Yahoo Autos The Suzuki XL-7 Managed to Fit Seven Seats in a Compact SUV Body
Ah, Suzuki. The automaker was sort of the Japanese Hyundai of the late 1990’s and the early 2000’s. It sold cheap but well equipped cars with a great warranty; the quality may not have been up to snuff compared to the likes of Toyota and Honda, but it wasn’t terrible. And there were some unique offerings too, from the wannabe sport sedan Kizashi to the Verona and its Porsche-designed I6 engine. Another unique offering was the Suzuki XL-7.
In case you missed it:
Taking a compact SUV and making it seat seven might not sound weird now, but back in the late 1990s when the XL-7 was introduced, it was unique. The XL-7 originally started as an offshoot of the Grand Vitara SUV, which is to say that it was pretty much a stretched version of it. This meant it could seat seven, but it also had some off-road chops. It had body-on-frame construction and could also be equipped with a four-wheel drive system that came with a low range.
Read more
To get the third row, Suzuki stretched the Grand Vitara’s wheelbase 12.6 inches and increased the overall length 19.1 inches. While that sounds impressive, the XL-7 was still small even with the increased dimensions; it measured in at 183.7 inches long. To put that size in perspective, imagine Honda dropping a third row into the current CR-V.
That increased length and weight came with more power as well. Suzuki increased the Grand Vitara’s V6 by 0.2 liters to 2.7. That was enough to give the engine 170 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque. You had the choice between a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual. When it all came together, you had the cheapest SUV for sale in the U.S. that had standard seating for seven.
And it was cheap. Starting prices for the XL-7 in basic trims with four wheel drive was $21,499 in 2001. If you wanted to splurge a bit and add things like a sunroof, leather seats, a CD player and ABS you’d still only be at $25,074. Today’s automakers would never make something with so many features for so cheap.
While the XL-7 seemed like a solid value, not everything was great. Like most SUVs with a third row, cargo capacity was compromised. With the third row up, there was just over six cubic feet of cargo space between the third row and rear hatch; that space grew to 37 cubic feet with the second and third rows folded. The rear suspension was softly dampened, which made for a slightly wallowy ride with just the driver in the XL-7.
But as the years went on, sales started to dwindle, most likely due to better SUVs and crossovers the same size as the XL-7 coming to market. So a new XL-7 was introduced for the 2007 model year.
