Background: Amigo wants to be your driving friend again. The two-door sport utility from Isuzu rejoined the booming sport utility craze in 1998 after a three-year hiatus. The first-generation Amigo debuted in 1989. During its absence, a new breed of vehicle began dotting the landscape; compact sport utilities. Some, like Toyota's RAV4 and Honda's CR-V are built from car platforms and designed for highways, not off-roading through the backwoods. No matter where they're driven, consumers continue purchasing them at a dizzying pace. Size wise, Amigo is a "tweener." Overall length is larger than compact SUVs, but smaller than mid-size offerings, like Chevrolet's Blazer. Strictly a two-door design, Amigo's truck-platform beginnings have it well suited for off-road travel. Looking for a four-door equivalent to Amigo? Check out Isuzu's Rodeo. Both Amigo and Rodeo come in four-wheel drive or two-wheel, rear drive designs. General Motors and Isuzu made headlines earlier this month after the world's largest automaker announced it's increasing its financial stake in the Japanese truck and engine manufacturer from 37.5 percent up to 49 percent. In addition to Isuzu, GM also owns a 10 percent of Suzuki, another Japanese automaker. Assembly of Amigo now takes place here in the midwest at facility in Layfette, Ind. jointly operated by Subaru and Isuzu.
New for 1999: This model year marks the arrival of Amigo's hard-top model in addition to Isuzu's familiar, removable soft-top version. Previous year Amigos featured the removable, soft-top ceiling exclusively. Hard-tops are better suited for suburban Chicago drivers who bravely battle snow and windchills one third of the year. All hard-top Amigos have two moon roofs, a segment exclusive. The rear moon roof can be completely removed if so desired. In front, the manually operated roof pops up.
Trim levels and engines: Amigo offers several variations. The 2.2-liter, double overhead cam, cast iron, in-line four-cylinder engine, delivering 130 horsepower, comes in both rear two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive editions. Four-cylinder engines come exclusively with manual transmission. Six-cylinder, double overhead cam, 3.2-liter engines boast a horsepower of 205. Manual transmission is not offered in two-wheel drive editions with six cylinder powertrains. Both manual and automatic transmissions are available in four-wheel drive, six cylinder Amigos. All two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive selections come with a choice of soft or hard tops. Another convenience four-wheel-drive Amigos offer that most compact SUVs don't is the push button, shift-on-the-fly configuration which allows drivers to move from two-wheel drive into four-wheel drive high with the push of a dashboard button at speeds below 60 miles per hour. Shifting from four-wheel drive high to four-wheel drive low for low-speed traction in mud or snow is handled from a traditional floor-mounted gearshift box. Safety equipment: Dual front air bags; four-wheel anti-lock brakes; collapsible steering column and underbody skid pads, which helps reduce damage to the vehicle's underbelly when traipsing through uncharted off-road courses, come with the price of admission. Keyless remote entry comes optional. Standard equipment: Power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering; dual moon roofs (hard top editions); five-speed manual transmission; rear wipers, outside tire carrier and rear and side window defoggers come standard.
Optional faire: Fog lights; compact disc player; air conditioning; automatic transmission; power windows, door locks and mirrors and six-speaker stereo system are options.
Price: Amigo includes a wide price range depending on the model chosen. The lowest-priced, two-door, four-cylinder, soft-top Amigo checks in at around $14,999. But Isuzu provided the Daily Herald with a top-of-the-line, bright red vehicle with four-wheel drive, hard top and four-speed automatic transmission. Manufacturer's suggested retail price was $20,250. After the addition of in-dash compact disc player, fog lights, air conditioning, power windows and locks, 16-inch alloy wheels and keyless remote entry, the bottom line totoled $24,435 including a $495 destination charge.
Interior: The ventilation system consists of two dials for temperature and blower direction and a slide lever for fan speed. Below climate control settings is the stereo system with rather small preset buttons. Interior door handles are also unusually small. A stand-alone digital clock sits high on the dashboard. To the left of the temperature gauges are the rear-window defogger buttons and rear window wiper controls. Side window defoggers work effectively to clear a visual path to side-mounted mirrors during cold Chicago mornings; a nice touch. Another good idea is the vertically designed, illuminated secondary gear shift indicator in the analog instrument panel. Headlights monitor from the left-hand side turn signal while front windshield wipers operate from a right hand-side steering column stalk. Power side-view mirrors operate from the dashboard while the driver's door includes power window and lock functions. In between the standard cloth front bucket seats are in-line dual cup holders, parking brake and a flip-top storage bin hinged in the back.
Seating comfort: A-slight step-up motion is needed to enter Amigo. A high, 7.8 inches of ground clearance suitable for off-road ventures contributes to the high step design. Amigo's lightweight doors could be a tad wider too. Rather thick center frame pillars create a bothersome left-side blind spot while the rear-hatch mounted spare tire and back headrests pop up in rear mirror viewing. When entering the back, the passenger's side seat easily slides forward when the backrest moves downward. But headroom, plentiful in front, is tight for the six-feet-and- taller crowd in back. Maneuvering out from the back requires doing the "twist." The rear cloth seat folds down as a full bench with no 60/40 split. When lowered, there's 62 cubic feet of cargo room. Two travelers fit most comfortably in back.
Exterior: In front, Amigo features square headlights and a checkered front grille. In back, the hatch gate, hinged on the left swings out, not up. The permanently-mounted window glass does not flip up as in some other sport utilities. The spare tire, mounted on the back tailgate, is full sized. Both exterior mirrors and rectangular door handles feature contrasting black color schemes. Fifteen-inch tires with styled steel wheels come standard while 16-inch alloy wheels are optional. The circular, non-locking fuel tank with tethered cord is on the left rear fender kitty corner to the fixed-mast antenna found on the right front fender.
Dimensions: Wheelbase: 96.9 inches Overall length: 168 inches Overall width: 70.4 inches Overall height: 67.0 inches Front headroom: 38.9 inches Curb weight: 3,739 pounds
Fuel economy: Our six-cylinder, test-drive Amigo mated to an automatic transmission included travel estimates of 17 miles per gallon city and 21 m.p.g. highway; average for a six-cylinder sport utility. The tank holds 17.7 gallons of unleaded, regular fuel. Amigo's mileage leader is the two-wheel drive, four-cylinder version averaging 21 m.p.g. city and 24 m.p.g. highway.
Final thoughts: As SUV popularity grows, so to does competition. Suzuki this year unveiled the all-new, 1999 Grand Vitaras sport utility with six-cylinders, four doors and four-wheel drive capability. A comparably-equipped Grand Vitara costs about $2,500 less than our rugged-riding, test-drive Amigo, although Amigo offers a longer and wider stance. Increased competition also provides potential buyers with more bargaining power while power shopping at dealerships. Amigo, Grand Vitara and Jeep's Wrangler are three of the smaller-sized sport utilities designed for off-road travel. Amigo's ride falls between the bouncier Wrangler and smoother-riding Grand Vitara. With the V-6 engine, Amigo's towing capacity reaches 4,500 pounds, one of the best in the small SUV class. Next spring, Amigo gets even more competition from within its own ranks. Isuzu has plans to import a limited number of the Japan-built, two-door, 1999 VehiCROSS compact SUV. The six-cylinder VehiCROSS won 1997 Car of the Year honors in Japan. |