Suzuki Forenza Wagon 2005: The Weekly Driver Review

Written by James Raia


As an entry level wagon,repparttar 2005 Suzuki Forenza offers budget-minded buyers a spacious wagon with a good supply of standard features. But as a debut vehicle, it's also unproven inrepparttar 102740 resale market and has shortcomings that ideally define its position inrepparttar 102741 marketplace.

My weekly test drive wasrepparttar 102742 LX wagon, one of 10 available Forenza models in 2005. The 2.0-liter, 16-value, 126-horsepower engine has a four-speed automatic transmission,repparttar 102743 only option.

The vehicle has good mileage estimates for its class, andrepparttar 102744 wagon accelerates adequately in city driving scenarios. But it's sluggish and needs a full-throttle jolt onrepparttar 102745 steady highway inclines or in a quickly needed lane-change situation.

The Forenza wagon isn't particularly quiet onrepparttar 102746 open road andrepparttar 102747 ride quality is marginal, with bumps easily felt andrepparttar 102748 overall feel a little stiff. But as an economically priced wagon,repparttar 102749 Forenza also has several features that warrant its consideration.

The vehicle's exterior is designed nicely, with a contoured body, alloy wheels, fog lamps, and a power tilt slide sunroof. My test vehicle's test color was listed as "Fantasy Black," andrepparttar 102750 exterior was complemented by cloth light gray seats.

Several passengers mentioned that while Forenza looks small fromrepparttar 102751 outside, they were surprised byrepparttar 102752 interior spaciousness. One 6-foot-2 friend sat inrepparttar 102753 back seat and had more than a one-inch clearance. He saidrepparttar 102754 headroom was more than he's had inrepparttar 102755 back seats of some SUVs.

The same is true fromrepparttar 102756 driver's seat perspective. As a 6-foot driver, I had good head clearance and leg room. The spacious interior extends torepparttar 102757 cargo area, which is wide, easily accessible fromrepparttar 102758 back seat and has a convenient hatchback style entry.

The interior of Forenza seemingly has one general theme - simplicity. Radio controls and other instrumentation are easy to use and have a straightforward design. The instrument panel numbers have retro-style lettering, andrepparttar 102759 back panel has an attractive light green tone when illuminated. Another nice feature isrepparttar 102760 dashboard design. Its textured pattern looks like (and feels like)repparttar 102761 surface of golf balls - if they were black.

Never Get Lost Again - Map Reading is a Thing of the Past

Written by Niall Kennedy


Do you spend lots of time planning routes and checking maps onrepparttar road. You don't have any more with a Magellan RoadMate.

I work inrepparttar 102739 film industry, scouting locations for possible shooting. These can be in built-up urban areas and remote locations all over California.

I often had problems finding my way, even with detailed instructions. I spent as much time parked and reading maps than I did driving.

Then I bought a RoadMate and within hours I felt I would never get lost again. The RoadMate works right outrepparttar 102740 box, no complicated set-up and no downloading information - perfect for a technophobe like me!

Now I don't waste time scribbling instructions. I switchrepparttar 102741 unit on when I get intorepparttar 102742 car and within seconds it has a fix on my position (even inrepparttar 102743 car port).

I have my contact give merepparttar 102744 address or even a landmark close by, and type it intorepparttar 102745 RoadMate. Just like that, it finds my destination. And if I'm going to be going to that destination again I can save it inrepparttar 102746 memory for future use.

It offers 4 modes -repparttar 102747 first time I tested it out I chose "shortest route" from home to office, and it displayed almost exactlyrepparttar 102748 route I'd have chosen.

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