In terms of power, the 143-horsepower Suzuki SX4 gets out of its own way, provided you've got enough road to travel while winding the engine up to 5,800 rpm (where those horses all become available), or 3,500 rpm (where 136 lb.-ft. of torque works to move nearly 2,900 pounds of curb weight). In terms of fuel-economy performance, there are no shining nuggets to report. After a week of mixed driving we achieved 23.7 mpg, which is only a bit less than the EPA-rated 25 mpg. Not bad, but hardly great when you consider that a Honda Civic, which weighs about the same, gets an EPA-rated 33 mpg in mixed driving.
