Suzuki Swift: back into the groove

I must admit I’ve not spent all that much time in our Suzuki Swift long termer recently. What with travelling to Paris for the motor show and the numerous cars we’ve had in on test, the little Suzuki has been neglected a bit, sat in a dark corner of the MSN Cars' car park.

Until last night, that is. Getting back into the car on a miserable October evening it all came back as to why I like the Swift.

I’ve been driving a MINI Cooper S Roadster for the last week (watch out for MSN Cars’ road test on this soon). It’s certainly not without its faults, but it’s fast, grippy and pretty capable.

But the Swift felt more immediate and reminded me of just how much character is cooped up in the little chassis. The throttle of the standard 1.2-litre Japanese four-pot is crisper than the MINI’s (the Roadster does use a force-fed motor, possibly explaining why) and the clutch and brakes packed with more feel.

The steering is accurate too, not quite as keen as the MINI’s slightly synthetic reaction to the helm and resultant messages relayed back, but still at a level that, even after a long day and driving in awful conditions, morphs your attitude from tired and non-committal to alert and engaged.

I am a person that loves driving cars, no matter what vehicle it is, what the conditions are or what time of day it is. But despite my rose-tinted view on four-wheeled transport, that’s an impressive trick for a supermini to pull off.

Ultimately, its limits are nowhere near as high as the MINIs, but that doesn’t mean to say it’s not fun to drive.

The Swift’s pedals felt spongy and light after the MINIs heavy and solid weighting, but once I’d reacquainted myself with the controls and adjusted my inputs to suit, I was pedalling the Suzuki along smoothly.

A 15-minute journey was all it took to realign myself with the Swift. We wanted to run the car as a long termer to assess whether the brand carries any cachet in the UK next to what are perceived to be more premium marques in the supermini sector, such as Ford and VW; whether it offers enough to compete against the established players.

In my opinion, at least, it does. And for less money, too. Now I remember why I like driving our Suzuki Swift.