Car Throttle

I'm admittedly a little late to the party here.  This is not exactly a new car: the Suzuki Kizashi midsize sedan went on sale in the US market at the beginning of December 2009 as a 2010 model, so it's closing in on two years old.  My question, then - why can I count the number of these cars I've seen on the road since then on my own two hands?  I was curious.  the Kizashi is, in my opinion at least, a pretty good looking midsize sedan with appealing specifications and an almost too-reasonable price.  Why aren't there more of these things buzzing around?  After driving one, I'm even more curious - this is a really nice car. First, some background.  The Kizashi is the

Continuing along with the rest of the new stuff at NYIAS this year, welcome to Part 2 of our "best of the rest" coverage, a sort of all-at-once splurt of information to keep you up to date on the latest developments, without boring you to death with new paint colors for the Kia Optima.  Here we go. 2012 Subaru Impreza Sedan/Hatchback Subaru has finally come to their senses with the Impreza.  While it's always been a relatively fun-to-drive car even in non-turbocharged form, it hasn't really experienced great sales in the economy-car market compared to more conventional rivals.  The biggest reason would be the big-car fuel economy in a small, unrefined package.  The current Impreza 2.5i makes a fairly impressive 173bhp from it's single-cam 2.5L horizontally

The Suzuki Kizashi has seen a lot of action on the performance front. It has become a favorite of tuners, who use the car as a perfect blank canvas for their creations. Also, there have been Suzuki-sanctioned extreme models like the Bonneville Special Kizashi. That car broke a speed record for its class, hitting 203.720 mph. A significant upgrade package comes now with the Platinum Edition Suzuki Kizashi from Road Race Motorsports. RRM says the Platinum Edition Kizashi can "boss around most double priced European Sport sedans" and that is a pretty big claim. Stylistically, we aren't too sure about those side sticker decals, but the ground effects package and rims look good. The Platinum Edition Kizashi is available from RRM in a variety of configurations  - you can

Suzuki set it's sights on the bigger things with the Kizashi, which literally means "something great is coming" in Japanese. Indeed, as the Kizashi has been welcomed to critical acclaim. It should be hitting the CarThrottle garage sometime soon for a full-review. For now, Suzuki is making waves - big ones, in the performance industry by breaking the speed record for its class. It all starts out with a Kizashi modified to produce 500 horsepower from its 2.4-liter four-cylinder. That is accomplished using a Turbonetics turbocharger at 16 psi, forged rods and pistons, an intercooler, new intake manifold and tuned "long tube" header to boost the 2.4-liter four-cylinder over 500 horsepower. Other modifications include seam welded steel wheels, coilover shocks, special Goodyear tires and a front air dam. As

The new Kizashi (which means "something great is coming" translated from Japanese) is set to arrive in dealerships this month. As part of a promotional campaign surrounding the car's launch, they are announcing the Kizashi Test Drive Challenge incentive program that kicked off on Wednesday. Ever since introducing the Kizashi, Suzuki has tried to position the car as sort of an alternative to luxury brands. The feature list is quite lengthy, and while technically "mid-size", it actually is more on the compact end of the spectrum. I applauded it at introduction for the possibilities: a starting price of $18,999, a manual transmission, and the likelihood of great driving characteristics. Still, I never expected it to be compared against vehicles like the Audi A4 and Acura TSX. Apparently, Suzuki

Suzuki is a brand that has a history in motorsports - dirtbikes, ATVs, motorcycles - you name it and Suzuki makes it. Not only that, they rank quite highly in doing so. Ask about their automobiles on other hand and you'll get a different answer, as Suzuki has found it difficult translating that excitement to its automotive division. That is something they are looking to change with a product offensive here in the United States. That plan begins with the Kizashi - its name translated from Japanese means "something great is coming." Today Suzuki has announced pricing for the trim levels of the entire lineup. There are four: Kizashi S, SE, GTS and the most upscale model,  SLS. As rumored, the base Kizashi S comes in at only $18,999.

Suzuki first revealed the Kizashi mid-size sedan at the end of July this year. Spyshots came out quite a bit earlier than that, and some speculation swirled that the car could possibly have been cancelled after a delay in introduction. Thankfully that proved not to be the case! Suzuki recently held a media event for the Kizashi, and the reviews from the press are starting to trickle in. Unsurprisingly, they are quite good. From the first time the car was revealed, I was impressed with what it had to offer. The Kizashi's styling doesn't break any new ground (it looks a like the Jetta in the front) but it is good looking, and most importantly seems to offer a good performance value. The specifications list on the

Suzuki is a brand name world-renowned for it's excellence in motorcycles, dirtbikes and ATVs.  Many people recognize the company as the leader in the area. With all that goodwill, it's a shame not to try to build on that with the company's automotive business. Suzuki has now recognized this and is working to do just that in it's products as well as advertising. One of the first examples of this is the Suzuki Kizashi mid-size sedan. According to Suzuki, the name Kizashi "tells us something great is coming." I think they're right! For some reason I really have taken to this car. I like the clean, modern and forward-looking design. In addition, Suzuki's expertise in packaging small cars has resulted in a car with larger interior space

Thanks to an savvy Autoblog reader, new spy shots have been captured of Suzuki's upcoming Kizashi mid-size sedan. Suzuki displayed a concept previewing the vehicle at the New York International Auto Show. After some speculation that the car was being cancelled, a victim of the downturn, Suzuki recently confirmed that the car is still on track for a launch in December of this year.  Spy shots bear that out, as Suzuki continues to test the car. I'm quite impressed with what I'm seeing! Check out that interior!  Not anything revolutionary (did you expect it to be though?) for the segment but definitely well put together, with a nice design.  I'm impressed; think it should do very well when put up against the competition. The Kizashi Concept wasn't an exact preview; expect the car