But the biggest flaw of this vehicle concerns the fatness of the A-pillars. They are so wide that I have to tilt my head over when I'm turning left on street corners, to make sure I won't be hitting the sidewalk or another vehicle in the intersection. I guess you get used to it after a while, but after a week, it still bothered me as much.

The trunk is big for the size of the car but the seatback does not fold down.

Competition
The SX4 Sport sells for $18,995, which is pretty good considering its equipment list, and what the competition offers. Here's the exhaustive list of compact sedans, with similar equipment levels:

Chevrolet Cobalt LT 1SB with side-curtain airbags, $20,090
Ford Focus SES with 6-CD changer, $20,494
Honda Civic LX, $20,980
Hyundai Elantra GLS Sport, $20,995
Kia Spectra LX Convenience (without alloys, side and side-curtain airbags or ABS), $18,195
Mazda3 GS with Sport package, $21,295
Mitsubishi Lancer ES, $19,698
Nissan Sentra 2.0 S, $19,598
Pontiac G5 SE 1SB with side-curtain airbags, $20,690
Subaru Impreza 2.5i 4-door (without alloys), $20,695
Toyota Corolla Sport (without side and side-curtain airbags), $21,135
Volkswagen City Jetta with Comfort group, A/C, side and side-curtain airbags, $19,795

The SX4 is an excellent value, since it's the least-expensive of the lot, if we excuse the stripped-down Kia. For example, only the Focus can be equipped with a 6-CD changer, unless we pay for higher trim levels that are much more expensive. Note that the base SX4 sedan starts at $17,195.

Conclusion
The SX4 sedan doesn't make a very good first impression, because its engine leaves us a little disappointed. That's not a good thing when your potential customers only have about 15 minutes to test drive the car before purchasing.

However, after a few days, the car shines more and more brightly, and we then admire it for its qualities; it's spacious, well-finished and well-equipped for the money. Can we call it love at second sight? I wonder if Suzuki will sell more sedans than hatchbacks... I wouldn't even be surprised.


Good-looking
Spacious cockpit and trunk
Interesting price



Rear seatback doesn't fold down
Engine works well but lacks excitement



Reduced visibility with the fat A-pillars


Photo Credit : Philippe Champoux