Suzuki is particularly identified as manufacturers of small family cars and trucks, and is in fact the second largest Japanese company in these fields. One of their most recent additions to their range of trucks is the Suzuki Equator, which debuted in late 2008 at the Chicago Auto Show and first began to hit the US dealerships a few months later.
The Suzuki Equator takes its design from the Nissan Frontier and is actually assembled by Nissan on behalf of Suzuki in their plant. The Suzuki Equator Crew Cab Truck is classed as a mid-size pickup with seating space for four, available with a short or long bed, and with a choice of either rear wheel drive or all wheel-drive configurations.
Power for the Suzuki Equator Crew Cab Truck comes in the form of a 2.5 liter inline-4 cylinder engine capable of producing 152 horsepower, Rear wheel driven the Equator Crew Cab is available with the choice of a five-speed automatic gearbox or five-speed manual transmission.
The Equator comes with rack and pinion steering and all disc brakes, providing very progressive stopping power.
Since its launch just three years ago Suzuki has done little or nothing to update the Equator both internally and externally, instead preferring to maintain a comfortable status quo. In truth, Suzuki's marketing policy appears to be fairly straightforward- what you see is what you get. The Suzuki Equator Crew Cab Truck can be a work horse, a more than capable off road vehicle especially in four wheel drive format. As a family carrier there certainly are more luxurious choices around, but it still makes for a fairly eye-catching city car and possibly even for small families with a large dog or two that likes the open air.
However the majority of reviews show that the people who opt for the Suzuki Equator Crew Cab Truck have an eye on its dual purpose capabilities. Either to haul a crew and their equipment or supplies from one work location or another, or without crew and equipment, test it's off road capabilities. One thing for sure is that the Equator will never win too many awards for fuel economy especially on long journeys, with 22 miles per gallon recorded for highway driving and a more creditable 19 miles per gallon in town.
Although the Suzuki Equator Crew Club Truck is totally based on the Nissan Frontier, most trade reviews have the Equator looking a lot better, or at least more eye-catching. The credit for that goes mostly to the Suzuki's eye catching honeycomb mesh front grill dominated by an oversized S motif.. Some interesting paint options also go a long way to making the Equator Crew Club Truck stand out as do its flared fenders. The Suzuki Equator Crew Club Truck's tailgate is also fairly remarkable due to its complete lack of over statement, with very little chrome used on the vehicle and lots of matt black used in its place.
In trade reviews the 2012 Suzuki Equator Crew Cab Truck consistently holds its own against such strong competition as the Toyota Sequoia Platinum, the Hummer H3 Alpha, the Dodge Ram, the Ford F150 and the Kia Borrego EX V8.