2011 Suzuki Kizashi

What do you think when hearing the name Suzuki? For me, the first things that come to mind are small cars and motorbikes.

Even though, it's one of the smallest of the Japanese automakers, Suzuki is better known for building motorcycles, but in Japan and other parts of the world, their small cars are very popular.

In the past, Suzuki has built many of their cars for GM, notably the Suzuki Grand Vitara, which was the cousin of the old Chevrolet Tracker.

These rebadged versions sold decently well, but they were never standouts. The company realized that in order to be successful in America, it had to think big.

Not big in terms of expanding the company, but in terms of producing larger cars.

At a time when Americans were looking to downsize, Suzuki decided to produce its largest car ever.

The Suzuki Kizashi is a mid-size sport sedan designed to take on Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry and even the Acura TSX.

Seriously? Yes, that is what Suzuki is hoping may happen as its new sport sedan does indeed deliver the goods. But is it enough to be one of the best sedans in its class?

The overall look of the exterior is very clean and fresh. Its sleek and clean lines are handsome, but yet simple.In a way, it resembles some previous Acura sedans before the current design language took over with its chunky look. Yet, it is clearly Japanese and looks like it would easily fit as a racer in the video game Gran Turismo.

It comes with only a single engine offering a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine producing 185 horsepower. EPA numbers have it returning 30 mpg. A sport model is also available that offers six-speed manual transmission. A CVT automatic is optional. Along with all-wheel drive, The Kizashi Sport aimsto produce a European sport sedan driving experience, but with the reliability record only the Japanese can produce. Sounds simple enough, but the Kizashi has other competition in the name of Volkswagen.

With Volkswagen aiming to dramatically American sales with its new bread and butter seller, the Jetta, The Kizashi is going to have its most serious competitor yet. The ironic wist here is that Volkswagen recently bought a share in Suzuki in order to increase its far-east operations. That means Suzuki is suddenly going to have access to some fine german engineering and countless other mechanicals.

What Volkswagen ultimately decides to share with Suzuki remains to be seen. With that in mind, the potential for future versions of the Kizashi just increased by a factor of 10.

There are numerous features that can be added on such as a USB port in the dashboard and Bluetooth audio for hooking up an iPhone. Some other nifty features include push-button start, dual zone climate control, heated front seats and integrated steering wheel controls. Yes, this certainly does sound like an upscale German Sport sedan such as the BMW 3 Series. Even though, Suzuki has already begun to upgrade its features with the new Volkswagen partnership finalized, the best is yet to come.

Base price? How about $19,000 and tops off at around $ 28,000 for a fully loaded model with CVT and all-wheel drive.

The Suzuki Kizashi has the potential to become one of the best Japanese sport sedans on the market, if not the best. Honda and Toyota should take notice.