Base 4dr All-Wheel Drive Crossover
2010 Suzuki SX4

The aftermarket put some more heat in Suzuki's hot hatch The interior of the SX4 SportBack is by no means luxurious, but provides a no-nonsense environment with a refreshingly simple design. There are hard plastics on the dash and doors, but they don't feel offensive to the touch and manage to still appear fairly attractive. The seats are made of soft cloth and are comfortable, offering nice back support, while the thick steering wheel is comfortable to grip and houses only the most necessary buttons (volume, cruise, etc.). The center stack is laid out in the traditional and intuitive way, with the CD/AM/FM/XM controls above and climate controls below. A no-cost pop-up nav system rises from the top of the dash, and while it doesn't look as fancy as in-dash units, it gets the job done with a simple touchscreen. There are also some nice touches that make the cockpit feel a little more upscale, specifically the aluminum pedals with the Suzuki logo and handsome black gauges with white lettering and red and blue accents. We expect quite a bit of convenience from a modern hot hatch, and the SX4 SportBack didn't disappoint. There's decent leg room for rear seat passengers, although anyone north of six feet tall probably wouldn't want to commit to a road trip in the back seat. The rear cargo area also offers a good amount of storage space, and the rear seats can fold 60/40 to make room for larger items. The 2010 SX4 SportBack powers the front wheels with an updated version of its 16-valve DOHC 2.0-liter inline-four producing 150 horsepower and 140 pound-feet torque, up from 143 hp and 136 lb-ft the previous year. It's not a huge increase, but at such modest levels, every little bit helps. Our specially equipped car also came with an open-element air intake ($199), ECU upgrade ($399) and a freer-flowing exhaust, so we're guessing it had a slightly higher output than stock. The majority of the time, the peppy four-pot provided enough motivation to get going in a reasonably quick manner, especially in low speeds around town. The motor builds towards redline without a fall-off in power, although it lacks gusto even on slight inclines, especially below 3,000 rpm. Also new for 2010 is a six-speed transmission and the option of a CVT with both a console-mounted gear selector and paddle shifters. The extra gear helps improve fuel economy, and the SportBack is rated at 22/30 for the manual and 23/30 for the CVT. Thankfully, our tester was equipped with the standard transmission, which provided nice, accurate shifts, with just the slightest hint of notchiness. Over our time with the car, we found that the SX4 responded better to aggressive shifting, and we actually enjoyed banging from one gear to the next. The only issue we ran into was an overly touchy throttle that made it quite difficult to get the car going smoothly from first gear. The Sportback comes equipped with a MacPherson suspension in front …
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