 |
| Towing capacity tops out at 6,100 pounds for the 261hp Crew Cab 4x4 model, which is more than enough to handle bass boats like this 20-foot Triton equipped with a 250hp Suzuki 4-stroke outboard. |
We fit right in with the crowd of bass fishermen lined up at the gas station on the outskirts of Del Rio, Texas. Like everyone else gathered here we're topping off the fuel tank in the boat we have in tow - a beautiful single-console Triton TR-20X - before hitting the Lake Amistad launch ramp a couple miles down the road.
The big difference is while every other tow vehicle around us is either a full-size four-door diesel pickup or V8-powered SUV, ours is a mid-size four-door pickup. And while everyone else is driving Fords, Dodges, and Chevrolets, pulling boats powered by Mercury, Yamaha, and Evinrude, we're driving the new V6-powered Suzuki Equator Crew Cab pulling a boat with a Suzuki 250hp V6 on the transom.
Such a tow vehicle/boat combination brings more than one angler over asking questions such as "How do you like that big Zuki?" and "I didn't know Suzuki made pickups. Is this something new?" To which we smile and reply: "Love it" to the first and "Brand new for 2009" to the second.
WELL KNOWN
Suzuki is well-respected in the marine, ATV and motorcycle world. Their products are fast and state-of-the-art, and on the marine side Suzuki is making great inroads as many performance-minded boaters turn to their big-block 250/300hp V6s to power their boats. Once they do such boaters tend to be very brand loyal.
They are also well-known in the automotive side being the 12th largest automaker in the world. They caught a lot of off-road adventurers' attention when they bought the Samurai SUV to the States in the mid-'80s.
Those who own Suzukis - no matter the product - have a fierce loyalty to the brand: Once a Suzuki owner, always a Suzuki owner, or so it seems.
 |
| The electronic-locking rear differential in the new Equator makes it easy to pull up steep, slippery boat ramps. |
That's why Suzuki decided to offer a pickup after all these years of building cars, motorcycles, ATVs, SUVs and outboards. The all-new Equator is the Suzuki loyalist's means of transporting all their Suzuki toys while supporting that brand-loyalty with the vehicle they drive every day.
NISSAN CONNECTION
The Suzuki Equator is actually a badge-engineered 2009 Nissan Frontier. In other words, save for a few cosmetic changes and different names for option packages, the two trucks are one in the same being built along side each other at Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee, assembly plant.
Sharing mid-size pickups is not a new concept. Mazda shares the Ford Ranger platform, Dodge Dakota and Mitsubishi Raider are the same, and the Isuzu mid-size pickups are the assembly line twins of the Chevrolet Canyon/GMC Colorado.
But to Suzuki's credit they have given the Equator a 100,000-mile/7-year fully transferable, zero-deductible powertrain warranty, whereas the Nissan Frontier only provides 5 years/60,000 miles. Suzuki also makes curtain side-impact airbags standard, giving it class-leading standard safety features to go along with the best drivetrain warranty.
 |
| This special RMZ-4 option includes bed-extender, special bed cargo hold-down system, and sprayed in bed liner. |
STRONG RUNNER
It's not too shabby in the performance side, either. The Nissan optional 4.0L V6 (a 152hp 2.5L I-4 is standard) is the stoutest six in the mid-size pickups, putting out 261 horsepower. On pavement and off it feels strong. There's plenty of low-end grunt for off-roading, whether in 4Hi or 4Lo, and merging onto fast-moving traffic on interstates.
At the same time the strong pulling Nissan six, backed by a 5-speed automatic, achieves very respectable 15/20 numbers in fuel economy, placing it right in the upper end of all the competitors' V6 4x4 models.
We towed two Suzuki-powered bassboats, a Ranger Z520 and the Triton, behind the new pickups. The V-6 Extended Cab Equator towing the 3,800-pound Ranger package averaged 13.1mpg during our 370-mile round trip between San Antonio and Del Reo, Texas, to fish Lake Amistad.
The Crew Cab Equator towing the 3,400-pound Triton bassboat averaged just a shade over 12.6mpg. Both vehicles convoyed, stayed close to 70mph on the freeways, and were driven with a light foot in the city traffic.
Pulling power and vehicle handling were never an issue; the V6 has enough low-end torque to get trailered loads of this weight up to speed and through traffic without any anxiety from the driver and the truck felt very stable with the boats in tow. One item we'd like to see in the future is a "tow/haul" mode that provides higher shift points when the truck is loaded while keeping it out of overdrive once you reach cruising speed.
Although the Equator's V6 is nearly as strong as some of the smaller V8s out there, it is still going to feel the effects of towing loads exceeding 5,000 pounds and up to the Crew Cab 4x4s' 6,100-pound maximum tow rating. It will also require the use of a weight-distributing hitch on any trailered load weighing more than 5,000 pounds.
