The Suzuki Misano Concept has been revealed as a proposal of what the Japanese manufacturer could create if it combined its two specialties. The current line-up of Suzuki’s passenger cars consists of a budget-beating hatches, crossovers and sedans with the only aspiration model in its offering being the Swift Sport. Within its superbike stable however, there are a number of hair-raising products.
Penned by students at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin, Italy, the Suzuki Misano Concept takes a number of superbike principles and applies it to the structure of a speedster. The goal of this design is to take the emotive high-performance spirit of the brand’s two-wheel offerings and transform it into a car that is efficient and practical.
Working in collaboration with Suzuki and Pirelli OZ Racing, 24 students of the IED put this project together as part of their thesis. The Suzuki Misano concept measures 4 000 mm long, 1 750 mm wide and 1 000 mm tall with a wheelbase of 1 500 mm. While it possesses barchetta body lines, the concept’s cabin houses two seats positioned in off-centre and tandem to one another, further accentuating a superbike feel.
The removal of the bonnet and positioning of the seats allows the Suzuki Misano concept to house its battery pack in a storage compartment on the right side of the chassis. The result of this is an aggressive front design that’s not too foreign from the face of a superbike. Even the windscreen has been inspired by the faring used on the brand’s performance bikes.
Where cabin controls are concerned, the Suzuki Misano concept does away with a conventional steering wheel and replaces it with a superbike-inspired joystick for a more authentic feel.
This isn’t the first time that Suzuki has participated in joining its two brands together. In 2001, it revealed the GSX-R/4 concept at the Los Angeles auto show. This used the Hayabusa’s 1,3-litre four-cylinder engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox to produce a power output of 129 kW with a rev limit of 11 000 r/min. Weighing just 640 kg, it claimed a top speed of 291 km/h.
