V6 Option

purpleanga · Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:33 pm

I am very excited about this car. I used to own a Suzuki a long time ago and have pretty much forgot about them until I learned of the Kizashi in a magazine a few months ago. Actually what caught my attention was their claim that the car was tested on the Nurburgring, that's some serious stuff. I started the process of learning about the car but found out that especially where I live Suzuki has pretty much very little if any support. Maybe other parts of the country they're a little more known but here in Los Angeles with so many other dealers you have to go out of your way to find one so I'm pretty sure they're going to do poorly here. The dealer was even surpised that I drove an hour to test drive it which I thought was kind of odd..... I'm posting because the only way I'll get this car is if they put in the V6 and it looks like that's contingent on sales... I just test drove a 2wd model. I'm sure the V6 will bring the price up to higher 20s for suzuki and they didn't want that for the launch but it really needs it. 180hp is fine for everyday driving but it might as well be another Camry when it comes to performance. There is no way I'm going to get a 4 cylinder sports sedan.

Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:31 pm

Suzuki is doing poorly all over the country. I agree the kizashi could use some more guts, but is good for most driving conditions. If you live in LA you're fairly close to Road//Race, and they are starting to make performance parts for the car. They claim to have the kizashi over 200 HP at the wheels, but I have yet to see a dyno sheet to support their claim. There isn't a turbo yet, but they may make one if there is enough interest in the car. A turbo version is probably the way to go with this car. Hopefully Suzuki gets thing rolling with this car by next year.

Personally I think the 185 hp version should be fine in most driving conditions, but I know the last time I was in LA with my Mazda I was wishing I had a few more ponies under the hood.

It didn't help that the gas in your state is half water. The lowest octane you can find up here is 87 and most of our gas is 89 or 90 for the same price as 87.

purpleanga · Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:12 pm

Well I'm currently driving a 02 V6 180hp Toyota 4runner and it is a lot of fun. But in SUV terms, it's got a lot of torque and not enough top speed even though it's not a heavy SUV. Kizashi test drive was good but I could definitely see that for me, it needed more power. So I think the 180hp range is not where a self claimed serious sport sedan should be. If you build a good car, they will come, even if it's a Suzuki. So they should at least offer an option for the V6 and I'm sure it will be very popular. I would love an iAWD with a V6 at around 250-270hp.

Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:26 am

Yeah, I'm not sure why they don't use the same model for their cars as they do for their bikes. Build the best and they will come.

Amedia1 · Wed Feb 24, 2010 4:48 am

purpleanga wrote:I would love an iAWD with a V6 at around 250-270hp.

That would be sick! But considering that a V6 is likely going to be based on sales, it might never happen. I have an SLS and I love it. It certainly doesn't feel like it has 270hp but it isn't a slug, either. I talked with my dealer and they're aware of, and supportive of, Road Race Motorsports. I'll be adding exhaust, intake, and the piggy; I figure that'll hold me over until the turbo kit is released. Of course, everyone is different, but the Kizzy with a few RRM goodies and 30 mpg is where it's at for me!

vwoom · Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:16 am

Moto wrote: If you live in LA you're fairly close to Road//Race, and they are starting to make performance parts for the car. They claim to have the kizashi over 200 HP at the wheels, but I have yet to see a dyno sheet to support their claim.

Is that stock at 200hp?..

Moto wrote: It didn't help that the gas in your state is half water. The lowest octane you can find up here is 87 and most of our gas is 89 or 90 for the same price as 87.

In a sense, yes it's kinda "watered down"...but we do have 91, a tad higher than diesel in price (here near Pasadena)...but it's up there (by 20cts) over 87 (my Chevron station).

Thu Feb 25, 2010 2:45 am

They probably had
* Lightweight pulley
* ECU
* Short Ram Intake

Like I said no dyno so I will believe it when I see it.

I have a feeling they might be able to get this car up to about 205-210 hp without boost, but we'll have to see.

I think the engine is already fairly well tuned.

Amedia1 · Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:26 am

They had a custom exhaust on the car, as well. I'm gonna add the short ram, piggy, and exhaust in the relatively near future. Hopefully I'll be able to have it dynoed and report results. IF rrm hasn't already posted dyno numbers.

Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:55 am

I'll look forward to it.

purpleanga · Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:27 pm

They apparently are testing the V6 version right now according to a review article so it does exist. The reviewer said that the V6 Kizashi did have more pull but was not as great to handle as the production version and probably preferred a turbo. They are doing chassis verification on it, hopefully it's good.