Cars - Suzuki Grand Vitara

Home > Listing Index > Cars > Suzuki Grand Vitara

	Cars - Suzuki Grand Vitara

The Grand Vitara is Suzuki's larger version of the Suzuki Vitara. As of 2004, the smaller Suzuki Vitara was discontinued for the US market. Sales are slow, with just 4,860 sold in 2004 for the United States, but in Canada, it has strong sales. All North American Vitara vehicles were built at CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, while the North American Grand Vitaras were built in Japan aka Suzuki Escudo.

However, in India (where it is sold as a Maruti), it is a popular SUV, competing with such vehicles as the Tata Safari and Mahindra Scorpio.

2006

The Grand Vitara was replaced in the fall of 2005 by a new vehicle using some components of General Motors' Theta platform, and is built in Japan. The 2006 Grand Vitara was developed independently by many of the same Suzuki engineers who developed the Theta. Although it uses some Theta componentry, especially in the suspension, it is quite different and should not be considered a Theta vehicle. Notably, it uses a longitudinally-mounted engine and is rear-wheel drive with a 103.9 in (2639 mm) wheelbase, while all other Theta vehicles are transverse engined with front-wheel drive as the default. All can also be ordered with all-wheel drive as well, however. The forthcoming Suzuki XL7 will be a true Theta vehicle, and will be built alongside the Equinox and Torrent at CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada.

Racing History

A "Grand Vitara" raced in the annual Pikes Peak Hillclimb Race in 1996, although it could be argued by some that it has been so heavily modified and changed that it bears no resemblance to the road model. This racing model was equipped with two twin-turbo V6's in the middle of the chassis that combined to deliver 985 hp to each of the car's four wheels, and also sported a massive wing to keep the tires on the ground.

This racing Grand Vitara has been featured in every Gran Turismo game since Gran Turismo 2 as the Escudo Pikes Peak, and it is often regarded as a "newbie car" used by those with no skill at racing, though it has been argued that you need skill to afford its 2,000,000 price tag. It is also featured in Rallisport Challenge 2, although it is accompanied by other extremely powerful hillclimb vehicles and so does not sport the "holy grail" image that Gran Turismo's version does. It is interesting to note that RS2's version of the GV Pikes Peak does not have GT's red paint scheme as any one of its 4 skins.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Suzuki Grand Vitara ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Suzuki Grand Vitara; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Cars - Suzuki Grand Vitara

2006

Racing History

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay