Delicious rumors that Suzuki would build a fast, sexy, roadgoing homologation special for entry into the World Rally Championship have been making the rounds in Japan. Trouble is, they’re not true, according to a company spokesman.
Suzuki will run two warm up rounds in Corsica and Wales this winter before joining the World Rally Championship trail proper for the first time ever in January 2008.
Its weapon of choice is the SX4 WRC with 2.0-liter turbo engine (320 horsepower) and four-wheel drive, already seen at Frankfurt and other shows. Won’t Suzuki need to build a special road version for homologation into the WRC? Not so, it seems.
Base (family) models need to be produced at the rate of 50,000 units for general entry into the WRC, with 5000 units for the version that actually takes part in the rally.
“But in our case, the model we are going to enter is the same 5-door hatchback we (already) sell in the market. Therefore, we’ve already satisfied the regulations.”
Too bad. Wouldn’t a hard and fast SX4 WRC for the street do absolutely great things for Suzuki?
That is too bad. A hopped-up SX4 could give Suzuki some street-cred with the enthusiast crowd, who would be most likely to ignore the SX4’s other shortcomings (assuming it was cheap enough). It worked for Subaru with the 2002 WRX (whose styling, interior and gas mileage weren’t that great) and it could work for Suzuki.
Nobody said the new car would be built for homologation reasons. The point of it would be to push the Suzuki brand into new areas by having an affordable high performance car. Read the original report from carsguide.com.au before you publish clueless rebuttals.
It’s a great looking little car with a whole trunk full of potential, and I hope the Zookies realize that they can put forth a cut-rate WRX competitor if they just give it a chance.
Good looking beast
What’s to stop an enterprising individual from making his own Suzuki WRC clone?
Yeah, but no one would care. Suzuki could’ve used this to grab the youth market in the same way Subaru did.
[…] | Email this | Comments Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Published Tuesday, September 25, 2007 9:33 AM by Autoblog Filed under: wrx, Motorsports,Hatchbacks, Suzuki, sx4, wrc, rally, SuzukiSx4Sport, suzuki sx4 sport, SuzukiSx4Wrc, suzuki sx4 wrc […]
It might take some getting used to at first, but a street version of this WRC would be a wonderful addition.
With the new WRX STI looming as a five-door hatch, this SX4 would make for great competition.
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That would be one reason to buy the SX4.
As it stands now, there are NO reasons.
@Don- well, it is the cheapest new car in the US with AWD…
of course, its also a suzuki that isn’t a motorcycle.
Hey Don, don’t judge it till you drive it! I was really impressed. It’s the best car for under 17 for sure. Seriously, give it a shot.
This is terrible news. They could have stormed the market with a 180hp+ version.
[…] | Email this | Comments Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! Published Tuesday, September 25, 2007 9:33 AM by Autoblog Filed under: wrx, Motorsports,Hatchbacks, Suzuki, sx4, wrc, rally, SuzukiSx4Sport, suzuki sx4 sport, SuzukiSx4Wrc, suzuki sx4 wrc […]
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[…] Suzuki has been delivering on a number of levels recently. In fact, we can’t remember the last time one came through our fleet that we didn’t, at the very least, really enjoy. When we drove the SX4 earlier this year we couldn’t help but think what a great rally car it would be; and late last month we learned our dreams would come true - almost. […]
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[…] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Posted in Suzuki on Oct 28th, 2007, 11:20 pm by admin […]
I bought the sports sedan, and am very impressed with it. It was a toss up between that and the lancer. Problem was everybody has a lancer. Plus, it was about $6000.00 more for the gts model. Suzuki has no idea about the north American market. I have brand loyalty(own a XL7), but if they don’t realize that they need to pick it up a bit, I’ll start buying other product. An AWD sport sedan for under $20k would have seen them OWN all the other brands.
I still hope they realize what sort of potential this car would have here. With gas prices like they are, the U.S. is going to once again find itself turning to boosted small displacement engines for enthusiast vehicles, and the SX4 WRC would slot in there nicely (and even moreso in the snow belt).
Hopefully this whole brushing-off is just a PR maneuver to hold off the press while Suzuki sees how they fare in the actual races.
I would love to see this car on the streets, and I would definitely purchase one. Otherwise, with no 3rd pedal in the new Lancer Ralliart, the only other choice for me is a WRX. Unfortunately, the price for the Subaru is really making me want a cheaper alternative. 200hp flat for $20k and I’m sold, especially if they made a sedan version. But I’d take what I could get.
The point? There’s at least one definite customer right here.
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