'11 Suzuki SX4 AWD

[mdmead]

I'm thinking of trying a 205/70-16 Dunlop grandtrek and trimming if things don't work as planned. Not a popular size, but looks perfect on tacoma world tire calculator. Wish we had some gearing options.

Still loving the little car.

I too am wondering about what tire to upgrade to. I'm wanting something in an A/T, but don't want to up the size any more than I have to. As much as I'd love to have a lifted SX4 with the biggest tire I can fit, I bought this for the decent mileage and I'm not wanting to give any of that up!

 

[plumber mike]

Same here. It's basically a free car for us with what it saves us in fuel every month.......but.........we live on a dirt road with a driveway that's a seasonal stream. All the clearance I can get is needed. Our motto.....if we can make it up the driveway we can make it anywhere.

I'm averaging 30.9. I expect to lose 1-2 mpg with an increased tire size and a sticky Studless tire, and hope to get it back as I continue to shave weight and get it breathing better.

I'll keep everyone posted

 

[Bobfab]

cool to see folks still modifying and enjoying the SX4, it has been about 5 years since i had mine, but it was a fun car. Damn fuel tank was too small!!

 

[mdmead]

SWEET!

 

[WagoneerSX4]

WagoneerSX4, would you be willing to share your thoughts on getting parts for these cars? Especially into the future as they become even less popular. Thanks.

Same as any other foreign car. Would you go to places like that to find parts for a Mitsubishi? They'd probably look at you cross-eyed as well. There are still Suzuki service centers in North America. By law there has to be because Suzuki has 10yr warranties and they sold cars until 2013. They just won't say Suzuki on the building anymore.

There are also numerous vendors on eBay that sell quality aftermarket parts as well as OEM. There are also tons of companies to order parts from overseas. There are hundreds of thousands of these things running around India and were sold there still this year brand new from the showroom. Parts are extremely affordable even by North American car standards.

So you just have to search a little more than running down to your local parts store. I've always had sort of "niche" cars so I guess I'm used to not be able to pick parts off the shelf.

If you're dead-set on buying from within the US then rockauto is probably your best bet.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I'm thinking of trying a 205/70-16 Dunlop grandtrek and trimming if things don't work as planned. Not a popular size, but looks perfect on tacoma world tire calculator. Wish we had some gearing options.

Those should fit no problem. People run 215/65/16's with no lift and no problems with rubbing. Width is more of an issue than height.

And yes lower gearing is something it seriously needs. Whoever picked the gearing for the 6spd needs to give their head a shake. It's a 4cyl not a big burbling V8!

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I'm averaging 30.9. I expect to lose 1-2 mpg with an increased tire size and a sticky Studless tire, and hope to get it back as I continue to shave weight and get it breathing better.

I really didn't notice economy take a huge hit with my lift and larger tires. Highway I lost maybe 1mpg, but city never changed at all. I can still get 30mpg on the highway pretty easily.

Worst economy is when I have my RTT and fully loaded trailer with my camping gear, 4 passengers, boat and 20hp outboard motor. I still get about 11.2L/100km at 110km/h. That's about the worst you'll ever see.

Damn fuel tank was too small!!

That's also a pretty annoying problem. There are some trails and fire roads where I'm forced to bring along a jerry can.

 

[plumber mike]

Thanks for all the contributions to this thread.......mind if we hijack it for all the SX4s ? Just a couple more:coffeedrink:

So I told you I was shopping for tires.....still am. I've got to get a fat coat of wax on for winter, and see just how much room was in those wheel wells.i have become a cutter rather than a lifter. I also live on a dirt road and like to clean behind plastic liners. So I washed up the car and started popping clips.
Those things trap some mud.....and holy cow those wheel well liners are thin:Wow1:

I think I'm going to hammer the fold and shoot for bigger. 215/70r16.....no lift. If things don't work out I can always lift it. Going to work on some homemade skids today too.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

It's not really the fender lips that get in the way unless you have a crazy wheel offset. It's the inside fender liners. Inside of the tire rubs on turns with stock offset, outside of the tire rubs on turns if you run an aggressive offset. The key is finding that happy medium. My wheels are 15x6.5 with 215/75/15 and I JUST rub only on full-lock left turns so it's about as perfect as you can get.

I remember a guy on the forums a few years back running that size and he said he had to trim his fender liners and still had a bit of rubbing.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Upgraded my lighting this past weekend. I took off my 4 Hella 500FF's and switched to a 20" light bar. These things are just amazing. Doesn't throw light QUITE as far as the Hellas but the light spread is massive!



OEM High beams and foglights.


LED light bar (I tried my best to get the same exposure by doing burst shots with my iPhone and took the two closest photos before the exposure automatically changed - best I could do without my DSLR). Photo still doesn't do it justice.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Added some more LED-goodness.

 

[danimoth17]

What led lightbar brand, and size did you use for the roof?

 

[WagoneerSX4]

It's one of the good quality chinese bars. Just do your research before ordering one. There's a HUGE difference in quality between the "off brand" LED bars from china. If it makes it through a couple Canadian winters I'll be happy.

The front is 20" and the roof is 42", both curved and both flood/spot combos.

 

[fa1na]

Came here after seeing the ops car in the trailer section. I am after an economy awd car as i live in italy and gas 95 oct is 1.70 eur/liter.. so i am forced to buy something that does not like to guzzle gas..

Just fyi same car is marketed in europe as a fiat sedici (sedici being 16=4x4) and the 2.0 gas is the top engine.. we usually see 1.6 turbo diesel here.. and parts are cheap and everywhere.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

A few people over here have refaced and rebadged their SX4 to look like a Sedici. I would KILL to have the top range 2.0 turbo diesel. That would be the final piece to make this car into a little truck, not to mention get better fuel economy. Getting one shipped over and getting around all the paperwork would just be astronomically expensive and it would take 30 years to get that back in fuel economy. It would be great to have 240ft.lbs of tq though and have a much further range.