THE huge wheels and tyres that some owners fit to their Suzuki Vitaras are just for show.
They don’t help at all off road unless they are the right mud-plugging rubber and they don’t do much for the rather average handling and road-holding either.
Vitaras are great off-road in standard trim and will go just about anywhere even though most never see so much as a muddy field.
But do check underneath for damage – just in case.
The bigger Grand Vitara has been a top seller in a number of European countries and offers good value second-hand.
In five door diesel form it’s a great family load lugger with decent comfort on-road and very good towing ability.
Performance is reasonable for what is a pretty big car but light controls make it very easy to handle around town.
The diesel is quite noisy at some speeds but I found I soon got used to it and 37mpg for something this size is not to be sniffed at.
Reliability is good but service history is a must as always.
Interior
The five door long wheelbase Vitara has plenty of room for five and their stuff, but there is only just room for four in the three door.
Some five door models come with seven seats and the level of standard equipment is very good in all.
FAST FACTS
Suzuki Grand Vitara DDiS diesel 5dr
Price: Pay £8,000 for an ’05 55-reg 2.0-litre, £13,200 for an ’09 09-reg.
Mechanical: 127bhp, 1,870cc, 4cyl diesel engine driving four wheels via 5-speed manual gearbox
Max speed: 106mph
0-62mph: 12.8 seconds
Combined mpg: 37
Insurance group: 23
CO2 emissions: 191g/km
Marks: 8/10
Main rival: Jeep Compass