Bigger And Better
by David Finlay (22 Sep 05)

Like the seven-year old model it replaces, the second-generation Grand Vitara comes in two forms and is aimed at two different groups of customers. The short-wheelbase three-door is the more aggressive-looking of these chunkily attractive machines, intended for younger buyers with some idea of what the word "lifestyle" means. More mature customers - and those who might need to do some mildly serious off-roading - are directed towards the more elegant, longer-wheelbase version with five doors.

The new Grand Vitara is longer and wider than the old one. It's also lower, thanks to a change in construction - basically there is now an all-in-one bodyshell (but with an integral ladderframe chassis for extra stiffness) rather than the previous body-on-chassis arrangement. This has allowed Suzuki to lower the floor without compromising interior height, and indeed one of the Grand's best features is the impressive amount of headroom.

Legroom generally isn't bad, though inevitably it's at its most limited in the back of the three-door. A slight peculiarity here is that access to the rear seat is very good from the left but terrible from the right - the front passenger seat slides forward as well as tilts, but the driver's seat only tilts and doesn't leave much room for anyone to get past it. The idea here is to encourage people to get in and out of the rear from the pavement side, though this works only if you've parked the car on the left side of the road.

Both versions have four-wheel drive, but the system is relatively basic in the three-door, where it operates in the same way all the time. The five-door, more adventurously, has two high-ratio modes - one of them including a central diff lock for tougher off-roading - and one low-ratio, plus a neutral facility in case you need to tow the car. All this is controlled electronically via a switch on the dashboard rather than the lever system of the previous Grand.

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