Box O' Fun: '03 Suzuki Aerio SX
You probably know Suzuki best as the maker of hot sport bikes that whiz past you on the interstate while you lamely await traffic to clear. But Suzuki also makes cars-until now, not very interesting ones, but cars nonetheless.
What's changed? Suzuki has breathed some life into its smallest cars. Last year the Aerio sedan replaced the slow-selling Esteem, and with it came along the five-door Aerio SX (SX for "sport crossover," in PR-speak). The Aerio sedan is as vanilla as white rap but the SX is as left-field cool as the Honda Element and Scion xB, and just as ripe for go-fast mods.
You can tell the SX by its Hoover vacuum profile and relatively teensy proportions. It's just under 14-feet long and shorter than five feet tall (in real-world terms, it's like three Heather Locklears laid end to end, without the obvious puns). And in its own funky way, the SX fits right into the dashing mold set by the Ford Focus and the other good-looking compact wagons.
Under the very short hood, the Aero SX grabs pavement through its front wheels with the 141hp breathed out by its 2.0-liter four; torque is 135 lb-ft. Through the stock five-speed tranny the power comes on low in the rev band and makes city darting an entertaining way to spend an afternoon - clip this apex, run this stoplight, dodge this Starbucks patron. At highway speeds it's a little wheezier, especially above 85 mph, as if it were begging to be blown out with a small-diameter turbocharger.
The SX is suspended by MacPherson struts all around, and disc/drum brakes have the braking duties covered, though anti-lock control is optional ($500).
If you're a fan of mid-Eighties
Japanese styling, the SX's interior will have you humming "Mr. Roboto" and doing a stupid safety dance. The instruments are digital, for Styx's sake, and the plastics seem to have been manufactured before new-car smell was invented. There's a charming retro feel to the thin door panels, shallow dash and absolutely maxed-out interior space. There's also some tinnitus after long trips at high revs, because the engine noise in the SX's cabin would drive roaches out of a Ponderosa, even on ribeye night.
That in mind, the Aerio's nimble feel and zippy motor make its $15,000 base sticker price seem a bargain. From there, you can spend a few grand for more power and more grip, and still come in under a $20,000 SVT Focus. Throw in the standard equipment like CD stereo, power windows/locks/mirrors and keyless entry on top of that, and the Aerio SX looks less funky all the time, and more like a starter's kit.