Archive for April, 2019
Car Review: 2019 Suzuki Vitara AllGrip Turbo
This Car Review Is About: The revamped for 2019 Suzuki Vitara range, specifically the 1.4L Boosterjet AllGrip. It sits at the top of a tidied up three tier range. There is a choice of a 1.6L normally aspirated engine, a 1.4L 2WD, or the AllGrip as tested. The range starts at a decent $22,490 plus ORC, the turbo 2WD is $29,990, and the AllGrip is $33,990. Options and metallic paint are separate costs items, at $500 for metallic and $1,250 for the two tone choice. There are eight choices available and the test car was in Atlantis Turquoise Pearl with Metallic Black roof. The naming structure has also been revamped to reflect, simply, that it’s a Vitara, Vitara Turbo, and Vitara AllGrip.
Under The Bonnet Is: 103kW and 220Nm. The torque is available from 1500rpm through to 4000rpm. Transmission in the AllGrip is a six speed auto only. A slightly different version is available for the 2WD and you can spec a five speed manual for the 1.6L. The turbo drinks 95RON from a 47L tank and is rated as 6.2L/100km on a combined cycle. It’s attached to a dial that brings up Auto, Snow, Sport, and Lock, for those times where more torque for the rear wheels is required. And there is no longer a diesel. Suzuki rates the gross vehicle mass, GVM, as 1,730kg.
On The Inside Is: A slightly made over interior. The most notable change is to the driver’s display. There is a full colour 4.3 inch screen, and this shows the drive modes in high definition. It’s beautiful to read and very easy on the eye. The AllGrip gets a G-force meter, a kilowatt and Nm pair of of circular graphs, a bar graph for brake and accelerator. The drive modes themselves are available via a centre mounted dial. The newly recovered for a soft touch binnacle itself has two push stalks, located at the ten and two o’clock positions on the silvery toned dials and a little hard to find otherwise. Aircon is dial controlled and Suzuki looks towards Lexus by adding a small but classy looking analogue clock that sits between the two centre mounted vents.
Seats are manually operated in the AllGrip, and really should be powered here. Trim was a black diamond cloth with leather bolstered sides, and were super comfortable. The normal plastics on the dash and doors didn’t appeal or seem as being of the quality to look at and touch in a top level vehicle but a light gunmetal insert that runs full width does add a splash of colour.
Front leg room for the driver and passenger were more than adequate, rear seats had plenty for people to a certain (teenaged) size and have privacy glass too. ISOFIX child seat mounts are standard, and the cargo area is adequate without being overwhelming in a small SUV. It starts at 375L, and maxes at 1,120L. The tail gate is manually operated. The roof in the review car had a full glass roof and light coloured cloth sun shield, however there was still plenty of heat getting through to the cabin.
Although a top line vehicle, only the driver’s window gets Auto up/down, however it does get auto wipers and auto headlights over the 1.6L model. Cruise control, Bluetooth streaming, satnav, paddle shifts for the auto, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard via Suzuki’s cool looking seven inch display touchscreen and there is a USB/12V socket up front. However there is no DAB tuner.
On The Outside Is: A lightly revamped body. The main external change has been to the tail lights. They now have a three bar LED lit interior. 17 inch graphite coloured alloys are standard across the range, and rubber is again from Continental at 215/55. The lower front bar has been lightly reprofiled and has the addition of chrome blades around the driving lights and running horizontally across the lower part of the air intake. LEDs now power the headlights in the AllGrip. The former horizontal bars in the grille have been ditched and now refelct the five bar verticals Suzuki is known for. Parking sensors front and rear plus a reverse camera finish off the externals.
On The Road It’s: A little twitchy in the steering. The weight tends towards the light side and took a day or so to come to grips with the feedback level. Ride quality was also a touch twitchy, with the rebound rates on rougher tarmac quicker than expected. The compact size of the Vitara contributes somewhat to the edgy feel; at 4,175mm in length it packs a 2,500mm wheelbase and and rides on a 1,535mm track. This means irregular surfaces will impact more on a compact footprint than bigger vehicles.
The turbo’s torque spread is the standout here. Although the auto was occasionally indecisive when cold, better when warmed up, the engine was on song from the press of the Start/Stop button. It’s better than flexible for the size of the Vitara but would struggle in anything bigger. Acceleration is around eight seconds to see the century mark and is flexible enough to deal with around town without a quibble.
