I've had my hands full these couple of weeks. Tested lots of cars, both from the manufacturers as well as those that belonged to people I know. So far I've already published the reviews on the Volkswagen Golf R Mk6 and the Audi A6 3.0 TFSI Quattro C7. I've yet to publish the one on the crackingly good Ford Fiesta ST and the one on the polished, small engined Volkswagen New Beetle 1.2 TSI. The Fiesta ST is indeed one of the best supermini sized hot hatches around. It is so adjustable, so chuckable and engages you in it. The Volkswagen Beetle 1.2 TSI shows you how iconic it is and how accomplished a tiny 1.2liter engine can haul and do things these days. I will get them published as soon as they get done.





Then I also went to an auction centre in Shah aLAM. Fleet Management Solution Sdn Bhd are licensed auctioneers that actually sell everything that people (mainly through their companies) want disposed. The system is clear and transparent as you have to bid on the items once placed on sale. I got to see where you can actually get used bargains. Company cars that have outlived their purpose are sold here. You can even ask them to auction off your cars if you're interested. Stay tuned for a write up on this too.


And lastly, I had to let an old friend go. I sold off the Subaru Impreza 1.6TS. It has been with me for almost ten years but I suppose it's time to move on. Faithful to the last. It has taken me over 255,000km worth of places and experiences. I hope that it finds another owner who is worthy. Oh well, Ob La Di Ob La Da, Life goes on......I will try do a write up on this once I feel like writing a quasi love story about a man and his car.

So folks, stay tuned for a few more articles this coming couple of weeks.

According to a report by drive.com.au the Suzuki Kizashi is unlikely to have a replacement in the future. It is likely to soldier on for a while longer and may fade out into the annals of automotive history. The reason is that reception to this mid-sized car has been pretty cold. In the report, the MD for Suzuki Australia said that even at launch, the Kizashi was compromised by the American financial crisis in 2009.

With American once Suzuki's largest market being wiped out (Suzuki America declared bankrupty in 2012), sales for this (almost) large sedan dwindled as even in markets like Australia and the UK it was overpriced and underspecced compared to its rivals like the Honda Accord and the Mazda 6. The Suzuki Kizashi is also a tad undersized if compared to the current crop of Japanese mid-sized / full sized sedans. If you compare its size it is closer to cars like the seventh generation Honda Accord (2003-2007) instead of the larger eighth and ninth generation Accords that we're familiar with. You add competition like the huge Toyota Camry and Nissan Teana to the picture and you can see why Suzuki isn't really selling any Kizashis even here in Malaysia. But we've driven it and we like how it drives as well as how it looks. The car looks squat with a wheel at each corner. Very athletic looking and taut.



The thing about Suzuki is that they made their name in small cars. They are famous for small cars everywhere with the Suzuki Swift being the best supermini in its class. In India the Suzuki Alto 800 has been on sale since Rajnikanth still had his real hair and Abhishek Bachchan was still in his diapers. Suzuki was renowned for good affordable small cars and basically with the Kizashi, they wanted something that small Suzuki buyers can climb into once they move on to cars larger than the SX4. But somehow this had not caught on.

The Suzuki Kizashi sold in Malaysia comes fully imported in two specs - the 2.4L CVT SDLX at RM147,888 (with insurance) and the 2.4L CVT Sports at RM158,188 (with insurance). You will get

