GREEN | 7 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
20 mpg city, 29 highway (front-wheel drive, manual); 23/30 (FWD, CVT); 22/29 (AWD); 21/31 (Kizashi S); 23/31 (Kizashi S CVT); 23/20 (Kizashi S AWD)
EPA
An AWD GTS averaged 24.8 mpg in city/highway driving and 27.0 mpg in mostly highway use.
Consumer Guide
There are plenty of great reasons to consider the 2012 Suzuki Kizashi, but fuel efficiency isn't one of them. The Kizashi's EPA fuel economy ratings range from 20 to 23 mpg in the city and 29 to 31 mpg on the highway. That's not very impressive, and short of those for a number of mid-size sedans.
It's all the more puzzling when you consider that the Kizashi's transmissions feature rather high gearing, and curb weights are lower than typical.
Yet, in real-world driving, we've seen some assurance that those EPA ratings might be a bit pessimistic. In a Kizashi with the six-speed manual, TheCarConnection.com observed 27 miles per gallon over more than 150 miles of varied driving, much of it quite spirited. And in a Kizashi with the CVT and all-wheel drive, we saw 23 mpg in mixed driving.
Conclusion
There are plenty of other reasons the Kizashi is a standout, but gas mileage isn't one of them.
