2002 Suzuki Aerio

While best known for sport-utility vehicles, Suzuki has come up with a lively, roomy new small car with one of the most powerful engines in the subcompact market. The new four-door model is called the Aerio, which is an appropriately lighthearted name for a car that looks and drives as if it has a carefree personality. Suzuki said it picked the name because the car has smooth, aerodynamic styling. It certainly selected the right colors to emphasize the Aerio's sportiness: They range from bright red and yellow to "bold, high tech silver. "The front-drive Aerio recently went on sale and is sold with Suzuki's decent, but largely overlooked, small Esteem sedan and wagon, which will be dropped at the end of the 2002 model year.

The Aerio comes as a sedan or as a "sport-crossover" (SX) hatchback. All have front-wheel drive, but the SX will also be offered with four-wheel drive in September. The SX I tested looked and felt especially sporty. It has the high, upright seating and roominess found in small crossover vehicles, which combine attributes of cars and light trucks. Although the hatchback market is growing, Suzuki is hedging its bets by offering the Aerio as a more formal looking sedan. Here's betting that most young buyers will opt for the SX, which resembles the new Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe crossover vehicles. Both Aerio models weigh about 2,600 pounds. They share a 97.6-inch wheelbase, but the sedan is 4.8 inches longer at 171.3 inches with its conventional trunk. The sedan comes in S and higher-line GS form, with base prices ranging from $13,574 to $16,074.

The SX comes loaded with equipment. Its prices go from $14,574 to $16,074, depending on whether a buyer orders or omits an automatic transmission and anti-lock brakes. Curiously, Suzuki says those prices "include the cost of the $75 floor mats," which aren't mandatory. OK, but who would want an Aerio without floor mats? Why doesn't Suzuki just throw them in as standard equipment? After all, the Aerio is very well equipped for its prices. All models have air conditioning, AM/FM/CD, tilt steering wheel, rear defroster, intermittent wipers, split-folding rear seat to increase cargo space and power steering, windows and mirrors.

The GS sedan and SX add such items as power door locks, cruise control, spiffy five-spoke alloy wheels, remote keyless entry and a rear spoiler. Their cosmetic items include color-keyed door handles and mirrors--and a chrome exhaust tip. The Aerio looks sporty with side moldings and wheel flares. It also has jewel-like halogen headlights, which are uncommon for an entry level economy car. But all Aerios have a digital speedometer that is rather small and a tiny digital tachometer that is hard to read at a glance. The Aerio has a limited amount of dashboard space, and it looks as if Suzuki didn't use a conventional speedometer and "tach" because they would have taken up too much room. That's probably why the radio controls also are small.

The climate controls are large and all controls are easy to reach. For instance, power window controls on the driver's door couldn't be positioned more perfectly. There are plenty of cupholders, front and rear, and front doors have storage pockets. The front bucket seats are especially supportive, although the driver's seat should slide back a few more inches in the generally quiet interior. Still, there's decent room for four 6-footers, who sit very upright--one of the design tricks to provide lots of room in a small vehicle. The cargo area is fairly large with rear seatbacks in their normal position, and it's impressive when the rear seat bottom and seatbacks are flipped forward.

Powering the Aerio is a stout 2-liter four-cylinder engine with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The sophisticated aluminum engine produces 141 horsepower and good performance. Acceleration of many small cars usually slows a lot above 65 mph, but the Aerio has a good 65-75 mph passing time. The small engine is buzzy when pushed, although items such as liquid-filled motor mounts--usually not found on economy cars--cut down typical four-cylinder vibration. The standard five-speed manual gearbox provides slightly better acceleration and fuel economy, but the extra-cost four-speed automatic transmission is very responsive. Estimated fuel economy is 26 mpg in the city and 31-32 on the highway, and there is a 13.2-gallon fuel tank.

Steering is quick and handling is nimble. However, the 15-inch wheels and 55-series tires of the SX hatchback and GS sedan provide better road grip than the standard 14-inch wheels and 65-series tires of the S sedan. However, the bigger tires and wheels are optional for the S. The supple suspension provides a surprisingly good ride for such a small car, and braking is good, although the pedal needs a firmer feel. Anti-lock brakes are optional. Safety features include depowered air bags and a reinforced unibody structure with cross members on the floor designed to control impact energy during a collision. The Suzuki SX auto show concept vehicle had a spicy, supercharged 220-horsepower engine and all-wheel drive, and who's to say Suzuki eventually won't offer such a model? But for now, the Aerio should do just fine for cost-conscious folks who want driving kicks and above-average utility.

SUZUKI AERIO SX

Prices
$13,574-$16,074
Likes
Powerful for its class. Roomy. Nice ride. Fun to drive.
Dislikes
Rather noisy engine. Small digital speedometer and tachometer. Tiny radio controls.