Experience tells you to be alert to new experiences. Never prejudge. Forget past disappointments. Let them – as the poet Dowson put it – be ‘Gone with the wind’.
So if you are invited to drive a new motorcar, what do you say? Do you sigh and mutter ‘Oh dear! Another one of those?’ Or do your eyes light up with excitement? The answer is, neither.
There is only one way to go about it. Wipe clean the slate of prejudice and prepare to be impartial. In truth it’s well nigh impossible to be truly impartial. The moment you see the Suzuki Swift badge, the name says it all. A name that resonates with the positive energy of 40 years of achievement. Here is renowned reliability running hand in hand with advanced engineering, ever towards that better tomorrow.
As I approached the all-new Swift Mild Hybrid – Suzuki’s fourth generation compact supermini – I put aside ingrained assumptions. Did it take long to do so? About as long as it takes to slice a loaf of sliced bread. These days big-hearted small cars offer excellent performance and economy as well as swift progress while driver and passengers are treated to the best compact car comfort.
Reputation is a hard taskmaster. Earlier Swifts set the bar high for reliable, practical and fun motoring. On a brilliant supermini chassis, Suzuki created an icon of confidence inspiring ‘get-in-and-go’ transport. Generations have loved this utterly dependable friend. So – this new generation Swift definitely needs to impress. And it certainly does. It’s livelier, quieter and much more economical.
Light and strong on the ‘HEARTECT’ platform and with plenty of room inside, four doors and a reasonable size boot, the design carries forward the Swift DNA but takes it to new heights. There’s every adjunct to comfort and convenience with electronic ‘this’ and automatic ‘that’. In other words it’s very well equipped. You get modernity with method, practicality with persuasiveness and utility with ulterior charm.
Available in a simple model line of Motion and £19,799 Ultra grade tested here – plus an AWD version and, of course, there’s the option of CVT. There’s an all new 3 cylinder 82PS 1.2 engine that has mild 2.3kW electrical assistance giving useful help when needed to the petrol engine. The hybrid system is clever indeed and is belt driven, enabling noiseless ‘stop starts’. Despite not being turbocharged ( which is a good thing because ‘blown’ turbos cost fortunes ) it gives surprisingly lively performance up to a maximum speed of around 105mph.The super slick 5 speed gearbox and light clutch combination is a joy to use. As for economy, Suzuki claims 64.2mpg overall. That’s ultra conservative. Driven steadily, I easily achieved over 75mpg.
Here is a car for all seasons – combining comfort and practical virtues with excellent ride and handling. It’s quieter than the previous model too, taking some of the strain out of long motorway journeys. But you really appreciate the Swift on twisty roads where you can enjoy the irresistible zippiness.
An ‘old school type’ such as yours truly judges a motorcar on its dynamics as well as the practicality. After all, a car is made to go and stop: as simple as that. In between these two imperatives lies the sweet spot of volition, where driver and car merge into a united whole. The Swift never deviated from a pureness of positive driver experience…and that is its forte when compared to the competition.
This is a well integrated car that can do so many things so well. As one of the best practical superminis it brooks no nay sayers – but open its lively potential and it will gallop off down the home straight. In short it’s a safe bet – an important consideration today.
To drive it is to feel a surge of replenishing sap course through one’s veins. This Swift is an endorsement of peppy pleasure: a true reminder that life should be lived to be enjoyed.
Behind the wheel the grey filters of mundane existence fall away in exchange for a bright kaleidoscope of Suzuki enjoyment. It’s a well integrated car that does so much so well.
