Before crossovers started crossing en masse from the hatchback metropolis to the pseudo-SUV jungle, Suzuki had already crossed the river between the city and the countryside with the first Vitara, which put its four-wheel-drive tyres on/off the road here in 1991.
What we have here is the latest fourth-generation Vitara, together with the third-generation Grand Vitara.
The newcomer is a few months young, while the old-timer is approaching its 10th year, so any comparative comments on my part have to be taken with a pinch of salt – or maybe a pinch of sand, from a beach resort somewhere in Malaysia, where countless Vitaras have rambled and played since the 1990s.
Today, the new 1.6-litre Vitara plays in the same local playground as the Honda Vezel/HR-V and Nissan Qashqai 1.2.
Yesterday, the old 2-litre Grand Vitara played in the same playground as the old Honda CR-V, Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4, alongside two Korean kids destined for greater things when they grow up, the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.
The designs of the two Vitaras are separated by a decade of development, not only in the fields of manufacturing and vehicular aesthetics, but also in terms of SUV culture.
The previous Grand Vitara is made in Japan and styled like a traditional off-roader, with a “backpack” spare tyre. The new model has a flat-tyre repair kit instead, which saves weight but might not save your skin in the middle of nowhere like a full-size fifth tyre could.
Both Suzukis can be specified with a variety of outdoorsy accessories (original or aftermarket), such as skid plates, fender extenders and roof racks.
But only the old one came with a choice of five-door and three-door bodystyles (Champion Motors sold just the five-door version). The older, second-generation Vitara had more variants, which included a stretched seven-seater called XL-7 and a two-door soft-top convertible!
The new Vitara, built in Hungary, is only available as a practical five-door, reflecting the SUV segment’s evolution from “weekend fun for a twosome/threesome” to “everyday functionality for family and friends”.
Its size is closer to that of the three-door Grand Vitara, but superior packaging has given the new-era Vitara almost as much interior space as the old-school five-door Grand Vitara. The boot, for instance, offers 375 litres of cargo capacity, expandable to 710 litres with the rear seatbacks folded; compared to 398-758 litres in the retired sibling.
There’s also a significant improvement in efficiency, which starts with weight loss. The Vitara tips the scales at just over 1.2 tonnes, about 300kg lighter than the Grand Vitara. That’s like leaving four excess adults on the roadside for good.
The current model also feels lighter on its feet. Whatever advantage the old 2-litre model has in low-end torque (183Nm versus 156Nm) and high-revs power (140bhp versus 118bhp) is negated by the current 1.6-litre drivetrain’s sweeter, uh, drive.
Its 6-speed automatic transmission, versus the predecessor’s ancient 4-speeder, is smoother and more responsive. The acceleration seems more urgent on the expressway, even though the official 0-100km/h timings are identical for both Vitaras. The maximum speed is now 10km/h faster, which might be useful to road trippers in a hurry.
The vehicle is less thirsty, too, able to travel about six kilometres further (estimated) on every litre of petrol. Although I couldn’t find the CO2 emission figure for the old Vitara, I reckon it’s significantly higher than that of the new one.
As for ride and handling, the current Vitara is generally quieter and more comfortable, while the defunct model is both rougher and tougher on the move, and seems to be better prepared for suburban warfare.
Suburban welfare is more relevant these days, though, especially for soft-roaders like these. Which is why the current Vitara’s weapons and tactics, which include enough equipment for everyone’s convenience, sticky AllGrip multi-mode four-wheel-drive, steady hill descent control and colourful paint schemes (like this demo unit’s Savannah Ivory), work well in our Garden City.
Suzuki Vitara 1.6 (A)
ENGINE 1586cc, 16-valves, inline-4
MAX POWER 118bhp at 6000rpm
MAX TORQUE 156Nm at 4400rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT 95.2bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 6-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H 13 seconds
TOP SPEED 180km/h
CONSUMPTION 17.5km/L (combined)
CO2 EMISSION 131g/km
PRICE INCL. COE $114,900 (after $5k CEVS rebate)
Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.0 (A)
ENGINE 1995cc, 16-valves, inline-4
MAX POWER 140bhp at 6000rpm
MAX TORQUE 183Nm at 4000rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT 92.1bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 4-speed automatic
0-100KM/H 13 seconds
TOP SPEED 170km/h
CONSUMPTION 11.1km/L (estimated)
CO2 EMISSION Not available
PRICE INCL. COE Not applicable
