SX4 has lowest retail price for all-wheel drive

The list of new, small hatchback cars keeps growing. But only Suzuki's SX4 comes with the lowest retail price for an all-wheel drive vehicle. New for 2007, the compact, five-passenger SX4 has a starting suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $15,594.

This is for a base model with 143-horsepower, four-cylinder engine and manual transmission and is some $3,000 less than the second-lowest-priced all-wheel drive vehicle on the market, which is the 2007 Subaru Impreza 2.5i. The Impreza, which also has standard all-wheel drive, has a starting MSRP, including destination charge, of $18,620 for a sedan or wagon with 173-horsepower, four-cylinder engine and manual transmission.

Additionally, the SX4 comes with a longer, limited powertrain warranty that runs for 100,000 miles or seven years, whichever comes first.

The SX4 arrives as Suzuki marks its best year ever in the United States with calendar 2006 sales of cars and sport utility vehicles topping 100,000 for the first time. The company, perhaps better known for its motorcycles, has been selling cars in this country for 21 years.

The SX4 could be considered in a class all its own as a five-door, tall, small hatchback with all-wheel-drive.

Other five-door, small, all-wheel drive cars, such as the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe have dropped their all-wheel drive versions.

And the newest five-door hatchbacks, such as the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa, aren't offered with all-wheel-drive. The name SX4 is derived from "sport crossover for four seasons of weather." But unlike real crossovers in the U.S. market that wear sport utility vehicle styling, the SX4 looks like a car -- and a rather plain-looking one at that.

Not a single driver or pedestrian took a second look at the SX4 during my test drive.

To be sure, driver and passengers in the SX4 sit up quite nicely above the pavement without having to climb upward to get inside the vehicle.

Rear-seat riders, in particular, sit high enough that they can see pretty easily into the front seat area and the dashboard. At 5 feet 4, I appreciated this visibility, and I liked how I could look over the cowl from the drivers seat, even though there was no height adjustment for the driver seat or front-passenger seat in the test SX4.

At 13.5 feet in length from bumper to bumper, the SX4 is some 5 inches longer than the Honda Fit.

But the SX4 is deceptive. It feels roomy in the front seats, thanks to its tall roofline and large windshield glass area that provide a spacious feel.

When I parked the SX4 in my garage, I wondered where the rest of the car was, because there was so much space left around it. Needless to say, the trim, little SX4 was a breeze getting into and out of parking spaces.

And I never hesitated to make a U-turn. The SX4s turning circle is just 35.4 feet.

Yet the SX4 offers decent cargo room. There's 8.2 cubic feet behind the rear seats. When these seats -- they're split 60/40 and fold down and then move up against the front seat backs -- are out of the way, though, there's a nearly SUV-like 54.3 cubic feet of cargo room. Note this is if you stack things up to the ceiling in the 5-foot-2-inch-tall SX4.

There are, however, some hints of cheapness in the SX4.

The ventilation controls don't have the tactile quality of those on many other cars, and some radio buttons are almost small slits on the faceplate.

Storage cubbies between the front seats of the test SX4 weren't covered, and the ceiling material is old-style stuff that looks and feels a bit scratchy.

The SX4 ride is straightforward -- not too cushioned and not too harsh.

At times, I heard loud road noise on some rough pavement. I also heard the 2-liter, double overhead cam, four-cylinder engine about all the time, and it became buzzy when pressed.

I also had to plan ahead to pass other cars on the highway to make sure the engine power was there. I did better in city driving, where I could work the five-speed manual in low gears for more spunky performance.

Suzuki sells the SX4 in two trim levels -- base and Sport -- and both come with standard all-wheel drive.

The system, controlled by a switch on the console, can be set for fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive, automatic all-wheel drive and all-wheel drive lock. The latter is for strenuous traction-demanding situations.

Other standard features include manual air conditioning, six air bags, as well as four-wheel disc brakes with antilock and electronic brake force distribution to help a driver maintain control during panic stops. Roof rails are standard, too, but cross bars, which would allow securing of cargo on the roof, are not.