|
2004 Suzuki Verona Body style(s): 4-door sedan
Notes
Suzuki brought out the 2004 Verona as its North American flagship sedan. It
marked the first time that the company had offered an entry in that most
competitive of market segments, the midsize family sedan. The Verona was
an intriguingly international car. The vehicle was a Daewoo Magnus, the
South Korean replacement for the mediocre Daewoo Leganza last sold in
the States in 2002, with styling by Italdesign-Giugiaro. The car's engine
was perhaps its most curious feature: all Veronas were powered by a
six-cylinder engine. Unusually, the engine was a straight-, rather than vee-,
six, and was mounted transversely to drive the front wheels. Only Volvo's
S80 sedan shared this unusual configuration, which necessitated a very
narrow-bore, long-stroke design to the motor. Although the Verona's
standard six was a standout feature in a segment dominated by four-cylinder
models, the engine was unimpressive: it developed less power (albeit with
more torque) than most competitors' four-bangers. This problem was compounded
by weight, as the Verona weighed more than a Camry or Accord, despite being
slightly smaller than both. Acceleration suffered, making the Verona one of the
slowest cars in its class, and its fuel economy was equivalent to that of its
rivals' sixes, and much worse than the figures for their four-cylinder
models. Looking at the bright side, the sidewinder engine made the Verona
rather wider than most of its competition, so shoulder room in the passenger
cabin was generous. A four-speed automatic gearbox was the only transmission choice.
All three trims offered standard 4-wheel disc brakes, a feature that previewed
the demise of drum brakes on most midsize sedans. Front airbags were, of course,
standard, but side airbags were unavailable, a major omission for the era.
Projector headlights dominated the nose, but chrome touches
were abundant: on the grille, on the door handles, and even on the side
molding bump strips. Taking a page from Honda's book, Suzuki offered
the Verona with discrete trim levels, almost entirely without options --
the only available extra was traction control for the top-flight EX
trim. The S model offered a combined cassette/CD player (probably one
of the last redesigned models to offer a standard cassette deck),
variable-intermittent wipers, air conditioning, front fog lamps,
and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls. The interior
was straightforward, but tasteful, with constrasting two-tone smooth
plastic paneling, with deep-set gauges (including a tachometer),
and faux wood trim on the instument panel and floor console that
Car & Driver said was nearly as convincing as real wood. The sedan
struck a long, lean profile, which gave it good leg room, especially in
the rear, but head clearance for the tall was compromised. Some of
the small details were often commented upon as impressive by reviewers,
such as the self-propping hood, a welcome addition. The LX was
distinguished by its alloy wheels, and added antilock bracks
and automatic climate control. The EX offered leather upholstery,
a power driver's seat (heated), and a moonroof. Suzuki's hope was
to offer the Verona as a budget-conscious premium midsize sedan,
with strong feature content, but a low price of entry. The top-line EX, for
example, offered nearly the feature content as a Toyota Camry XLE with leather,
but for more than $4,000 less; the base S, meanwhile, started at an even lower
base price the Hyundai Sonata or Kia Optima. The car was also backed by
Suzuki's transferrable 7-year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty (with the
standard 3-year, 36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper coverage), a strong selling point.
design
DIMENSIONS
Technical
Standard Equipment
Notable Options
Performance
Other vehicles
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
