March 09, 2005 - Compact 5-door hatchbacks are getting cooler these days. For example, we always liked the VW Golf. The Mazda Protégé wagon made us salivate, even on those dry days. Their new 5-door "3" is no slouch. Subaru's Impreza wagons have always been icons of inspiration to us. Even our recent Kia Spectra 5 left us with a positive impression. Enter Suzuki. Yeah, Suzuki. Their all-new Reno boasts European styling to round out a 5-door package that is another success in our book.
Our test vehicle was the Reno LX, the middle-priced trim equipped with the same 5-speed do-it-your-own-damn-self shifter as the cheaper "S" trim. There's also an LX with an auto tranny for those who just want to get there.
Many of our test cars offer one element that stands out as the biggest surprise. In the case of the Reno, it's the styling. And the surprise is a pleasant one. Seeing flared fenders actually done right makes us smile. We also found the styling of the tail lights to be up-to-date, without looking like another Toyota Altezza / Lexus IS300 ripoff.
The tail light clusters look like something Mazda might come up with, boasting the solid shape in red, save for the round clear reverse lights. Here, the turn signals have been designed to mimic the appearance of the reverse lights, for a unique look that we like.
The subtle spoiler is a nice touch to the LX and EX models. We might as well mention that we love the Suzuki logo too. Why not? It looks cool. Especially on this compact 5-door hatch.
At the front, the grille should appeal to the young tuner-minded crowd, and probably wouldn't turn off anybody else. Fog lamps generally look good, and the ones on this car are no exception. The headlights do remind us somewhat of the late and not-so-great Cavalier. However, they compliment the rest of the car so we'll practice some positive thinking skills and just appreciate the many elements we like. Four other elements we like are the wheels! The stock 15's look appropriate for the car. The remainder of the lines seem sleek enough, finishing off a well-proportioned exterior. It's been designed just enough; not too much.
Once inside, one appreciates the level to which Suzuki applies good design decisions. It looks great. We really like the texture of the dash. Our friend who drives a BMW X-5 was actually a little jealous of some of the materials used inside our Reno. There's also this really nice patterned "carpet" on the door panels, also carried over onto the middle of the seats.
We're guage-snobs, and we were happy with the entire cluster. Well, except for the numbers. The actual font used for the numbers was, in our eyes, trying a little too hard to look fancy. Overall, the "designed just enough" characteristic of the exterior holds true inside as well. Suzuki tells us that we can thank Italdesign for the beautiful styling.
Adequate. Okay, maybe a little more than adequate. The Reno's performance is not on par with it's styling. That's okay, though. No one said a nice looking car has to be a track monster. Besides, it's styled to look "cool", not "like a racecar". The twin-cam setup features 16 valves helping the 4 cylinders spew up to 126 hp. And that number doesn't arrive until 5,600 rpm. The torque figure is slightly higher, and arrives slightly sooner, with 131 lb.-ft. being squeezed from the 2 liter engine when the needle hits 4,000 rpm. We found that the throttle response dropped as the rpm's went up.
Add to this the soft (aka "smooth", depending on whom you ask) suspension, and you have a performance level that certainly doesn't impress us. But remember the value of the car, and the fact that we already described performance as "adequate", and there's no let down. Most people wouldn't complain. The Reno does sport some pretty stoppy discs at all four corners, however, with ventilated discs up front. Brakes are good. Good brakes are better.
Running the Reno through the gears felt pretty solid. No worries about the quality of the transmission. Things only seemed amiss when pulling the shifter to the left while making for 1st or Reverse. The shaft would knock against something. Is this a shift box issue, or a result from the way the shifter is integrated with the interior? Hey, we didn't build it!
Comfort: Again, adequate. Okay, maybe a little better than adequate. Hey, there's that phrase again! Overall, this car has been done very smartly. Most aspects of the Reno are better than adequate. All around, we find everything to be done a little better than, say, a Neon. We felt sufficiently comfy in the seats. We've known better, but no complaints here.
In our first impressions, we felt like the placement of the pedals and the available seat positions cater to people under six feet tall. This is surprising, since there is plenty of head room, even for us. This brings us to the one problem with the driver's position. Or, depending on how you look at it, with the rear hatch. The bottom of the rear window starts so high up that visibility was very limited. We found ourselves doing more over-the-shoulder looking than usual, and still having problems. We expect that shorter drivers will have even more problems with this.
The abundance of head room continues into the back seats. So does the leg room. Only with one six-foot adult in front of another would things get anything less than roomy for one of them, depending on the position of the front seat.
Safety, though not exactly an element of comfort, is definitely a means to avoid discomfort! Hence, let's get into it here. Dual two-stage airbags and side airbags up front. The back seats integrate LATCH systems for the kiddies young enough to be jammed in car seats. Those nice 4-wheel disc brakes can also be complimented by an ABS system for those inclined to fork out the cash.
Convenience: Guess what? Both back seats fold down! What does this mean? You can fit a huge TV in the back of this little compact. One big enough to the tune of 45.4 cubic feet.
All interior controls were to our liking except for the tuning knob on the stereo. We don't care for those recoiling toggle thingies, as found on the Reno. Nor do we like those left/right push-button tuners on other cars. We like knobs that give a little "click" with every move. One can surf the radio waves without even looking at the display with this type. Those of you who don't listen to the radio won't care though. The CD player sounds nice, and with the system utilizes 4 tweeters to make your ears joyful and piss off your dog. Eight speakers are integrated overall. You can even play your mp3 Cds that you won from buying sodas, or that you illegally downloaded!
Front cup holders can be diameter-adjusted to two settings via plastic piece that flips back and forth between them, at all times making one or the other more fitting for a can of soda. This idea will probably appeal to many consumers, but we're waiting for the Red Bull-sized cup holder. Since we're cool with our spiffy shades, we made use of the integrated sunglasses holder just above the driver's side window.
The list of standard features for the Reno is pretty nice. All models come with air conditioning and power locks and mirrors. Vehicle-speed sensitive power steering is something we love. Speaking of steering, the wheel incorporates cruise control and stereo controls. Micron filtering for the AC is also included, as well as heated power side mirrors and the aforementioned airbags. These are all pretty nice to have standard on a car this inexpensive.
Our LX model had the power tilt-and-slide sunroof, leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter, alloy wheels, and remote keyless entry. Lucky us. Again, it's really nice to have these things at this price. We keep mentioning price. Let's cut to the chase.
Under $16,000. You can have all this for under $16,000. We're not taking secret commissions from Suzuki here, but we're tempted to go advertise the Reno ourselves. We like the car a lot, and just feel like telling people. Fortunately, we work for a media company.
So there it is! $15,894 for the LX with the manual tranny and no ABS. The Reno ranges in overall price from $13,994 for the base "S" model with the stick, to the $17,994 ABS-equipped EX model that you don't have to shift. The one we tested is right where we'd want it, though. Kinda makes us want one.
Better than adequate. We'll say it again. Better than adequate. And for cheap. That feeling carried throughout. Honestly, we expect Suzuki to gain a bit of ground in the near future with the United States market. Combine everything else we've said, and slap it on top of a 100,000-mile/7-year powertrain limited warranty. Top it off with the 36,000-mile/3-year new-vehicle limited warranty. Pop it in the oven and what do you get? A deal sandwich! Good job, Suzuki. Now we can finally forget about the Samurai.
Click here to view the original review. Courtesy of IGN Cars.
