Suzuki Aerio Review

Samir Syed
by Samir Syed

The Aerio was supposed to be Suzuki’s Corolla-beater. Born in ’01, refreshed in ’04, the Aerio is one of the few cars that can make a Corolla look sexy. While Suzuki’s website assures us “one thing is for sure about the Aerio: it really stands out in a crowd,” one thing’s for sure: it really doesn’t. The Aerio’s sheetmetal is so deeply and completely plain that Top Gear used it as a beast of burden for its ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment. And now it's a lame duck waddling into the history books. How should we remember this entry level captive import?

Obviously, not as a rice rocket. Even in Premium trim, complete with body skirt, fog lights and some steelies, the Aerio's about as exciting as the Consumer Reports description of same. At best this straight-from-the-factory makeover is classier than a cladding-infested Pontiac of the 2001-era, and a lot less aesthetically-challenged than an Aztek. At worst, it's a Toyota Echo.

The Aerio’s Spartan interior is a generation behind its fitter, more versatile competition. That said, if you don't mind an endless ride on "It's A Gray World (After All)," or touching materials designed for train stations, the cheap-and-not-so-cheerful Aerio is a feature creep double feature. It comes complete with climate control, power windows, door locks and mirrors; six-speaker MP3/WMA audio, wheel-mounted audio control and… map lights.

Although the Aerio offers plenty of head room, the car still seems optimized for people 5’8” or shorter. Anyone taller than Carmen Electa will discover that the back seat doesn’t slide back far enough to fully accommodate their extremities (keep it clean folks). What’s more, the Aerio’s rear-view mirror is planted at ear level, obscuring most of the windshield’s top-right quadrant. So, if you’re a height challenged claustrophobe with a long torso and three kids, the Aerio’s cabin is ideal.

The little sedan’s engine bay is filled with a 2.3-liter four-banger producing 155hp and 152 ft-lbs. of torque. The overhead cam, 16-valve, direct ignition mini mill makes the Aerio more brisk than it looks, or numbers would indicate (zero to 60mph in about 10 seconds). There’s enough shove on tap to ensure [merely] adequate progress in both town and country.

A five-speed manual may help boost mileage above mission critical 30mpg highway, but the Aerio’s powertrain is as coarse as kosher salt. Autobox shifts are slam, bam, thank you M'am and the engine noise is endlessly, relentlessly intrusive. The thrashy engine that [just about] could may have made the grade in ’01, back when Cavaliers were wheezing about, but today's small car market offers plenty of smoother-running alternatives.

If you protect your ears by surrendering to the gods of sloth, the Aerio’s not a bad little city car. Its turning circle rivals the big cog in a Spirograph, and independent front and rear suspension soaks-up bumps well enough– even if never fails to share its tactile triumphs through an endless series of booming thumps.

The Aerio’s high roofline delivers a definite dynamic downside; the vehicle's high center of gravity makes it lean in the bends like a hurricane battered palm tree. The resulting cornering experience can best be described as “disconcerting,” especially when exiting a freeway onto a curvaceous off-ramp. When pushed (or even gently nudged), the Aerio’s chassis serves up copious amounts of understeer. All things considered, that's no bad thing.

The Aerio’s optional QuadGrip System is the car’s unique selling point. So equipped, the Aerio is America’s lowest-priced all wheel-drive sedan. Our Premium tester (with heated side mirrors no less) was a front driver. But given this model's demure demeanor, it’s hard to imagine the Aerio's core clientele would need more “security” than its standard front-wheel drive and some good snow tires would provide. But we get it; and there's a grand's difference between need and want.

With a fully-transferable 100k mile/seven-year powertrain warranty with roadside assistance and loaner cars (for three years/36k miles), owning an Aerio isn’t an onerous experience. One caveat: if something does go wrong, the Aerio is not what you’d call a common model. Parts are not plentiful.

Clearly, the Suzuki Aerio failed to meet its mass market ambitions. Which is too bad. The Aerio is a lot of car for the money with one of the most powerful engines in its class and cheap all wheel-drive. But aside from its ironic fame as Top Gear resident beater, the dull-but-worthy Aerio never appeared on econobox shoppers’ radar.

And now the Aerio passes the torch to the SX4, a vehicle that’s better in every way and only marginally more expensive (before end-of-run discounts) than its rapidly ageing sibling. The Aerio will not be missed, but it was a not entirely horrible placeholder for Suzuki's newer, better model. How great is that?

Samir Syed
Samir Syed

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  • Scottie95asap Scottie95asap on Oct 30, 2019

    Subuclayton I'm not trying to step on any tows here but just out of curiosity, how much would you be looking to get for your aerio? And do you reside in the U.S. perhaps?

  • Malcolm Elliott Malcolm Elliott on May 25, 2023

    A interesting read ,I’ve owned a 2004 1.8 engine here in New Zealand imported from Japan for nearly 10 yrs it’s sitting at 139,000 kms

    I find the power from the engine adequate for this little car if I need to pass a slower driver there is ample power there to do so

    Great to transport cargo with the back seat folded I’ve had washing machines and fridges in there easily as there is no lip

    The only fault for me is the petrol gauge it’s on the far right hard to see and once it gets below half all of a sudden it’s empty

    Not bad for a outlay of $7000.00 all those years ago

    Maintenance

    Front pads 3 replace rotors 1

    Spark Plugs

    Coil 1 only

    Real brake shoes including wheel cylinders

    Replace Automatic Fluid 2

    Normal Servicing every 10,000 kms

    Drive belt

    Two sets of tyres

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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