Highway manners are acceptable. It rolls along quietly and without fuss, but when required will spring out of its torpor and boot the AllGrip past slower traffic without question. We also had a chance to test the Vitara at the Werribee 4×4 proving grounds, and its soft-road credibility remains untarnished. The 4×4 mode works in pulling the pugnacious little machine through a flowing creek, through and over mud and muddy puddles, and up and down slopes of up to thirty degrees without a blink.
The Safety Systems Are: The safety package for the 1.4L Boosterjet Vitara is comprehensive too. On top of a seven airbag system which includes the driver getting a kneebag, there is Lane Departure Warning, Hill Descent Control, High Beam Assist, Weaving Alert, Blind Spot Monitor, and Autonomous Emergency Braking. This couples with the Adaptive Cruise Control and Stop/Go function as required. It receives an ANCAP five star safety rating.
And The Warranty Is: Five years/140,000 kilometres and comes with a five year capped price service package. The provisio is that the five year warranty is if serviced via the five year plan. Roadside assist is three years but will extend to five is serviced through Suzuki. The service schedule may raise an eyebrow as it’s six months or ten thousand kilometres. The first three services, according to Suzuki’s website are $175 with a maximum cost of $300 at the end of the fourth year.
At The End Of The Drive. The Vitara has always been a fun, small, soft-road capable vehicle. The decision to drop the diesel is a bit odd, but as that fuel seems to be on the nose and petrol/hybrids are on the up in respect to economy…The size of the Vitara is fine, but mainly for single/couples/small kids. The safety package in the AllGrip for a mid $30K or so driveaway price (check with your local dealer) is impressive and the overall driveability also impresses. That service impost though….well…
Suzuki can tell you more, here.
The Right Cars For Your Inner Geek
This BMW that makes you feel like you’re driving the Batmobile is just the start…
Quite a few of us are geeks at heart, even just a tiny bit. We might not spend our spare time putting together outfits so we can cosplay at conventions or be able to quote all of the script of Star Wars off by heart, but who among us hasn’t, at some point, said “May the Force be with you” to a friend, called somebody a muggle (hey, even my spellchecker doesn’t flag that one, which shows how engrained it is) or enjoyed a good superhero movie (let’s not get into the DC versus Marvel debate here – it’s as heated as Ford versus Holden). So there’s a little tiny bit of a geek in all of us – and a loud, proud and enthusiastic geek in some of us.
Of course, when you select your chosen set of wheels, you should consider a range of practical factors. However, if you’ve got a range of possibilities to choose from, why not please the heart of your inner geek and get something that’s appropriate for your particular fandom (fandom, for those of you who aren’t up with the lingo, is the particular branch of pop culture that you love).
Just to get you started, here’s the shortlist for vehicles that fit in nicely with some of the more popular fandoms out there. Apologies to any fandoms I’ve left off the list – for the simple reason that I’m not familiar enough with them to come up with an appropriate set of wheels to match – but if I’ve left out yours, then feel free to include it in the comments along with the car makes that work.
Game of Thrones: Well, Ssangyong translates as “double dragon”, so any from this Korean marque would be the obvious choice!
Marvel Universe: Thor was originally the Norse god of thunder and lightning, so if you can get your hands on a Saab with the Viggen badge, you’re in luck, as this is Nordic and Viggen means Lightning. Otherwise, try out an Alfa Romeo Spider or any Jag that comes in black (a black panther being, of course, either a leopard or jaguar with black colouring).
DC Universe: the DC-verse is lucky in that one of the stars actually drives an equally iconic machine: the Batmobile, of course. An old racing version of the BMW 3-series was known as the Batmobile when in full body kit, but anything sleek, black and powerful with lots of tech can be your very own Batmobile. The more modern BMW i8 or one of the sporty Zs would work well. However, I have to say that the current version of Citroen’s logo is reminiscent of Wonder Woman’s logo… makes you wonder (ha!) if the designer was a fan.
Once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it.
Lord of the Rings: Either a Ford Ranger to take you on an epic journey through the wilderness, or a nature-loving Nissan Leaf if you see yourself as a Child of Leaf and Star. However, anything that has performed well on the Nürburgring qualifies as a Lord of the Ring. If you’re one of the diehards who know the books (like me), then you may know that the brother of the Lord of the Eagles is called Landroval, which I always misread as Landrover.
Sherlock: This calls for an iconic British classic of some variety – your choice of either Mini or Jaguar. Maybe the Mini for Watson and the Jag for Holmes?
Harry Potter: If you can get your mitts on a classic Ford Anglia as owned by Arthur Weasley, then you’re very lucky indeed. If you want something more up-to-date, then your best picks would be either Peugeot (which has the Gryffindor lion as a badge) or Alfa Romeo (green + white + serpent = Slytherin).
