Suzuki Vitara SUV - Interior & comfort
The interior of the new Suzuki Vitara has some neat touches, but some plastics look and feel cheap
The Suzuki is a comfortable car to drive around in, riding well at speed. All models are quiet when you settle into an A-road or motorway cruise and vibrations are kept to a minimum. The ride can be a little fidgety on imperfect roads, though. White stitching on the seats and steering wheel of the SZ-T trim add some welcome colour and help lift the mood of the interior.
Suzuki Vitara dashboard
The recent updates brought only minor changes inside the Vitara. Most prominent are a colour information screen between the dashboard dials, a front centre armrest and the introduction of soft-touch plastics at the top of the dashboard. Despite these tweaks, the Vitara falls some way behind the best European rivals when it comes to interior design. There are some pleasing materials dotted around the interior, such as on the door handles, but the majority of plastics are hard and scratchy, which could put some buyers off. It's perhaps not such an issue on the lower-priced SZ-T, but a little embarrassing on top-spec versions that run the classy Skoda Kamiq close on price.
From behind the wheel, you’ll find the layout of the dashboard is logical – everything is where you'd expect it to be. The large analogue clock in the middle of the dash is an attractive touch, although this is only standard for SZ5 trim.
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The seven-inch touchscreen interface has chunky, bright and clear graphics. However, two translucent menu bars mean the sat-nav map itself is squeezed into a narrow strip in the middle of the screen, which is frustrating. The Vitara also has MirrorLink functionality for displaying smartphone apps on the central screen.
Equipment
There have been three trim levels previously – SZ4, SZ-T and SZ5, but only the top two are now available. Even the entry-level SZ4 has a decent amount of kit, with 16-inch alloy wheels, a CD player, DAB digital radio, adaptive cruise control, automatic air-conditioning, Bluetooth and a USB port all coming as standard.
The mid-range SZ-T trim brings bigger 17-inch alloys, rear privacy glass and the touchscreen - with sat nav, a reversing camera display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The range-topping SZ5 model gets a panoramic sunroof, suede upholstery, front and rear parking sensors, folding mirrors, and keyless entry and start.
Options
Suzuki offers a wide range of paint finishes for the Vitara, including a distinctive metallic orange and a pearl metallic turquoise. Two-tone colour combinations are also on offer, some of which might be described as an acquired taste. You can also specify the colour of the front grille, bumper garnishes, instrument-panel trim, air-vent trim and clock.
You can specify a personalisation package, which gets you chrome-plated foglight surrounds, side mouldings and a roof spoiler. The Rugged package gets you front and rear skid plates, foglight surrounds, side mouldings and boot lip protection. These packs are not available on the SZ4 model.
Technology
The Vitara’s infotainment system isn’t the sleekest looking setup, but it’s logically laid out and pretty easy to use. If you go for one of the higher trim levels, the included sat nav features a map display that’s a little on the small side, while the screen reflects sunlight quite badly – although this is compensated for somewhat by the clear and excellent voice guidance.
Speaking of voices, while the Vitara comes with voice control (if you choose a model with sat nav) we found this a bit hit-and-miss when it came to recognising our spoken inputs.
