Kizashi Club

Just purchased a new 2013 Kizashi, very good deal from Suzuki of Wichita. Compared to the Subaru Impreza which is the other car I compared, this car is much nicer, not only in looks, but performance. Been a manual tranny driver for years, first auto, still feel the need to shift, but my wife can now drive...hmmm good or bad!

Welcome.
I am also a fan of the Subaru Impreza, having owned one for a long time in the past. That being said, the Kizashi is more car for the money but both are great cars.
I have a manual transmission Kizashi. Did you get an auto for the available AWD?

welcome~~

Welcome to a fellow midwesterner! I also came from a history of driving manual but was OK with the CVT; been using and liking the "manual" option quite a bit in the snow the last couple weeks.

KuroNekko, at least for me, the GTS was above my price point and no manual available in the SE. Very few S models around so I went with the SE. The AWD was a factor for me and I liked the Kizashi better than the other cars I test drove w/manual.

KuroNekko wrote:Welcome.
I am also a fan of the Subaru Impreza, having owned one for a long time in the past. That being said, the Kizashi is more car for the money but both are great cars.
I have a manual transmission Kizashi. Did you get an auto for the available AWD?

I obtained the SE FWD silver, considered the AWD, but my other vehicle is a 4WD Nissan Frontier, so if I have to be out in the snow, I will go with the truck.
Manual tranny's are not available in the SE version, no selection of S models, plus I had to consider my wife, who is a non manual driver.
Intrigued with the use of the manual mode in the CVT....any tips?

So far I've not used it for normal driving. I've only used it for engine braking on slippery roads. When I approach somewhere I need to slow down like a stop sign or hill I just slide the shifter over to manual and downshift from there.

garf wrote:
Manual tranny's are not available in the SE version, no selection of S models, plus I had to consider my wife, who is a non manual driver.

Funny, I picked this car for the same reason...

garf wrote: Intrigued with the use of the manual mode in the CVT....any tips?

I use the manual mode on my CVT when I need to take a turn in a hurry, or make a quick changeover onto a highway/busy thoroughfare. Shifting from 5th (or sometimes 6th if you were going faster than 42 mph) to 3rd feels solid when cornering; I'll usually go to 2nd though because I like to accelerate through turns more often than I should.

If you are coming off a highway and merging onto a street with a more temperate speed (35-50 mph), going from 6th to 4th is what I usually do, just in case I need a little extra get up and go to merge into traffic.