Comments on: 2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara diesel first steer

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:48:59 +0000

The factory tow hitch on my diesel Vitara states 80kg vertical load, 200kg total load on the ball. HAVEN’T YOU GUYS HEARD OF LOAD DISTRIBUTION HITCHES????? Up to 200kg can go on the ball, as long as 120 is transferred to the front wheels by means of a load transfer device.

By: Jim OLeary

Jim OLeary — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:53:01 +0000

Never mind the Tech talk re gearing etc., the car is what you make of it except you do beleive some element of truth in the advertising.
The GV by Suzuki Owners manual can only safely tow 850Kg.

“Warning re Safety & Stability – BALL WEIGHT SHOULD BE 10% OF TRAILER GVM.”

Max Ball Weight 85Kg. therefore Max safe towed load 850Kg.

I Class 2000Kg as false & Misleading.

By: Mike L

Mike L — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:51:28 +0000

We recently purchased the 2008 diesel Vitara and noticed that in low revs and in second gear that the car sounds as though it is labouring. We notice this particularly when going around turning circles or in shopping centres. It really is annoying as 1st is too high and 2nd seems to be too long, so to speak. Has anyone else noticed something along these lines? I test drove the 2009 model recently and it was really smooth – Please can i have feeback on this as i have brought this up with the dealer who feels that this may just be the norm for a 2008 model????
We also find that second and in particular third gear shifts can feel unconfortable ( almost as though the syncro’s are not lining up )
We are not averaging anything close to the advertised fuel consumption either. Cant feel that we have made the best decision to say the least.
Hoping someone can make the purchase feel a bit more comfortable.
Cheers Guys

By: marco veas

marco veas — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:04:36 +0000

Mike.
I check already . The DBW is 85 kgs across the range, T he changes are only in the engine, is a new one pf 2.4 lts, with more power and better fuel comsumption. Even the top “prestige” with 3 lts engine is only for 85 kgs.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:30:50 +0000

Also, The 2009 GV brochure shows the diesel and the V6 at 2000kg towing capacity, so something has changed. The Manual 4-pot stays at 1850, and the Auto 4-pot gets 1700. I’ll ask the dealer for clarification on DBW.

Mike.

By: Carl Magrath

Carl Magrath — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:58:19 +0000

On 25th Jan. Alborz says to Spiz wait a few weeks and I’ll let you know, its now Sept. 13th and I’m still waiting

By: marco veas

marco veas — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:59:40 +0000

Hi guys.
It took me a while to read all of the above. I am the owner of a GV 2.7 manual, I was the best car I ever had till I found out it can hold only 85 kgs down ball weight.
It is advertise with a towing of 1850 kgs. For what I understand the law in this country (australia) the DBW must be about 10% of the towing weight. Acording to this Suzuki is misleading buyers. I was thinking in buying an small caravan or camper trailer and the minimum DBW Igot is
110 kgs. I ask a 4wd mechanics if anything can be than to improve that. The anwer was “sorry, nothing can be than.
I ask a suzuki dealer if there is any change on the new diesel, the answer was NO.
Now I am looking for something similar (nothing with low gear) other than the Action sport or Kyron. I am looking at the Sorento, X-Trail, or the Navara D22.
I hope this will help you Peter and the others looking for the GV. It is an excelent car and it will take you anywhere.

By: Bret

Bret — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:49:13 +0000

Steve,
We looked seriously at the Actyon twin cab – until the kids noticed no cupholders. Sounds a joke, but you do get used to having them, and it’s not showstopper in it’s own right, but the Actyon does lack generally in interior storage. Just a small consideration – if that sort of thing is important to you as a buyer.
We didn’t rule it out completely, but have also delayed any purchase for a number of other reasons.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:10:21 +0000

What do you guys think of the Ssangyong Actyon Hatchback diesel against these? You can get it in auto, which I like. Also you can but it pretty cheap as well – OK the brand is weak, but is that just the brand, are they getting better?

I also like the look of it – although it is a polarising look. Cheers

By: Shark

Shark — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:20:11 +0000

Thanks Joe. I noticed the same thing with the low-revs power surge in 1st and 2nd. Picks up nicely once it’s wound up though.

Also, with the rims, there are optional 16″ alloys listed on the Suzuki website, but I reckon any dealer who sells a few of these vehicles would rip the standard rims off a 2.0 petrol model and swap them! I’d probably buy a 2nd set though, and keep them purely for the bush. We do 60-80km return of highway every day, so the 17’s with low road noise tyres would be good for that.

Our highway mileage is also another plus for the diesel – Lets the motor run hot enough for long enough to burn all the crap out. I’d be happy with the 15000km service, would probably CHECK the oil every 7500, but unless it needs it (given our regular high kms) I probably won’t change it.

Gotta get me one of these things!

By: Joe Dirt

Joe Dirt — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:30:30 +0000

Shark, diesel-power.com. German manufactured, but there is an office in Queensland that supplies them. The ‘configurator’ link under ‘power’ lists the 1.9DDIS 95kw engine for Suzuki as I think its been used in other models for a while.
I actually drove one today and it is very soggy at low revs, especially 1st gear feels like an STi off boost before a quick surge and into 2nd. I think the chip would tidy that up. Overall the acceleration did surprise me, not far off a V6 I’d say.
I’m not sure what to do now, I might wait a little longer to see if they do an auto. I would however swap the 17’s with 16’s as part of the deal.

