Suzuki Forenza Review

2008 Suzuki Forenza Sedan

At some point in their lives, most people find themselves in need of a small, inexpensive car that gets them around with minimal hassle. While the names "Civic" and "Corolla" come up in most every small sedan buyer's research, the trouble is that you often pay dearly for these household names. In hopes of attracting people on a tighter budget, Suzuki offers the Forenza.

This value-oriented compact has been out for a few years now and comes in sedan and wagon body styles. It boasts a low price of entry, a roomy interior, European-inspired design, a host of standard features, a competitive amount of horsepower and a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

At a glance, the well-equipped Suzuki Forenza appears to offer terrific value. But in our evaluations, we've found that it falls short of the segment leaders in terms of performance, fuel economy, handling and interior refinement. As such, we feel it's a compromised, marginal player, struggling just a bit too much to keep up. Unless you really need the extra space of its available wagon body style, we recommend that you focus on one of its more worthy competitors.

Current Suzuki Forenza

The Suzuki Forenza is actually built by the Korean automaker Daewoo and rebadged as the Forenza for the American market. It's offered as a four-door sedan or wagon in a single trim level with various available packages. Standard on all are four-wheel disc brakes, air-conditioning, front seat side airbags, full power accessories and a CD/MP3 stereo with steering-wheel controls. A Convenience Package adds cruise control and remote keyless entry, while the Popular Package adds those items plus a sunroof. Antilock brakes are optional.

The Suzuki Forenza is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 127 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque. While these outputs are competitive on paper, we've found that the engine offers less motivation than expected. It performs adequately with the manual transmission but feels burdened and underpowered when saddled with the four-speed automatic. To make matters worse, it's not particularly fuel-efficient or refined, either.

The Forenza's cabin is something of a mixed bag, too. It's spacious, with lots of stylish metallic accents, and offers some features not normally found at this price point. However, we find this is offset by inconsistent materials quality and an overall lack of refinement and execution compared with class leaders. If you can get past that, there's lots of rear legroom for adults and a 60/40-split-folding seatback for extra utility. The sedan provides 12 cubic feet of trunk capacity, with the wagon offering nearly 62 cubic feet of space with the rear seat folded.

On the road, the Suzuki Forenza exhibits soft, rubbery handling and a poor ride quality compared with its competitors, as well as excessive wind noise on the highway. Although it's compliant enough, we found there's little suspension control over bumps and ruts. Handling around corners is loose and unsure, with excessive body roll and minimal grip from the tires. When merging into traffic, automatic-equipped Forenzas accelerate weakly and any maneuver takes a little planning. One bright spot is the braking system, which provides short stopping distances despite a slightly spongy pedal.

The Forenza debuted in 2004, with the wagon model following in 2005. That year also brought standard side impact airbags for all Forenzas. The Forenza was freshened up a bit for 2006, receiving a new front fascia, redesigned seats, new wheels and revised trim levels. Used economy car shoppers are advised to check out the competition before committing to the Forenza.

SELECT A SPECIFIC SUZUKI FORENZA MODEL YEAR*

* Edmunds.com maintains vehicle data as far back as 1990.