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Suzuki X-90 2-seater bridges gap between sport-ute and coupe
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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Spend a week driving Suzuki's newest automotive label and you'll find yourself at the center of attention, with stares and questions from those passing by.
"What in the world," they all seem to ask, "is that cute little car?"
Although cute is not one of those descriptives this writer usually uses to describe a vehicle, it seems to fit the newest Suzuki.
Dubbed X-90, the 2-seat Suzuki coupe with its removable T-top roof panels and 4-wheel traction option looks like nothing else on the road today.
Consider X-90 in a class of its own.
Pop the top and it's an open-air 2-seat sportster.
Shift into 4x4 traction mode, and it's a sport-utility vehicle which can plow an off-pavement course like a rough little truck.
Drive to the mall or beach or supermarket and it's an attention-getter, guaranteed.
The X-90 looks like a real car, only in miniature.
It's tiny -- riding on a subcompact wheelbase of 86.6 inches and with a height of but 60 inches.
It has a snub nose, and blunt tail treatment too, plus a top bar which wraps over the rear portion of the eensy-weensy passenger compartment.
Inside, it reminds me of the old Porsche 914, that mid-engine 2-seater with no room to speak of behind front seats.
Yes, X-90 feels cramped inside at first blush because you're probably not accustomed to sitting in a machine of such sparse interior measurements. But it becomes more comfortable as you acclimate to this new environment.
The interior contains a number of comfort features and safety systems, beginning with twin airbags.
What in the world is Suzuki trying to do with X-90?
It's obviously creating a new kind of car but this is not the first time the Japanese automaker has ventured into uncharted automotive territory.
Suzuki splashed into America a decade ago with a unique open-top sport-utility wagon dubbed the Samurai. Compared to anything else at the time, Samurai was a bare-bones off-road warrior, rough to ride and crude in construction. But it carried a price tag of less than $10,000, making it the least expensive 4x4 on the market.
And, its crudeness aside, Samurai was fun to drive.
After introducting Samurai, Suzuki gradually expanded its line during the ensuing decade to include a more comfortable sport-utility vehicle, Sidekick, plus the bargain-priced Swift hatchback.
In an alliance with General Motors, Suzuki also built a North American production facility in Canada which today supplies most of Suzuki's products for the United States market, as well as several labels in GM's Geo line.
The X-90 becomes a cutting-edge vehicle direct from Japanese designers who apparently like to pack comfort features and fun accessories into a 4-wheel machine of miniature scale.
To create this mini-car with its bulging fenders and rear spoiler, Suzuki's designers began with underpinnings of the Sidekick convertible.
Sidekick's rear seat was deleted and a smoothly contoured sheetmetal shell installed to give X-90 a slick outward appearance. In place of Sidekick's rear seat, the new vehicle carries a trunk compartment, with notchback conformation for the rear exterior.
Like Sidekick, X-90 stands high, which with optional 4x4 hardware aboard provides adequate ground clearance for heading off pavement.
X-90 also contains Sidekick's engine. The 1.6-liter 4-in-line plant uses a sophisticated format with 16 valves, overhead cam and electronic fuel injection.
Still, output only reaches 95 hp.
Don't let the midget horsepower rating fool you, though, because tight gear ratios on the manual shifter and a curb weigh of less than 2,500 lbs work in X-90's favor for surprisingly snappy take-offs at lower speeds.
The 4WD edition also adds automatic locking front hubs and a 2-speed transfer case. A lever mounted on floorboard allows the driver to shift from rear 4x2 to 4-wheel-drive traction format.
A week of X-90 tests included limited off-road experience, and the vehicle proved itself capable in traversing muddy creekbeds and scaling steep dirt slopes. Even so, the designer's intent may not be for rugged or extensive off-road usage.
With its obvious slant toward a youthful market, perhaps a better utilization for the 4x4 equipment would be to reach the beach via sandy path or zip up a snowy road to a ski lift's parking lot.
On pavement, the short wheelbase and quick steering system make X-90 an aggressive performer.
Its brief turning radius of 16 feet means you can cut a U-turn in two lanes of traffic or find a parking spot in half the space of a conventional car.
X-90 seems well suited for urban driving, with the tiny package working to its advantage.
At speed on a fast-paced freeway it holds its own, although it may not feel quite as comfortable after an extended cross-state trek.
Inside, X-90's wee cockpit with twin bucket seats stocks standard safety features like power steering, daytime running lights and 4-wheel anti-lock brakes.
Refinements appear even in the base model, such as floor carpeting, power windows and door locks, a tachometer with the analog instruments, intermittent windshield wipers and rear window defroster.
The 4WD edition adds cruise control, a security alarm and deluxe AM-FM stereo sound package with cassette deck.
Sticker figures for X-90 begin at $13,900 for a base 4x2 with manual stick shift. Prices run past $16,000 for the top X-90 in 4x4 stance with automatic transmission.
1996 SUZUKI X-90
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 1996 SUZUKI X90 Specs |
| Description: |
Subcompact 2-seat SUV |
| Model Options: |
Subcompact 2-seat SUV |
| Wheelbase: |
86.6 inches |
| Overall Length: |
146.1 inches
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| Engine Size: |
SOHC 1.6-L I4
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| Transmission: |
2WD: Manual/5
4WD: Manual/5, Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
2WD: Rear 4x2
4WD: 4x4 |
| Braking: |
Disc/drum/ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
25/28 mpg |
| Price: |
$ 13,900 to $ 17,000 |
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