Peter, I believe the service interval is 15000kms, I would definately do the interim oil change at 7500kms though.
So far I’ve learned that its not good to idle for long periods and the engine needs to be taken for a good run to keep it clean and reduce servicing requirements. I guess thats a common diesel thing.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:18:03 +0000

Took the Grand Vitara for a test drive, we drove the CRV, Pajero long wheel base, Compass and the CX-7. Had difficulty with stalling the compass and it feels like a very small car inside. The Pajero feels sluggish in the auto and I have never been in a car that changes gear as often as the CX-7 The Grand vitara is a very comfortable car, and 1st gear is a little low but once the car gets into 2nd and above it goes quite well. The dash seems well laid out and simple to use. The noise level is about the same as the V6 petrol version it just depends on how hard you try to go. It was very comfortable on the road and cruised along well, it also felt ok for overtaking at 100 which was a concer. Nothing like trying to overtake with no power. I am just concerned about the service intervals, I found one website in Europe which mentioned 20,000km which is ok (I work for an oil company and provided the oil is designed for this interval it is all good) but the guy at the dealership said it may be 5000km. Any ideas on the cost to service these things?

By: Shark

Shark — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:01:10 +0000

I thought the same thing about the off-road ability Joe Dirt, when looking at the standard 17-inch, lower profile tyres.

Depending where you’re trying to go, I think if you put a set of the 16 inch rims on it with some decent bush tyres, it’d go OK in the rough stuff if it were driven correctly.

Where did you find info about the chips to up the power and torque?

By: Joe Dirt

Joe Dirt — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 06:11:44 +0000

I’m getting quite interested in this car. I’ve already found a mod chip that claims to improve this engines output to 112kw and 354nm. Probably just needs a tweak because of emissions tuning.
I don’t know why anyone would bother to try a standard one offroad though, should put some lift (2″) on first with some better tyres. Most 4wd’s come ’shopping trolley’ spec from factory and its not a good representation of their potential.
This might be the first car worthy to replace my older GV.
Auto would be nice though.

By: Shark

Shark — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:56:12 +0000

LOL, no probs Gus.

Drove the diesel today. What a great little package. Took it on the compulsory test-drive lap of Mt Panorama, where it hauled up the hill (including the notoriously steep section called ‘The Cutting’) in 4th gear at about 65km/h with the cruise control on. Not even a suggestion of the engine labouring, which impressed me.

I also played around with the 4H/4H-Lock/4L-Lock settings a bit, on some wet gravel and grass. The ESP disable function didn’t seem to do anything, as it wouldn’t disable in either high range setting, and wouldn’t allow me to enable it in low range!

There are two key areas I think the car falls down, being the lack of a 6th gear for highway cruising, and the rear drum brakes. It’s 2008, and every man and his dog has these two features in new cars today.

The engine would easily handle a really tall 6th, allowing it to trundle along at 1900 to 2100 rpm when travelling within 5 or 10 kms either side of 100km/h. As it is, in 5th it’s going to be revving well over it’s peak torque area of 2000 rpm on the highway. Given that our car will do 60km per day of highway k’s, I’d like the extra cog.

The ergonomics are good, I like the legroom and headroom in the back. It’s far more user-freindly than an Outback or similar in the back seat, passengers sit up high but comfortably, and the footwells are huge. Middle back seat cushioning is really hard, but it’s a last-use seat anyway I guess. Only thing that I didn’t immediately like was the rear head restraints. They MUST be up when the seat is in use. I guess they have been designed like that to allow the seats to be folded forward, so it’s only a small thing. These are the sorts of things I would like to hear more about from existing owners of PETROL models (Gus!), as they are really no different to the models which have been out there for 18 months or so.

I’d love to take one out and get it really dirty, but that won’t happen on a standard test drive…

Cheers,

Matt.

By: Gus

Gus — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:50:55 +0000

Yes, did happen to notice that about a millisecond after hitting the enter button…..

By: Shark

Shark — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:12:25 +0000

Yeah, thanks for that scoop Gus…I actually asked if there were any current owners of P-E-T-R-O-L powered GV’s with opinions on other aspects of the car other than the engine…

By: Gus

Gus — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:27:39 +0000

The car has been out for 2 days offically, good luck finding any current owners.

By: Shark

Shark — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 13:06:53 +0000

I’m really keen to hear more feedback on this car from people OTHER than dealer staff. I am booked in to test drive one in Bathurst on Tuesday (5th Feb?) and am very keen on the diesel for a number of reasons, namely:
We do 60000-80000km per year; With a young family we need a wagon; We live on an unsealed road with heaps of snow and ice in Winter (hence need for AWD as a minimum); We tow reasonably regularly, but not massive loads; Surrounded by thousands of acres of NSW State Forests, we’re keen to do a bit more exploring; and I’m a safety freak (worked with CrashLab and ANCAP for a while) so I want a decent active and passive safety package.

We have been Subaru and Honda owners up until now. The Japanese build quality of the GV has great appeal, as we’re happy with the Subes and Hondas we’ve had. I will be waiting to test drive the new Forester (March 08) before I sign on the dotted line for a GV Diesel, but given the likely pricing on the Sube I think the GV might stack up on the numbers, given the better mileage we’ll get with the oil burner.

Are there any CURRENT owners of petrol GV’s with opinions about the ergonomics of the current model? How easy is the car to live with? It’s a strange fact, but the GV weighs in at about 200kg more than a Subaru Outback, so does it sometimes feel a bit sluggish when driving in traffic?What’s the visibility like when parking, and will the seat height adjustment keep my small-built wife happy?

I’ll be going over the car with a fine tooth comb on the test drive, but there’s nothing like living with a car
long-term to get to know all it’s quirks and tricks.

Cheers!

By: Gus

Gus — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:02:50 +0000

I’m driving one from south of Adelaide to Kapunda tomorrow, about 2 hours each way and a mix of city and country driving. I’ll post some results after that.