The Suzuki X-90, may you rust in peace. There are many different reviews of this oddly proportioned, squat car that looks like it is something that neither a teenager, nor your granny and every age range inbetween would be seen dead in. It is categorically uncool. You may also know the X-90 as the Suzuki Vitara X-90 in Europe.
The first thing to go against the X-90 is its looks. What is to loathe about it? We know the nineties cars were a bit more square looking but the X-90 is decidedly box shaped. It looks like it is three cardboard boxes all piled together. As high as it is long, the X-90 totally out of proportion. At least their advertising campaign was spot on featuring the tag-line, “What are you staring at?” Probably staring wondering why you were driving such a monstrosity of a car. It looks like a mad Frankenstein style experiment of combining a sports car, a hatchback and a S.U.V.
The Suzuki X90's claim to fame was a couple of years being the Red Bull promotional vehicle. What did it do? It carried a giant 1.5 metre can of fizzy juice on its boot. At least the car looked like a carry box that a can could have come out of.
The X-90 was a two-seat, mini-S.U.V. that had neither the convenience of an S.U.V. nor the handling of a sports car. The X90 did attempt to combine the sleek sophistication of the sports car with the ride height of a S.U.V, but unfortunately the result was the squat, boxy car that entered the market. Combine this with limited luggage space, which was further taken up by a spare tyre in the boot, it just adds to the already impractical car. Handling wise, the steering on the X-90 was wobbly to say the least with reports of excessive vibration on the steering wheel.
Under the bonnet the Suzuki X90 had the same potential cylinder head problems as the Vitara. A SUV that looks like it should be a four wheel drive, but some models only featured rear wheel drive. Despite its 1.6 litre I4 16-valve engine which produced 95 HP, many owners describe the car as "gutless" and slow to get off the mark at lights.
The X90 seems to have maybe found a potential market in the off-roading community and possibly if you found yourself owning one of these cars, may be one of your only buyers, should you wish to sell it. A quick search of the internet and the number of people who have done some small modifications and turned this ugly duckling into a Mad Max-esque vehicle is uncanny. Beautiful now? Hell no! Still ugly and now a bit crazy to boot. Would anyone be seen driving this to the supermarket and back? Not a hope in hell!
Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear summed it up in absolutely perfect style - "Worst car ever." Can't really say much more than that can we?