100km figure, I’m assuming this would be city driving not highway (8.8L for the automatic), fairly standard consumption for this type of car, generally the Suzuki quality Japan made engine’s are still tight anywhere between 10000 – 20000kms then they start to free up meaning better economy, I should know I own a 03 Grand Vitara, bought it new..
Suzuki have done a great job the last few years, the fan base is growing so look out for them….
Although I am a Suzuki fan, I think this car will be severely trumped by the new Lancer, in pretty much every department.
No ESP, relatively poor power and economy is going to hurt it badly.
If you were to compare this car to a new Subaru Impreza hatch, which would be better value for money?
Having recently considered/driven the new SX4 (I’m looking to upgrade my 2000 Impreza) I must say that I was impressed with the level of features in the S hatch/sedan. The drive was okay, not really ‘inspiring’ as such, but the leval of equipment is like nothing else I have seen so far (for the money). Front, side and curtain bags and keyless entry are awesome to find. Looks wise I’ll probably go the hatch but I’m sure the sedan would have its buyer.
That front 1/4 window is fookin hideous !
And drum brakes should be banned or 4 wheel discs made compulsory.
my 2 cents
The hatch does have 4 wheel discs…
We purchase an SX4 S Auto sedan 6 weeks ago it now has 5260 kms on the clock. Fuel consumption has averaged out at 7L per 100Kms. Far better than the 9.5L that Suzuki claim.Finish is excellent,performance is quite acceptable,the A window at the front does not pose any problems and it is a very nice car to drive.
We did the rounds of the other vehicles in its class,features and finish at the price the SX4 is way out in front.
We’ve had the SX4 auto sedan since november 07 – this is an awesome car to drive, and is stylish to look at. It has grunt under the bonnet – always first away at the lights and very responsive to sudden acceleration – perfect for city and peak hour traffic. I’ve never been a car fanatic, but my adoration of this car is verging on the scary.