Subaru's WRX and Mitsubishi's Evo, both WRC-based road cars, have been hot tickets with car enthusiasts for several years. Suzuki already enjoys a strong following with bike enthusiasts so it makes sense for the company to follow in Subaru and Mitsubishi's footsteps down the rally performance road.

This is a roundabout way of saying that the SX4 has the basic ingredients for a solid performance car. In its stock trim it offers the most powerful engine in its class. It has a wide track for great handling and it seems to have a solid body. The downside is it tips the scales with a slight weight penalty, which means it is not much faster than its competitors and its fuel consumption is not quite as good.

The all-wheel-drive system is called i-AWD and operates in three modes via a console-mounted switch. The 2WD mode is for maximum fuel economy on dry pavement, the AWD Auto mode controls the drive power distribution ratio to the rear wheels from zero to 50 percent, depending on available traction while the AWD Lock mode is designed to facilitate traction in case of snow or mud. When in the lock mode, power is distributed to the rear wheels in the range of 30 percent to 50 percent. When the vehicle reaches 36 mph in AWD Lock mode, the system automatically switches to AWD Auto mode.

larssmidesang

Lars Smidesang

Suzuki SX4