Mate had a 2L V6 one for a while, was pretty thirsty. Mind you he did thrash the nuts off it most of the time. Another friend has a 2.0 (4-cyl) Grand Vitara which isn't bad as long as you don't expect too much grunt or sportscar handling.
I haven't tried the 1.6 but I suspect it would be painfully slow once loaded up, and probably no better on fuel because you would have to work it so hard to actually get anywhere.
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