Any sport utility vehicle would be a step down from the Lincoln Navigator reviewed last week, but not everyone needs or can afford such a beauteous behemoth. The action is a lot more fast and furious down in the sub-$20K range, where utility really reigns, with sportiness a close second and luxury an unreasonable presumption.
The Sidekick isn't as long in the tooth as the Jeep Wrangler, but it has been around long enough to make such competitors as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V look like upstarts. Like the Jeep, it has gotten incrementally better each year, adding such enhancements as dual airbags and antilock brakes. But also like the Jeep, it seems a bit crude compared with the clean-sheet-of-paper competitors.
Young drivers wanted
I was recently disappointed when I tested Suzuki's new Esteem wagon, feeling it was not up to the high standard of its competition. Conversely, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Sidekick has endured the ravages of time since I first previewed a prototype in the Nevada desert nearly a decade ago.
It's obviously a youth-oriented vehicle, and youths are more interested in image and economy than in ride quality or noise level or any of those practical considerations we relics like to prattle about.
Young at heart, anyway, I enjoyed a week in Suzuki's finest effort, the Sidekick Sport JLX 4x4 with automatic transmission. With a heavy load of standard equipment and no options, it sneaked in under $21,000, freight included.
I must admit I was taken aback when I got the fax of the window sticker, because when I first met the Sidekick (albeit with ragtop and manual transmission), it was nearly $10 grand less.
Price is relative
It's still less than a comparably equipped Honda or Toyota mini-SUV, and the Sport JLX is top of the line. You can get a two-wheel-drive, two-door base level Sidekick for less than $13.5K, but what's the point? If you're going to endure its deficiencies, you might as well at least have four-wheel drive to compensate.
The Sport series is distinguished by the two-tone paint treatment, which is well done and makes this rather hard-edged machine looks a lot snazzier. Accent bulges over the front and rear fenders help define the shape and make it appear larger.
The Sport-level machines come in 2WD versions and the 4WD JX and fancier JLX.
The Sport series also gets a more powerful engine than the cheaper models. The base engine is a rather wimpy 1.6-liter single-overhead-cam number which makes 95 horses (at 5,600 rpm) and 98 foot-pounds (at 4,000). The Sport sports a 1.8-liter twincam mill worth 120 horses (way up at 6,500 rpm) and 114 foot-pounds (@3,500).
Even with the bigger numbers, the Sidekick wasn't exactly swift, but that's unfortunately typical of the class. At least Suzuki has given it quite low overall gearing to multiply the torque that is available. True, turning about 1,000 rpm per 20 mph in overdrive fourth, it was a little buzzy on the highway, but at 70 mph it was right at the torque sweet spot and felt fairly responsive.
Coming off the dime, the Sidekick felt rather languid with the automatic transmission, and I noted a couple of distinct "flat spots" as the engine climbed toward redline. On the far side of 3,500 rpm, response seemed much better. The engine did not like slogging along below 2,000 revs.
Curb weight of the 4-door 4x4 with automatic is a fairly trim 2,822 pounds, but still, with only 120 hp, you're looking at 0-60 performance in the sanitation truck class the slow side of 12 seconds, like its peers, RAV4 and CR-V. I wish somebody would come up with a 180-hp engine for one of these little guys so I could rant about how unsafe it is. Actually, 150 would be more like it.
In its propaganda, Suzuki speaks of the "long, smooth-riding 97.6-inch wheelbase." Well, that's a joke it's long only vis-a-vis tricycles and its little two-door brethren, which have only 86.6 inches between axles. One expects anything with less than 100 inches of wheelbase to be somewhat choppy, and the Sidekick does nothing to disabuse us of that notion.
Over a washboardy stretch of road, the pitching motions were almost too much for this landlubber to endure. Over more normative surfaces, ride quality was acceptable, though the Sidekick felt as if it was running out of spring travel rather too soon. There's a front stabilizer bar to dampen roll motions, but in any kind of hard cornering, there was a certain amount of perceived tippiness.
The tires are adequate 205/75/15s on the run-of-the-mill 4-doors, while the Sport series gets hefty 215/65s on 16-inch wheels, alloys on the JLX, steel on the others. This welcome bit of extravagance enhances stability.
Suzuki does not cite a coefficient of drag, but, given the boxy nature of the beast, I'm sure it's nothing to brag about. No sport-ute is anywhere close to a car it pushes air aside rather than slices through it.
This shows up at highway speeds in a rather high noise level a not terribly unpleasant sort of white noise which serves as a muffling blanket for the suspension and engine clamor which is rather obtrusive, too. It was possible to carry on a conversation at 65 mph, but I think the high ambient noise would take its toll on a long trip. Of course so would the jiggly suspension, and that's really not what this vehicle was designed for. It's sufficiently fun to drive that on a relatively short commute run that you're willing to overlook its shortcomings.
Automatic is a good one
I tend to be lukewarm about saddling a small engine with an automatic transmission, but I do like them for 4x4s, and Suzuki's is a very good one. It shifted fast and smoothly, and I couldn't detect much slippage. It has a power/normal switch to alter the preprogrammed shift points.
The 4WD lever is positioned somewhat awkwardly, but was easy to employ nonetheless, and the Sidekick engaged its front wheels, on the fly, almost instantaneously. Automatic locking front hubs are standard on the JLX series, optional on the JX. That's lame automatic hubs (which disengage the front wheels from the half-shafts when 2WD is selected) have become pretty much standard everywhere else.
There is a low range, called upon with the vehicle stopped, that multiplies torque and/or engine braking in very difficult situations. That, a sturdy ladder-type box frame, and a ground clearance of 8.1 inches give it the proper credentials for going where roads aren't.
With its hard-working engine, the Sidekick only rates 21 mpg city, 24 highway in EPA tests. Out in the real world, where aerodynamics plays a role, I logged 19.7 in somewhat energetic driving, with a lot of freeway cruising and a little bit of 4x4 work. At least regular fuel is acceptable.
The brakes are discs front, drums rear. Antilock is standard on the JLX, optional below that level. It worked pretty well, with somewhat aggressive pedal thumping when I tried some high-rate "panic" stops.
The Highway Loss Data Institute rates the Sidekick
4-door 4x4 average in terms of driver fatalities in the class of utility vehicles, much better than the Jeep Wrangler, and, curiously enough, better by far than its cousin, the Chevy Tracker. HLDI has no specific breakout for injury, collision and theft losses, but rates small utilities as a class as average. Consumers Union rates the Sidekick as much worse than the average car or sport-ute in terms of personal injuries not surprising, given its low mass. On the other hand, they rate both Sidekick and Tracker as well above average in mechanical reliability.
The JLX comes with a 4-speaker AM/FM/cassette Alpine stereo. When fed a good signal (as from a tape or powerful FM station) it did a creditable job. It broke up badly, however, on marginal inputs.
As mentioned above, the test machine was fairly maximal. For less than the current average transaction price, it supplies a lot of fun and a healthy measure of utility.
Alan Vonderhaar welcomes email at avonderhaar@enquirer.com and snail mail c/o The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202.
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