• Slightly smaller than S-Cross sibling
• Boot is rather small
• Adequate legroom front and rear

How much space is there?

The Suzuki Vitara may be small but it’s useable as a family car, with pretty decent space for four. We found that there’s plenty of leg and headroom in the front, however shoulder room is at a bit of a premium. But we can say that of most other small SUVs, as well.

In the back, there’s sufficient space for a couple of six-foot tall passengers to sit behind people of similar height. Though they may not want to be there for long. Again, this is absolutely standard stuff in this type of car, unless you go for the Skoda Kamiq, which is particularly roomy in the back.

If you’re especially tall, we caution against getting a Vitara with a panoramic sunroof. It eats into headroom in both the front and back, to the extent that some people just won’t fit comfortably.

Boot space and storage

The Vitara’s boot measures just 362 litres in models with the mild-hybrid Boosterjet engine. That’s on the low end of adequate for a car of this size, being beaten by most small SUV rivals. For comparison, the Peugeot 2008 has 434 litres of space, and the Ford Puma has 456 litres.

Despite its smaller size, the Vitara’s boot is actually really useful, as Gareth Evans discovered during his six-month long-term test. He said: ‘Suzuki has made a fabulous job of building a boot that works. Its opening is nice and square, the load lip isn’t too high, and there’s a false floor that creates a flat surface from the seat back to the rear extremity of the vehicle. This makes loading heavy items much easier.’

The back seats fold down in a 60:40 split and doing so frees up 642 litres of space, measured up to the window line – other manufacturers measure up to the roof. Note that the Vitara’s boot space varies between 289 and 375 litres depending on which powertrain is fitted.

Storage in the cabin is only average, as well, with door pockets sized for a 1.5-litre bottle, a pair of cupholders in the centre console and a shelf ahead of the gear lever for your smartphone, usefully sited next to the USB connections.

Is it easy to park?

The Vitara is quite a small car with a roughly square shape and good all-round visibility, so we found slotting into a parking space is easily done. Likewise, threading down a narrow street. SZ-T models come with a reversing camera as standard, while the SZ5 adds front and rear parking sensors for extra reassurance.

Check out the car’s dimensions on our Suzuki Vitara specs page.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating has expired
• Loaded with safety kit, nevertheless
• 4WD provides extra security on the road

The Suzuki Vitara scored five stars when it was assessed by car safety body Euro NCAP. But that was back in 2015 and NCAP’s criteria have changed significantly in meantime. Indeed, the Vitara’s rating has expired, so it can’t be directly compared with cars assessed more recently.

Regardless, the Vitara should still hold up well in a crash, and it comes with loads of safety features. They include:

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind spot monitors
• Rear cross traffic alert
• Traffic sign recognition
• Lane departure warning
• Lane keeping assist

It worth noting that some of those features are only found on much more costly, top-spec versions of rival small SUVs. There are also two sets of Isofix child seat mounts on the outer rear seats.

Watch the Suzuki Vitara’s Euro NCAP crash test