ON THE ROAD – IAN LYNAS DRIVES THE SUZUKI SWIFT HYBRID AUTOMATIC

Around the world, millions of drivers favour a small car and I must admit that I too am a fan. My first car was a very basic Mini; in fact it did not even have proper door handles and I was a regular to Paddy Hopkirk’s shop in Belfast to buy accessories; the shop was managed by Paddy’s brother Eric.

My affair, not with a curvy blonde, had started with motoring and with the Mini. With the aid of Bank of Mum I, like many others, was mobile. Many of the small cars down the years have become icons of the motoring world, the already mentioned Mini, the Fiat 500, a small car which has played such an important role for the Italian carmaker and there have been others.

This brings me to my latest drive in a small car, the Suzuki Swift. When it was first launched I saw it as a rival to the new Mini; it certainly won on price and it delivered a sporty drive which has remained throughout the various versions. The Swift first appeared back in 1984 and it fits neatly in the Suzuki range and with each generation it has offered more in terms of tech etc. and it continues to prove extremely popular. Recently I was re-united with a Swift, the hybrid automatic version and I must admit I prefer this combination over the manual version; but it is all down to personal taste at the end of the day. Under the bonnet, a new Z12E 1.2 litre mild hybrid three cylinder engine which pressed on in a sporty manner makes a pleasant sound. The strong point of this little engine is that it delivers an eight percent improvement in fuel economy over the previous engine; all good news. This economy places the Swift a very strong contender in the economy stakes; according to Suzuki this puts it ahead of the competition as regards combined fuel consumption.

Allied to this little performer is a CVT transmission, which I found was almost seamless in operation; when the CVT transmission arrived on the scene some years ago, not from Suzuki I must add, I found it annoying as it hunted in a fashion for gears; really making for quite an unpleasant drive. The joy for me with the Swift and although in a way it has become of age, now in its fourth generation, that sheer quality of handling has not been sacrificed; in a way it handles very like a Mini ; the result is a fun and satisfying drive. I found myself making excuses so that I could grab a drive with every opportunity. Yes being a small car there is quite a lot of road noise, to be expected I suppose; but in no way did it take away from the drive.

Another plus for Suzuki, they have radically changed the profile of the Swift, it has not lost its character; the basic shape has changed little down the generations. With the Swift comes two levels of trim and there is the option of ALLGRIP Auto 4WD, ideal for when the going gets tough. Today drivers who opt for a small car and who are downsizing are reluctant to sacrifice the goodies that may have been on a much larger car; no worry in this respect Suzuki have packed their little gem rather well and here are a few highlights, depending on the version. Rear upper spoiler, LED lights, 16 inch alloys, a nine inch media display which includes Apple CarPLay and Android Auto connectivity, navigation, adaptive cruise control, rear parking sensors, something I feel should be fitted to every car, dual sensor brake support and so the list goes on. To date more than nine million Swifts have appeared on the roads of 119 countries and the cars destined for the UK and Ireland are manufactured in Japan at the Suzuki Sagara production facility.

Summing up, for your hard earned money, not only do you get a well-appointed small car, but it comes with a bonus, the fun to drive element.

Ian Lynas