1.   6 SRS Airbags
2.   Traction Control, Electronic Stability Program (ESP®)
3.   Leather seats (original from Japan)
4.   Electric Adjustable Seat (10-way for Driver with 3 position memory)
5.   Auto Cruise, Paddle Shift, Keyless Entry + Push Start Button
6.   Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) + Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) with Brake Assist (BA) + Hill Assist
    Control
7.   Radio, CD / MP3 player with USB + Steering Wheel Audio Switches with 8-Speaker system
8.   Auto Folding Side Mirrors
9.   Parking Sensors (Front & Rear) 
10.   Alarm System with Immobilizer 
11.   HID Headlight with Auto Leveling + Washer, Auto Dimming Rearview Mirror 
12.  17" Alloy Wheels (18" for SPORT) 
Quite alot of kit isn't it? But note that you could get the same gadgetry in the Honda Accord, Nissan Teana and Toyota Camry too.  And actually you could get  more in these other cars. An example would be the media system in the Kizashi. It's small LED screen looks like it is still stuck in 2009 even when we test drove the car recently - it's 2013 remember? You get a lot more kit in the other cars. And do note that these other cars are bigger than the Kizashi. In the RM150,000 price range, size matters. The Kizashi may not be small inside (it fits chubby me pretty well and sits four comfortably) but with this sort of competition, it loses out here big time. This could explain basically why a lot of people buy something else.

But when you comparing driving dynamics against the Honda Accord, Nissan Teana, Toyota Camry and even the Mazda 6 the car rides and drives well. Steering feels good with enough feedback for an enthusiast to be happy with. The CVT gearbox and 2.4liter engine (185hp / 230Nm) torque works very well together. I think you need over 200Nm of torque to get rid of the dreaded rubber band effect in a CVT transmission and the Kizashi's CVT does this well.

The car picks up speed at a decent pace (8.8secs to 100km/h, 205km/h) and corners well too. As stated above, the steering has feel to it and the car is very agile through most tight bends. Very unlike all its supposed RM150,000 class competitors. It is smaller and it corners like a much nimbler car too. Suzuki's technical knowledge in making cars handle shine through in the Kizashi and you actually wish you had at least a good 40 more horses under the bonnet (Suzuki even said that if the car had done well, there would have been a turbocharged version). Like its smaller sibling, the Swift it corners with aplomb and mid corner bumps seldom upset its posture. It is not just the front end helping the car in turns but like the best front-wheel drive cars, the rear is also involved in the cornering process as you would feel it swinging around mid-corner. So the downside to such a chassis is the lack of power in the normally aspirated 2.4liter engine. But note that the car is actually faster than any of the other three Japanese cars mentioned herein. So then again.....

Oh, the car feels rock solid with pretty good (if slightly outdated) plastics. It feels very end 2000s instead of a car of this decade. Of course, it was launched in 2009 and the car we managed to grab hold of for about five to ten minutes per person was from 2011. Suzuki Malaysia can't seem to move them out of the showrooms. There is a RM10,000 discount for the Kizashi is you want one. But only RM10,000 for a 2011 car? Suzuki needs to do more.

So there you have it. A splendid mid-sized car to drive but really bad value for money if you wanted to show people you're a senior manager somewhere. But if you're in the market for something larger than a Honda Civic, a Mitsubishi Lancer or a Mazda 3 but still don't like driving corporate barges, then this is the only car as it is slightly larger but not as large as what we're expecting from a RM150,000 car. It's a niche thing, the Kizashi. Sometime niches can be very, very hard to sell. But you can tell by the facial expression below that the car is actually pretty good. Or that the driver had too much sugar in his coffee earlier that day.

Conclusion: Good mid-sized car, smaller than a Camry, Accord, Teana yet as pricey, fun to drive but needs more poke due to it having a nice chassis. Recommended if you can stand slightly outdated media system, and its smaller size.

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Now the Hyundai Veloster 1.6 is basically a car with three doors and a rear hatch. The driver's side does not have a door while the passenger side does have a rear door. Entry and exit to the rear seats is at least better than the undignified way that one would have to suffer if you had a traditional two door car. The rear door may still be compromised by the sloping roofline but its still better than any car that does not come with rear doors. So it is bearable because of this and the car looks pretty good from most angles. Does it look like a proper coupe? My answer is no due to the hatchback or notchback type of design ala the Volkswagen Scirocco or the Renault Megane, but it comes close. At around rm132,000, you're still in the category where you cannot get what you really, really want in a 'sports' car. One cannot get Ferrari looks for chickenfeed money.