Suzuki Vitara - Ultra Allgrip 2026 Review

Published on 1 October, 2026

Hard to love, impossible to hate.

Overview

Compact SUVs are the bread and butter of the Irish car market, and every manufacturer has one. Most of them are front-wheel drive, most of them are grey, and most of them are trying very hard to look more rugged than they actually are. The Suzuki Vitara is a bit different. It's been quietly getting on with things for years, and unlike a lot of its rivals, it can actually back up the SUV bit.

Our test car came in Solar Yellow with a black roof, a €995 option that I'd say is worth every cent. You will never lose it in a car park. A number of people didn't hesitate to point out a certain "waspish" character to it.

I spent a week trying to find a reason to dislike the Vitara and came up mostly empty. It's hard to love, but impossible to hate.

What's under the bonnet?

A 1.4-litre Boosterjet turbo petrol with mild hybrid assistance, putting out 129hp and 235Nm of torque. It's worth being clear that this is a mild hybrid, so don't go expecting silent electric-only pottering around town. The battery is there to help the engine out and smooth the stop-start, not to replace it.

The more interesting bit is Allgrip, Suzuki's four-wheel drive system. With the clocks going back at the end of the month and the first frosts not far behind, I feel this review comes at an appropriate time of year. You get four modes: Auto, Sport, Snow and Lock. Auto is where you'll spend 95% of your time, Sport you'll try once and forget about, and Snow and Lock are there for the days when the boreen turns into a skating rink. Most rivals at this size don't offer anything like it.

What's it like to drive?

Better than you'd expect. The Vitara weighs just 1,315kg, which is featherweight by modern SUV standards, and you feel it. It's nimble, easy to place on narrow roads and doesn't wallow about in corners the way heavier rivals do. Thread it through town or along a tight back road and it's genuinely good fun.

0 to 100km/h takes 11 seconds, which looks a bit sluggish on paper, but the engine has plenty of torque low down so you rarely feel short of muscle. The throttle is a little over-eager. The slightest prod and the Vitara jumps off the line far quicker than you'd expect. Great for getting away from a roundabout sharpish, less great when you're trying to pull away gently with a sleeping child in the back. In saying that, it does get a bit vocal if you ask too much of it on the motorway. The ride on the 17-inch wheels is comfortable over most Irish roads, which is high praise given the state of some of them.

What's it like on the inside?

This is where the Vitara shows its age. There's a lot of hard, scratchy plastic, and the analogue clock in the middle of the dash feels like it was carried over from a different decade. (Which it basically is.) Nothing about the cabin will make you go "wow", and next to something like the Peugeot 2008 it does feel a step behind.

But spend some time with the equipment list on the Ultra and it's very hard to argue with. Adaptive cruise with stop and go, a 9-inch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, keyless entry, heated mirrors and a double sliding panoramic sunroof that floods the cabin with light. It's all here, and it all works without fuss.

Space in the back is a bit tight. I'm 6ft tall and sitting behind my own driving position was adequate but not the most comfortable experience. The 362-litre boot is on the smaller side for the class, but it'll take a small buggy or a weekend's worth of bags, and the removable double height floor is handy for keeping muddy boots out of sight.

What does it cost?

An entry level Vitara starts at €28,995, our top-spec Ultra Allgrip automatic comes in at €38,490, or €39,485 with that yellow paint. That's a lot of money for a car with this interior, and there are cheaper four-wheel drive options out there.

Running costs are reasonable. CO2 of 139g/km means road tax of €210 a year. Suzuki claims 5.9 l/100km combined, and over my week I managed close to that figure, which isn't bad for a petrol four-wheel drive.

My advice? If you live in the city, a front-wheel drive Vitara further down the range will do the job for less. But if you live up a country lane, tow the odd trailer, or just want the reassurance on a frosty January morning, the Allgrip is the one to have.

In summary.

The Vitara has no real headline feature and no glaring flaw either. The interior is dated and the price is ambitious, but it's light, well equipped, easy to live with, and that Allgrip system gives it a genuine reason to exist in a market full of front-wheel drive lookalikes. It's hard to love, but impossible to hate. If a car that quietly does everything asked of it sounds like your kind of car, the Vitara is one to add to your shortlist.

Facts & Figures

Anthony Murphy

I just kept turning up and eventually they let me drive some shiny new cars.