Suzuki Grand Vitara Facelift revealed

Suzuki in Japan has revealed a facelifted version of the Escudo in Japan, better known in Europe as the Suzuki Grand Vitara.

The Suzuki Grand Vitara has been with us since the dinosaurs ruled the earth. Well, it certainly seems that long and the Vitara was pretty much in at the start of the sales phenomenon that is the compact SUV.

And despite its reputation as a bit of a hairdresser’s car, the Grand Vitara is better off road than you’re likely to expect and does much of what you want it to do on road too, just as long as all you expect is an off roader than can get you about on the tarmac.

Still, as a cheap and not very cheerful compact SUV that can actually go off road it has its place (although that place may be spoiled by the Dacia Duster), and Suzuki look like they’re about to give the Grand Vitara a small makeover to make it more appealing.

The Japanese Grand Vitara – the Suzuki Escudo – has just been revealed with a nip and a tuck, so on the basis that the JDM cars lead where the rest of the world’ models follow it seems likely we’re in for a makeover for the Grand Vitara sometime soon.

Bit don’t get too excited – it’s a modest facelift. The usual bumper tweak, a new grill, a play with the headlights, a new set of alloys and new interior trim options seem to be about it. There is a launch version for the facelift in Japan called the X-Adventure with extra toys and brown metallic paint, which may arrive in the UK with the facelift.

Under the bonnet it’s reasonable to expect the same choice of engines; that means a 1.6 litre petrol (too slow to be worth the effort), 2.4 petrol you’ll struggle to get better than 30mpg from and the 1,9 diesel – probably the best choice – with 129bhp and 40mpg.

It may be a facelift for the Suzuki Grand Vitara, but a visit to a Swiss clinic may be a better idea.