A question: Is this about as practical as a vehicle can get?
No, not the Suzuki Equator specifically, we’ll get to this neat and affordable little truck in a bit, but I mean four door pickup trucks in general. I had seen pictures of these things in the home market and from places like Australia and New Zealand, and I’d always think, “Why can’t we get those in The States?” They are just so practical. You can carry four people (everybody gets their own door) and you can carry stuff in the bed, but not only that, you can carry people AND stuff.
Well finally, various Japanese marques started bringing these in, and I think we’re better off for it.
What we have here is the Suzuki Equator. It’s a mid-sized truck that shares its platform with the Nissan Frontier. Ringing the cash register at $17,995, you get a 2.5L four-cylinder engine with 152 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque with a five-speed manual transmission and two-wheel drive in extended cab body style. If you’d like, you can get a 4.0L V6 engine with more grunt, a five-speed automatic transmission, four-wheel drive and four doors. Fully-loaded, and you’ll cash out north of the $30,000 mark.
So why aren’t there more of these things out there, they sure are cooler than a minivan.
Source: AutoBlog
I’m not sure why more of these are not being seen. I’m almost glad there are not. I went searching in 2009 for a mid-size pickup truck. I previously had owned a full size Chevy. At 6’4″ I had difficulty with leg room in most of the standard offerings from the big ’5′.I didn’t want the V8 engine and definitely need more than a 4 cyl. I wanted power and economy as well as interior comfort. I found two Equators on a dealer lot not close but near enough to make the trip. I liked what I saw and when I sat in one and had no comfort issue, I was sold. I’ve had my 2009 now for 2 years and 16,000 miles. There are some small issues which I need to get taken care of before the 3 yr bumper to bumper runs out. The last two winters were tough but the Equator 4WD handled the challenge. I have the Sport RZX4 package. Then I read some of the early reviews and glad to see it ranked third in pickup truck reviews. Not bad for its rookie showing in 2009.
Now I’m planning to buy a small travel trailer to tow behind my Equator and I am confident it will handle the load fine.And I might just add a Suzuki Quad or off road bike.