Suzuki has piqued interest ever since the unveiling of the Kizashi concept back in 2007. After all, it’s not often we see a large car concept from the carmaker, known for it’s rally and motorbike heritage and a history of compact (and very competent) small cars.

The new Kizashi follows some of the flowing lines we were shown with the Kizashi 2 concept, while clearly showing a refinement from the concept to an almost production appearance. Gone are the dazzling paint jobs, 4WD ride height, crossover sports wagon styling, and headlights. Instead version 3 of the Kizashi rides on 21 inch, 9 spoke chrome wheels, sports a new, sharper headlight design, wider split grille, a more muscular front end, and 350z style rear haunches becoming almost a 4 door sports car.

Along with the stunning stylistic update come some juicy details. The new Kizashi will carry a 300HP version of the GM’s new DOHC 24-valve 3.6L V6, come with Suzuki’s advanced i-AWD system mated to a paddle-shifted 6 speed automatic transmission and will comfortably seat 5 persons.

It’s one of the most solid close-to-production concepts we’ve seen and Suzuki claims we will see production of the Kizashi in some form in 2010, with construction planned to be at Suzuki’s new Sagara plant in Japan. Here’s to seeing Suzuki build this, and since we’re wishing, we might as well throw in a wish for the X-HEAD too.

Kizashi 3 Concept:

Popularity: 32% [?]

To all interstate and local Adelaide Japanese car lovers, a new event is on the horizon! Here’s the low down, straight from the horses mouth:

What is All Japan Day?

Sick and tired of car shows that spend so much time promoting themselves that they’ve forgotten all about the cars?

So was the All Japan Day organising committee! We decided to band together and create a simple event that ‘got back to basics’ and allowed entrants and spectators to do what they love doing best - just admire and talk about the sensational cars on display. By keeping it simple, we’ve also kept the costs down, which has benefited both entrants and spectators.

We are very excited about our inaugural event on 27 April 2008 and we hope its success will encourage suitable entrants from interstate (maybe even overseas? Mazda please send us a 787B racer!) in future years.

So, come and enjoy us for a relaxing day out and be dazzled by some of Australia’s finest Japanese automobiles.

So for those of you in Adelaide who love Japanese cars, head over to the All Japan Day website to learn about becoming an entrant and spectator.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Suzuki’s always been known for gutsy mini and Kei car production cars and concepts and the new Suzuki A-Star seems to be no compromise on that ethos.

How much aggression can you cram into that little four-door? A lot, from it’s frowning headlight design and positively evil demon rear end, this new Concept is sure to be a favorite if it goes to production.

Alto replacement? Swift replacement? Nothing is yet known what car in the makers mini car line up it will take, or if it will be a seperate model in it’s own right.

Since we’re in fantasy mode, we’d love to see this with a nice 1.3L and turbo strapped on for good measure!

Popularity: 26% [?]

We don’t know what it is about this pick-up/truck/car/rescue-vehicle/lime chariot but we love it.

Here’s some more cool pictures of the X-Head, expected at Tokyo Motor Show this year.

[Source: Autoblog]

Popularity: 23% [?]

The Kizashi appeared at Frankfurt not long ago, and hot on it’s heels comes the Kizashi 2, which looks to be either a crossover or soft roader.

�Kizashi 2.0

The car apparently drops the 2.0L 4cyl TDi expected in the Kizashi 1.0. Instead Kizashi 2.0 gets a 3.6L GM V6 and 6 speed automatic, and may or may not be a hybrid vehicle. It’s unknown at this point wether the Kizashi 2.0 would sport the AWD system slated for the Kizashi 1.0 concept.

It’s also unknown why the two disparate vehicle concepts hold the same name in the first place. It may simply be a ‘style name’ rather than actual vehicle name.

[Source:� Caradisiac]

Popularity: 31% [?]