Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £8,995 to £12,250
Fun quotient is high, neat interior design, handles and rides well, very good value, lively and civilised diesel version.
Lots of hard cabin plastics, desperately unimaginative trim-level designations, 1.5-litre petrol engine lacks punch, has an uncertain throttle response and is jerky in traffic.
Suzuki goes for the mainstream and succeeds, but it's best as a diesel.
From £7750 to £9000 approx. On sale April.
The Swift is quite tall, as many new superminis are, so it's roomy with good headroom and fair rear legroom. The boot is modest, though, thanks to that minimal rear overhang. This is not a car for four people and a weekend away. The rear seats fold forward but they don't slide or do anything else clever, unlike in some Japanese rivals such as a Jazz or a Yaris. The tailgate has an electromagnetic latch, and storage space includes a drawer under the front passenger seat and three cupholders. The boot contains a light and a 'convenience hook', too.
Noise levels are quite low unless you work the engine hard, an occasional muted thud from the suspension the price paid for the responsive handling. The dampers control the body's movements well, so the ride is level as well as being quite supple. Again, it's much like that of a Ford Ka.
As well as those items mentioned earlier, equipment includes remote central locking, electric front windows, a CD player with six speakers, and displays for outside temperature and mpg.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Suzuki Swift
wrote on 06 06 2007