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2004 Suzuki
Verona EX
The
Good: Stylish
exterior. Nicely styled interior with leather and wood. Airy ride and good
steering feel. Good quality of many parts inside.
The Bad:
Ride a bit too soft. Body sway is high. Cheap feeling parts inside
included shift gate, stereo, and control stalks around steering wheel.
The number
one best thing about this Suzuki Verona besides being named for an Italian
city, is that it was actually styled at Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign
studios in Turin, Italy.
You are getting a car that looks very much like the new Maserati
Quattroporte from the rear. The shape of the windows and the rear quarter
panels is something European. The sides are sculpted like nothing close to
its price range. Even the front end is sleek and distinctive without being
wimpy or ugly. The Verona, in our light blue color, even looks gorgeous at
times. A word that would usually be reserved for much higher priced cars.
Now you know that we really liked the looks of the Verona.
On the initial walk around you notice the chrome grill, we just
wished they kept the large badge off of that front end. The hood up front
has a Jaguar look with its bulging center portion and smooth lines on the
sides. The small fins on the sides of the car look great, a distinctly
Italian feature. The rear quarter panels are rounded with a high deck lid
for a aggressive overall look. The Verona is more elegant and sleek than
flashy or meager looking.
Taking a look on the inside, our EX model was adorned with leather
and wood. This model is very much like the Kia Amanti we tested recently
which may feel a bit larger inside but is priced a few thousand dollars
higher. Wood panels on the doors shine nicely and are curved not flat
giving a nice higher end look. Chrome door handles both on the outside and
the inside look and feel great. We also liked the soft plastic feel of the
door grab handles. The leather is grained and not totally smooth or
slippery which is a great touch. The upper portion of the dash also was
made of textured leather material like those found on German vehicles.
Everything is laid our cleanly and simplistically, with nothing bulging
towards you. Even the steering wheel was in the arc shape of Mercedes
steering wheels. It all looks very nice.
The rear passenger compartment is designed quite well. Seats are
large and comfortable. Headrests come out a bit for easy relaxation. They
are even height adjustable. Legroom was adequate and the nice touches on
the door made up for the front cabins shortcomings. The build quality on
the interior is tight and done quite well as compared to some other vehicles
from America.
On the features front the Verona packs a lot in for the money and
the large amount of space. The EX model features Automatic climate control
so you set a temperature and forget the rest. Nice quality leather seats
and door trim are standard. Anti lock brakes, heated front seats and an
eight way power drivers seat are standard as well. A power sunroof is
standard and it’s large enough for a good view. Speed sensitive power
steering and an automatic transmission with fuzzy logic (more fuzzy than
logic) is also standard. The main thing lacking is a choice of interior
colors, only grey is available and you know how we feel about grey
interiors. Our tests reveal that they make you feel depressed, we prefer
something in tan. The only option available in our top of the line EX model
was traction control for only $500, and we highly recommend it. The Ex is
the top seller in the range of models available and it is priced to fly.
The list of issues and problems with the Verona is not very large
unless you get very picky. While driving we found that wind noise was high
at highway speeds from the sunroof while open and while closed, the shade
had to be pulled open to totally eliminate noise. There is also a bit more
wind noise overall than the Kia we tested recently. The problem in the
Verona’s ride is that body sway and lean is a high for our tastes. The
suspension is soft, and the ride airy, but when you get into a turn fast the
car leans too much. On the inside the air vents were difficult to grasp and
move. The shift gate felt cheap and had to be pushed down to move into
reverse, something that is unintuitive. We liked the door grab handles
right where you need them. But the control stalks around the steering wheel
did not feel very good, they were slippery and felt dated. Just like the
stereo with its shiny hard plastic controls. The steering wheel also felt a
bit slippery and was not thick enough. Another thing we would like to
change would be to swap the ventilation controls with the stereo controls.
We found that although most stereo controls are on the steering wheel, it
would be nicer to have the stereo higher and have something we do not touch
as often to the lower position.
Power comes from a six cylinder that is inline not in a V shape.
This gives it quieter performance and smooth power delivery. The small 2.5
liter engine delivers 155 horsepower. It is mated to a smooth shifting
automatic transmission with fuzzy logic. The problem we had with the fuzzy
logic was that it didn’t really figure out what we wanted to do at all.
Press the pedal and the time it takes for the gears to change down into a
low gear was simply too long. When it finally does downshift the learch
forward is not very smooth. The power is enough for simple daily driving
but passing power is on the low side, you’d better pass on a downhill just
to be safe. We also found that the engine was quite and smooth because it
was a V6 not a four cylinder which gets very loud in most cars. However
this quietness was disrupted by wind noise coming from the sunroof and door
joints. The small tires on this model squeel easily in slight turns and
this would not happen on better cars like a BMW 3 series or the Mazda 3
sedan. The feeling of cheapness only comes from the bouncy ride in corners
and the small width of the tires causing a slightly unstable feeling.
Choosing a Verona over its competitors is a difficult decision in
this highly competitive market. With so many competitors from Japan and the
US, the Verona can easily be overlooked. While the Camry has a quiet and
stable ride with great troublefree operation over the long term, it is a bit
boring. If you are counting dollars strictly, the Verona is a great
choice. The Verona has a great warranty, a unique and elegant exterior shape,
and a interior that is done very well when compared to others in the same
price range. Changing the transmission and making this a faster and more
stable car would help a great deal in selling more Verona’s. In the real
world, there is nothing like it for less than $18,500 and for that simple
reason this car should be on your test drive list.
For a pdf file brochure on the Verona
click here.
For a pdf file comparing the Verona to many other brands in detail
click here.
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