#NYIAS You might remember that Suzuki has been working on a V6 all-wheel-drive version of its Kizashi sedan. The maker showed a image last fall when it launched the regular-strength, 185-hp, four-cylinder Kizashi. Well, this evening the production version of that image debuted as the 2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport at the Classic Car Club in lower Manhattan, but it doesn't have a V6 anymore.

The reason for the omission is simple. Suzuki no longer has an equity partnership with General Motors, and GM was the supplier of the 3.6-liter V6 that Suzuki had planned to use. Now the Asian maker has a deal with Volkswagen, which took a 19.9 percent stake in Suzuki last December. But this new partnership has yet to bear fruit in the form of drivetrain technology. So the Kizashi Sport still has a 2.4-liter inline-4.

The Sport goes on understanding this July, and notably, all 2011 GTS and SLS models will take the study Kizashi Sport (while lower-line line S and SE models remain just "Kizashi').

Differences on the Kizashi Sport include a revised front fascia with an extended spoiler, extended rocker panels and a sliver of a lip spoiler on the rear deck. We're not sure where all the exterior brightwork is coming from — the early image was free of such garishness.

The suspension has been lowered 0.4 inch, and though the Dunlop tires are the same P235/45R18s as on early Kizashis, the alloy wheels are said to be 2.5 pounds lighter apiece.

Inside, the leather upholstery in the Kizashi Sport SLS gets contrasting stitching, and the steering wheel trim is different.

The Classic Car Club, by the way, doesn't have any sort of obvious tie-in with the Kizashi. Those more fortunates souls in Manhattan (Robert Downey Jr., saint Gandolfini) can pay a membership fee that allows them to borrow Porsche Speedsters and Ariel Atoms. – Erin Riches, Inside Line Senior Editor