9/3/2023 0 Comments Sidekick car top comes odd![]() ![]() When they were built, the Kicks were the only automatic 4x4 that could be towed on four wheels and our experience towing the '95 is the major reason why we replaced it with the '97. Having learned some maintenance tricks with the '95, I expect to get another 100,000 out of the Sport. It looks and runs as if it were 2 years old rather than 17. When it began to suffer cosmetically, and hinted of some mechanical problems, we looked for and found a '97 1.8L DOHC JLX automatic Sport with 101,000 miles, cruise control, air bags, automatic headlights and the works. Light weight, yet comfortable and reliable, it served us well on the open road as well as in snow, sand, mud and rocky trails. We towed or drove our 4x4 1.6L 16-valve automatic '95 Kick 170,000 miles from the North West Territories to the southern tip if Mexico, from California to Labrador and everywhere in between for 17 years. JS has become the Sidekick in highest demand–andshortest supply. For 1997, Suzuki added a slightly less equipped model called the JSSport starting at $16,699. It doesn’t need to be a screamer,but if you want to haul four people, two will have to get out and push whenyou come to a steep hill or incline.īase price: $20,199 with automatic, $1,000 less if you settle for 5-speedmanual. It could use a little more weight or at least a lot more insulation so itdoesn’t sound so tinny.Īnd it needs an engine with more punch. Itcould use a slightly longer wheelbase and more overall length to distanceoccupants farther from the axles and the point of impact with the pavement forsmoother ride. Sidekick needs a little more width so the cabin is less cramped as well aswider tracking for improved road holding and more sure-footed handling. The Sidekick JLX comes with dual air bags and ABS as standard and headroomanyone taller than 6 feet can only dream about.īut Sidekick is in sore need of a remake, which is coming, but not untilthe 1999 model year, at which time the companion Chevy Tracker gets a redesignas well. Having recently driven the RAV4 and CR-V, we found both larger, roomier,more comfortable, far more stable and vastly less tinny when it comes toslamming a door, hatch lid or hood. The 4-speedautomatic didn’t help Sidekick with spriteliness. But even with 4WD that helps on slipperypavement, when the crosswinds appear, you’ll find Sidekick’s nose pointingnorth but its rear end doing the Macarena in a westerly direction.Īnd the 1.8-liter, 120-h.p., 4-cylinder is sadly underpowered. The top-of-the-line JLX comes with 16-inch tires to improve ride andhandling and bring added stability. Travel the open road when it’s windy and learn whatadventure means. We tested two Suzukis, the four-door Sidekick in 4WD Sport JLX trim, andthe two-door X-90 that also offers 4WD but seats only two.īest way to sum up the Sidekick is to note that it’s 9 years old. Neither Toyota nor Honda can build its machinesfast enough.īut Suzuki was in that segment long before RAV4 or CR-V, so we revisitedSuzuki to see how it’s coping with competition. Just as some folks felt that perhaps a smaller, higher-mileage, far lessexpensive SUV might not be so bad, especially now that those tiny machinessported dual air bags, anti-lock brakes and four-wheel-drive, along came theToyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. Couldn’t be all that bad if Chevy opted for one.Ĭhevy’s presence helped a little, but consumer interest was turning tosports sedans, pickup trucks and especially larger compact versions of thosetoy Sidekicks and Trackers such as the larger Ford Explorer, Chevy Blazer orJeep Grand Cherokee.īut while very fashionable, some negatives surfaced about those biggerSUVs, such as their tendency to ride and handle like a truck, consume gasolinerather quickly and force your eyes to pop from the sockets when viewing thewindow stickers. Sidekick livedon, aided when Chevrolet had the Japanese automaker clone a version for Chevyto sell as the Geo Tracker. Bigger, roomier, morepowerful and even cuter than Samurai, which was discontinued. Then Suzuki added Sidekick, a Samurai on steroids. The lifeexpectancy in a Samurai, the jesters said, was about 35 months shy of makingyour final payment. It wasn’t long, however, before the media pointed out that Samurai wassoooo small that the only other vehicle you could run into without losinglife, limb or at least your front teeth was a 10-speed Schwinn. When Suzuki brought out a mini-sport-utility vehicle in the mid-’80s calledSamurai, people took glee in the fact a cute, though miniaturized, vehicle wason the scene. ![]()
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