The U.S. is only just becoming a serious market for small cars and already automakers are scrapping for small-car niches and slices.
A a small maker gaining respect because of its sporty Kizashi midsize sedan, is in the niche fray now with the SX4 SportBack.

•Seats. Front's were comfy, roomy. SportBack carved out more knee side-flop space by clever location of the arm rest/door pull. Sideways space gives an instant feeling of a bigger vehicle.

Back seat was pretty tight. Spec sheets shows it similar to Fit, but it didn't feel like it.

•Navi. SportBack comes with a Garmin Nuvi 765 that fits onto a flip-up holder/charging dock atop the dashboard. Pops right out to hand to a passenger for programming while underway, then snap back in. Or use it in other vehicles, on its battery power.

Its graphics made following the route as easy as if you actually knew where you were going — unlike some built-in systems with bigger screens that should have an advantage.

Any Garmin 7-series unit fits the dock, in case you want to swap the standard one for a different version.

Gripes (including what Suzuki says are Things Absolutely Nobody Else Has Mentioned):

•GA-runch. The sound the gearbox sometimes made during shifts, as if the synchronizers that keep shifts smooth occasionally went AWOL. It's a TANEHM