2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara Base Sport Utility 4-door 2.7l on 2040-cars

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Buy my Vitara, special-effects pro says in greatest commercial Suzuki never made

A month ago, Eugene Romanovsky posted an advertisement to sell "my best friend," his 1996 Suzuki Vitara, also known as the Sidekick in the United States, on YouTube. The 2.1 million people who have viewed the commercial so far may not have actually considered taking the car off his hands, but every one of them has had a good laugh. The production values of the video far surpass the production values that went into the making of the car itself. Romanovsky is a special-effects artist at the creative group Gravity in Tel Aviv. For the remaining few million of you who have not yet seen the #BuyMyViara video, it would be a disservice to tell reveal what's in it. Let's just say there's not much that isn't in it. The car's book value of a couple-grand belies the fact that it is truly the most amazing vehicle ever built. It does, after all, boast 96 horsepower and a manual transmission featuring a low gear. Trust us, just watch the video. Related Video: Weird Car News Suzuki SUV Videos viral video

Suzuki Jimny gets confused by American guardrails

The reborn Suzuki Jimny 4x4 has faced some crosswinds in the time it's been on the market: It earned only three stars in its Euro NCAP test due to a badly-inflating driver airbag and troubles with pedestrian protection. The automatic emergency braking function also had some issues in NCAP testing, but now the Jimny's AEB system is facing an another problem — it appears to be confused by guardrails. Two German-market Jimnys had been shipped to Los Angeles for the World Car of the Year testing, Australian journalists found that on some corners of the California test route, the AEB was seemingly triggered by a guardrail in a curve in the road. The problem was found with both Jimnys, and Suzuki's Jimny chief engineer was present to look into the matter; later, Suzuki engineers were able to replicate the glitch with these particular vehicles on the same road. While U.S. sales of the Jimny are extremely unlikely, test data acquired on American roads still seems to be highly valuable for Suzuki, as tests in Japan could not replicate the problem. It appears the road condition, tilt angle, curve aspects and vehicle speed all conspired to puzzle the AEB system, which is now being evaluated for a software or calibration change. The jerky correction by the electronic stability program, audible on the CarAdvice video, happened at 45-55 mph, which is not overly fast for even the narrow and tall Jimny — it is possible that the AEB mistook the guardrail for another car. Suzuki stated: "There is a possibility that the (stability control) is instantaneously switched on (by) reacting to the vehicle sway when departing the S-shaped curve — and then consecutively switches on because the vehicle is circling the curve at high speeds. [...] The intervention of the stability control may give a sense of discomfort to the driver but is not an event that would disturb the vehicle's direction of movement." The driver safety assists are a good addition to the Jimny, of course, given that the 1980s second-generation truck was the subject of a beef between Consumer Reports and Suzuki North America due to its reported tippiness in corners. Related Video:

Suzuki back in MotoGP for 2015

It had been planned for 2014 but it's going to be 2015 instead - that's when Suzuki returns to the manufacturer ranks of MotoGP after quitting the series at the end of 2011 because of The Great Recession. When Suzuki stopped after 37 continuous years of racing, it said it intended to return three years later and it has been in talks with MotoGP's rights holder, Dorna Sports, since last year. No doubt, though, that fan anticipation of the team's return outdoes any dismay at the delay. It will join Yamaha, Honda and Ducati in the premiere league.
Its bike has already been testing in Japan and was with the official MotoGP tribe in Barcelona, Spain on Monday when Suzuki announced its return. It's said the development bike is called the XRH-1, being ridden by official tester Randy de Puniet (who currently races in MotoGP on an Aprilia-based bike with TeamAspar). and after a day of testing de Puniet got the new Suzuki to within seven-tenths of a second of the top time posted by other MotoGP teams. Davide Brivio, who once ran the Fiat-Yamaha team and has been close with Valentino Rossi, will be the team manager.
Speaking of Rossi, The Doctor is back with Fiat-Yamaha after a bad run with Ducati but is only contracted to the end of 2014. Brivio is the man who got Rossi to join Fiat-Yamaha, then got him to Ducati. Until he took the head of Suzuki's works effort, Brivio was working with Rossi's VR46 management company, heading areas like merchandising. The rumormill has already begun its work, with folks wondering if Rossi will head to Suzuki in 2015 if his second stint at Yamaha doesn't prove fruitful before then. Scroll down below for the official press release from Suzuki.