Chris Riley tests the 2025 Suzuki Vitara ALLGRIP small SUV with pricing, specs, ride and handling, safety, verdict and everything the over-50 driver needs to know.
Summary: The Suzuki Vitara is coming to the end of its long model life, and it shows. And the all-wheel drive version costs a hefty $4000 more than the 2WD version.
2025 Suzuki Vitara ALLGRIP small SUV
Pricing: $40,490 (plus on road costs)
Options: metallic paint $695, two-tone (different coloured roof) $1295
Warranty: Five-years, unlimited km, five-years roadside assist, capped servicing ($366 for each of the first three services, or $397 each for the first five)
Safety: unrated
Engine: 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine
Service intervals: 12 months or 10,000km
Power: 103kW @ 5500rpm
Torque: 220Nm @ 1500-400rpm
Transmission: six-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Body: 4175mm (long); 1775mm (wide); 1610mm (high)
Build country: Hungary
Kerb weight: 1260kg
Payload: 545kg
Towing capacity: 1200kg
Luggage storage: 375L (seats up), 710L (seats folded)
Wheels: 17-inch alloy
Tyres: 215/55R17 Continental
Spare wheel: space saver
Ground clearance: 185mm
Turning circle: 10.4m
Fuel tank: 47 litres
Claimed consumption: 6.2L/100km (95 RON unleaded)
Consumption on test: 7.0L/100km (508km)
seniordriveraus consumption on test: not tested
[review]
The Suzuki Vitara occupies a special place in Australian off-road folklore.
It used to be able to go anywhere the big 4x4s like Patrol and Land Cruiser could go. It laughed in the face of danger.
But this all changed with the arrival of the fourth and current generation of Vitara that no longer sits on a ladder chassis and is no longer a real off roader.
In fact, it shares a chassis with the S-Cross model, which is about as soft as they come, with front or all-wheel drive variants.
Still, Vitara remains the third best-selling model in a five-model range of vehicles.
What’s it cost?
There are three grades from which to choose: Vitara 1.6 2WD, priced from $29,990, Vitara Turbo 1.4 2WD from $36,490 and Vitara Turbo ALLGRIP, priced from $40,490 – all prices plus on-road costs.
As you can see ALLGRIP adds a hefty $4000 premium to the price of the car.
Metallic paint is an extra $695 and two-tone with a different coloured roof is another $1295.
If you had struck while the iron was hot, you could have got 10 percent off the driveway price before the end of January.
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
The entry grade is powered by a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, while the turbo gets a punchier, 1.4-litre turbocharged unit that produces 20 percent more power and 40 percent more torque.
The latter is the more significant of these numbers.
The cabin is decked out in a leather and suede combo trim stitched in an interesting tyre tread pattern, along with a leather-clad steering wheel and single zone climate control air.
Standard kit includes keyless entry and start, tilt and reach adjust steering wheel, 17-inch alloys, rear view camera, LED DRLs, auto LED headlights, auto wipers, adaptive cruise control and a panoramic sunroof.
Infotainment consists of an aftermarket 9.0-inch touchscreen, with Bluetooth, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, AM/FM radio and six-speaker audio.
Missing is DAB+ digital radio.
Vitara remains unrated by ANCAP, but comes with seven airbags including a driver’s knee bag plus a rear-view camera.
The turbo adds Adaptive cruise control, Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), Blind-spot monitoring, Lane departure warning, Rear cross-traffic alert and Weaving Alert.
Two ISOfix and three tether style child seat anchor points are provided.
Vitara is covered by a 5-year, unlimited kilometre warranty with capped-price servicing and roadside assistance for the first five years.
Service is due every 12 months or 10,000km.
What’s it go like?
The Vitara is starting to show its age.
Although it sits in the budget buy category, the cabin and instrumentation look and feel dated.
But older drivers may well be drawn to the dated layout with its buttons and gauges.
They won’t find the cheap hard plastics attractive.
Rear legroom is okay thanks to scooped out seatbacks in front, but that’s not saying much.
It’s still pretty tight and lacks air outlets, or really anything for back seat passengers.
Cargo capacity with the rear set in use is 375 litres, with a hidden area under the floor which in turn hides a space saver spare.
The Vitara is 4175mm long, with just 185mm of ground clearance and this model weighs in at 1260kg.
The 1.6-litre naturally aspirated engine in the entry model produces 86kW at 6000 revs and 156Nm of torque from 4400 revs.
The turbocharged 1.4-litre engine in our test vehicle, however, produces 103kW of power at 5500 revs and 220Nm of torque from 1500-4000 revs.
Drive is through a 6-speed auto to all four wheels when required.
It’s a no brainer. We’d take the turbo every time.
Small engines aren’t necessarily bad, or even relatively low power output, depending on what they are being asked to push or pull.
The turbo addresses this problem.
It’s an easy, fun car to drive, but lacks refinement.
The six-speed auto sometimes feels like an old four-speed the way it carries on, changing down and roaring dramatically to life if you punch the accelerator.
Also, and this has been well documented, reefing the transmission selector back for drive will see manual mode selected and the engine max out before you’ve figured out what is going on.
It becomes tiresome.
Suspension is Mac strut at the front with a basic, torsion beam rear setup, and it rides on 17-inch alloys with 215/55 profile rubber.
The car sits flat, feels taught and has a firmish ride, and can be driven enthusiastically with confidence. In fact, the suspension is excellent on backroads.
Steering is sharp and accurate, and the brakes are confident. But the Continental tyres are a bit of a disappointment as they lack grip.
The analogue clock between the air vents is a classy touch, but we’d swap it for a digital speedo. Why do so many car companies regard this as not necessary?
You do however get some other totally irrelevant information cycling through the trip computer, including graphs for power and torque.
The infotainment system is well laid out and easy to use, but lacks digital radio and the navigation could do with speed camera warnings.
There’s one USB and one 12-volt socket in the lower centre console, with another 12-volt socket in the luggage area.
Rated at 6.2L/100km, with a 47-litre fuel tank, we were getting 7.0L/100km after 507km of mixed driving. It takes 95 premium unleaded.
What we like
- Easy to live with
- Solid engineering
- Good fuel economy
- Practical compact wagon
What we don’t like
- No digital speedo
- No rear air vents
- No speed camera warnings
- Touchscreen at times unresponsive
- lacks built-in navigation
- No power or USB outlets in console box
What over-50s need to know
It’s not surprising to learn Vitara is in runout.
It’s even older than the Mitsubishi ASX and that’s saying something.
Time has caught up with the Vitara which simply no longer offers enough of anything for the price.
At the same time older drivers seem to find the Vitara and the rest of the Suzuki range appealing, so be sure to check it out.
You might snag a bargain.
seniordriver comments
The Suzuki Vitara has simply failed to keep up with the competition.
The absence of digital radio won’t worry some buyers, but the absence of an ANCAP rating should. The lack of grip with the Continental tyres is a cause for concern, too.
Competitors such as the Haval Jolion offer buyers such things as a larger infotainment screen and a higher standard of fittings. But the Suzuki still manages to beat many competitors on price, if that’s all you’re looking for. But you should compare with some of the newcomers such as the Haval and the Chery Omoda, and long-term favourites such as the Hyundai Kona, Kia Seltos, Mitsubishi ASX and Eclipse Cross.