Star Wars: Really racked my brains about this one. Oh for a marque called Jedi or Skywalker! The best I can come up with is a Ford Falcon, as a nod to the Millennium Falcon (piloted by Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, so that works).
Star Trek: What else but the Chrysler Voyager , helping you to boldly go, etc.? Well, maybe the Landrover Discovery , depending on which era is your favourite. We’ll have to wait until someone calls a make Enterprise (which would make a pretty good car name, actually).
Labor Says 50% Electric Cars By 2030….Can It Be Done?
In what could be a crucial first shot for the environmentalists vote in an upcoming Australian Federal election, Labor leader Bill Shorten has stated a couple of goals need to be achieved in respect to electric vehicles. The goals themselves are simple to read.
By 2030 half of all new vehicle sales are to be of the electric variety. By 2025 half of the Australian government’s fleet are to be electric. A change to the taxation structure for businesses needs to be implemented, in that an allowable deduction of 20% for depreciation for private fleet EVs of a cost of over $20,000.
Sounds relatively simple. However, the devil is in the detail. There are self-interest groups such as the Australian Institute of Petroleum. There are the pricing issues of EVs versus petrol/diesel/hybrid cars. Then there are the human factors such as “range anxiety”, a lack of knowledge of where charging points are, and even a push-back against the technology itself. There are elements of distrust to be overcome also, and yet there are a couple of fair questions, such as the cost of a replacement EV battery, and the ecological impact of dissecting and recycling (if possible) the battery’s elements.
Charge Points.
https://www.drivezero.com.au/electric-car-charging-stations/ is one of many sites to use but the end result is that maps do show just how accessible a charge point is, and this site also shows state by state and the kind of plugs available.
Cost.
It is, absolutely no doubt, a barrier. It’s been raised over and over again and although a brand or two can be pointed to as being “exxy”, in real terms an EV is far cheaper than what they potentially could be. But then there is the actual CHARGE cost. WhichCar editor David Bonnici provided some figures in late 2018, saying: the new Nissan Leaf consumes 10kWh/100km. If you’re paying 0.28c per kWh (an average price during peak periods within Victoria) it will cost you $2.80 (10kW x 0.28) to charge it enough to travel 100km. The Leaf has a claimed 400km range, which means a full charge will cost you $11.20 ($2.80 x 4). 
When plasma TVs then LCD TVs were introduced, their costs were seen as stupidly prohibited, with rumours at the time of release of a TV network, being an early adopter, paying $30K for a 42 inch plasma. Plasma has gone the way of the dodo and now 8K tv is on its way, which will spur the production of 8K content, even as DVD still, somehow, manages to hang on. The screens have come down in cost and by huge margins. In screen size and in quality those have gone up. The point here is that technology has a habit of dropping in real price terms for the level of tech being offered. There is simply no reason to expect EVs to reverse that trend and the Tesla Model 3 is an example of that.
Then: The Jaguar I-Pace on the other hand is rated at 19kWh/100km, which means it costs $5.32 for a 100km trip and $25.53 for a full charge to travel its claimed 480km range. Considering the ridiculous fluctuation in unleaded petrol prices, which at the time of writing are around $1.40 for E10, that charge cost isn’t so hard to deal with.
Charge Time:
The timeframe for a partial or empty to full charge is also coming down, with better battery charging technology making substantial differences. The Nissan Leaf, for example has varying rates depending on source. Starting from a depleted battery, about 20 hours at 110-120V (depending on amperage), approximately 7 hours at 208-240V (depending on amperage) and about 30 minutes at 480V (quick-charging station).
Tesla’s solar powered and battery fueled supercharger stations offer a different setup. The supercharging stations charge with up to 135 kW of power distributed between two cars with a maximum of 120 kW per car. They take about 20 minutes to charge to 50%, 40 minutes to charge to 80%, and 75 minutes to 100% on the original 85 kWh Model S.
Summation:
This article was NOT intended to be an in-depth industry look. It was intended to provide a general overview at what is involved in the EV business. It is not intended to be an endorsement or dis-endorsement of a Labor policy. There is and will continue to be misinformation and misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of where to go for a charge but that information is readily available as fact.
The answer to the question posed is yes. It can be done. There are a few VERY important factors to be overcome, such as infrastructure, information provision, and perceived cost. And then there is the perception of how a purely electric vehicle drives.
That’s simple. Go and drive one. Companies have vehicles for demonstration. And there really is no better demonstration of one brand’s ability than this (with thanks to our friends at CarAdvice): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eGhjhx8O9M
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