Suzuki Swift - long-term review

The Suzuki's been on a few adventures of late. Exciting times. We’ve been on several long (ish) trips – down to the Cotswolds, to deepest darkest Kent and even across to the far east... by which I mean Norfolk, obviously – so it’s been a terrific opportunity to see how the baby Suzuki responds to all sorts of different road types and scenarios.

And how did the Suzuki fare? Spoiler alert: it did really well. Its nature as a small car is to be somewhat sluggish compared with the high-powered cars it shares the TG garage with, so we can’t complain about that. What we can say is that it’s a total delight to be in a car that responds so well to forward planning, that delights in an early gearchange and that approves of a corner well taken. We also battled torrential rain, snow and black ice – all of which the baby Suzuki took in its stride without the slightest complaint.

On a practical note, it has a decent amount of luggage space in the boot – this is something I very much approve of as I remember the frustration I felt with my first car... a Seat Arosa with possibly the smallest boot in the entire world. It’s also regularly achieving 58–62mpg, and that’s with me Esther ‘lead foot’ Neve driving – so that’s not just impressive, it’s a genuine miracle.

On motorways, the Swift, though small, holds its own and exudes a strong presence. Once you’re up into fifth gear, you can sail along smoothly and only dip down to a lower gear should you need to overtake a sluggardly slowcoach. On A-roads and B-roads, a little more changing of gears is required, but that’s no hardship as the gearbox is super sweet and responsive – the tiny ‘change up’ arrow in the instrument binnacle flashes away merrily unaware that sometimes a lower gear is more fun, though a higher gear would undoubtedly be more economical. In small towns, the baby Suzuki is a delight. Threading it through tight little roads and parking it in impossibly small spaces is a joy. In motoring terms, there’s very little that’s more pleasing than scooping a space other cars have deemed too tiny, parking up and watching other, larger cars desperately searching for a space large enough to accommodate their vehicle (and their ego). Happy times.

Another small car benefit is their anonymity. On a trip to the industrial north, I noticed an alarming amount of cars that had been keyed. Naturally, it was a huge concern leaving the Swift on a street where people are so bewilderingly vicious towards cars. But, the Swift remained unmolested. Maybe the keyers only felt the need to disfigure luxury cars. Or maybe the Swift just charmed them into leaving it be... we will never know.

What else? Well, inevitably, it’s not all roses and sunshine. In another report, I mentioned the fact that the Swift could really benefit from more supportive seats. For me, a well sorted seat is essential on long journeys. These journeys have only underlined that I still think that the Swift seats need more bolstering to keep driver and passenger comfortable. I stand by this 100 per cent.

In other Swift related news, I’m sad to say that from the next report someone else will be taking over the baby Suzuki. It will be interesting to see if they have the same feelings towards the Swift as I have. One thing is for certain, whoever takes the keys will be able to enjoy a proper driving experience in a proper car.