Suzuki!

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 07/30/2016 at 17:24 • Filed to: Suzuki, Grand Vitara XL7

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Life is now more complete! I’ve driven my first Suzuki.

This one:

It’s got a turbo:

It’s got old fashioned, mechanical 4wd and low range:

Got shortcomings, mind. I was asked to collect the car from a garage (leaking thermostat housing, of all things) so that my sister could get it on Monday and drive it to its owner, her sister in law. I’ve had to give sister a list which sets out matters:

The garage said to check the water for a couple of days just in case

This is the slowest car in the world, partially because of no 3

The accelerator is very heavy. If you want to go faster than a very slow thing, you have to press really, really hard

The clutch is heavy too. You’ll get used to it

The gearlever is stiff and awkward. You’ll get used to that, too

The indicators live on the right

The zapper doesn’t zap. You need a thing called a “key” to get in. One turn for driver’s door, two turns for the rest

It doesn’t like reverse. If you can’t find it, go forward a little bit and try again. Repeat as necessary

Ignore the extra little gearlever. It’s grand where it is

There a rattling noise from behind after you get in to second gear. That’s the way I got it

gmctavish needs more space > Cé hé sin 07/30/2016 at 17:29

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I like it

Cé hé sin > gmctavish needs more space 07/30/2016 at 17:32

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Me, not so much...

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin 07/30/2016 at 17:40

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And it’s even the more rare 7-seater XL7 model at that! I guess it is not the pinnacle of automotive refinement, though they are presumaly very capable when the tarmac ends.

Probenja > Cé hé sin 07/30/2016 at 17:54

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I have read those diesel’s are the worst engines you can get on these, it’s either made by Mazda (early ones) or Peugeot. The petrol ones are much better and more reliable made by Suzuki.

gmctavish needs more space > Cé hé sin 07/30/2016 at 18:01

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Fair enough, I probably wouldn’t if I was the one driving it

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 07/30/2016 at 18:09

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It’s actually quite refined once you get it up to speed, a process that takes some time as it accelerates like an arthritic snail.

Cé hé sin > Probenja 07/30/2016 at 18:19

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Maybe so, but you couldn’t give away a petrol car of this type here. I don’t know if they were ever even sold new.

dogisbadob > Cé hé sin 07/30/2016 at 19:09

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Too bad we never got a diesel XL7 over here :(

The XL7 was the only 7-passenger vehicle available with a manual transmission in the US at the time

TA4K > Cé hé sin 08/09/2016 at 05:12

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Just whip out the welder and weld that turbo wastegate shut, should sort your power issues. Reliability on the other hand, we’ll see how well it likes it.