New Suzuki Kizashi Sedan Spied Inside and Out by Carscoop Reader

Looks like Carscoop's readers are on a roll lately as only a week after Peter Mcabe spotted the 2011 Suzuki Kizashi in Virginia, Michael Kalkofen picked up these shots of the mid-size sedan at a hotel somewhere in Kansas. Michael told us that he found three lightly camouflaged Kizashi prototypes, two in dark silver and one in a red, parked right outside the hotel. Wasting no time, Michael managed to bag some excellent interior shots of the Kizashi prototype models that you can check out in detail below.

The photos reveal that Suzuki's Honda Accord challenger gets an Alfa Romeo-like instrument panel with two deeply set gauges. The dashboard is uncluttered with all controls neatly concentrated on the center stack.

The prototype models seen here have their front and back ends covered, but it doesn't take a pro to see that the production version will be less aggressively styled than the Kizashi 3 concept car that was shown in New York last year.

Official details on the range of engines remain scarce but look for a detuned version of the concept-car's 300HP 3.6-liter V6 that will power all four wheels and an entry-level four-banger that will most probably be offered in front-wheel drive form only.

Suzuki is expected to officially unveil the Kizashi before the end of the year.

Hat tip to Michael Kalkofen for the pics!

2011 Suzuki Kizashi: Reader Spies Mazda6 Sedan Rival in Virginia

Peter Mcabe is the latest addition to our list of eagle-eyed Carscoop readers that have managed to bag a set of spy shots of a future model. The quick-witted reader spotted a camouflaged prototype of the 2011 Suzuki Kizashi sedan parked behind the Olive Garden restaurant off of Midlothian Turnpike, in Richmond, Virginia. The Kizashi, which was wrongly reported dead by Japanese media earlier this year, is based on the Kizashi 3 concept car shown at the New York auto show in 2008.

Sadly, as we suspected upon seeing the official sketches of the Kizashi that were registered by Suzuki at the European trademark office in 2008, the mid-size sedan's appearance looks to be severely toned down compared to the head-turning concept.

The Kizashi 3 prototype had an all-new, 300HP 3.6-liter, naturally-aspirated V6 engine with power delivered through a six-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. The road-going model will most likely be offered with a detuned version of the V6 as well as an inline four-cylinder engine producing somewhere north of 150 horsepower, the latter driving the front-wheels.

In North America, the Kizashi will compete against the likes of the Chevrolet Malibu, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Mazda6 sedans. In accordance to the latest reports, the Kizashi will hit U.S. showrooms by the end of year, meaning that we'll probably see it making its global premiere at a major international motorshow this fall, perhaps at the Tokyo Salon in October.

Suzuki has yet to confirm when (and if) the Kizashi will reach European shores, but if it does, the Japanese automaker will have to enhance the sedan's lineup with smaller sized gasoline and diesel engines if it wants to rival family sedans like the Opel Insignia, Toyota Avensis and Citroen C5.

Kudos to Peter!

2010 Suzuki Kizashi Official Sketches Leak Online – Who Killed the Concept?

We knew that the last of the Kizashi concept studies that made its debut at this year’s New York Auto Show was too good to be true and that Suzuki would definitely tone down the mid-size sedan’s appearance when it enters production in 2009, but looking at these latest official sketches that were registered by the Japanese automaker at the European trademark office makes us wonder what the hell happened to the original concept.

If these design drawings are of any indication to as where Suzuki is heading with the production Kizashi that will compete against the Mazda6 and Honda Accord, we’ll be talking about a humongous blunder from the behalf of the Japanese firm as the NY Show concept really caught our attention with its sleek design and powerful stance. -Continued

Via: Autoblog.it , Source: es.Autoblog