I adore small cars. The Kia Picanto, Mazda 2 and Honda Jazz sit at the top of my list. So, where does the new Suzuki Swift Hybrid sit?

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Car Reviewed: Suzuki Swift Hybrid Ultra

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The Swift is loaded with standard tech such as sat nav, heated front seats, a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control and automatic lights and as long as you opt for the entry-level Motion guise, you’ll have some spare change from £20,000. Taking out the Suzuki finance, tips this over £20k.

My test car was the slightly more luxurious Ultra, which came with 16in alloys, automatic air-con, electric folding door mirrors and various other gubbins. Still, without the Ultra box ticked, the entry-level Motion comes with adaptive cruise control, a rear-view camera, heated front seats, wireless smartphone link, blind spot monitoring and keyless entry.

Opening the front doors revealed a low sill, making for easy access and the large front and side windows gave excellent visibility when sat inside. A central 9.0-inch touchscreen sits in the middle of the dashboard; it’s not the quickest, but it comes with sat nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Likewise, most of the materials felt cheap and it was missing a central armrest for those longer journeys, but you can’t have everything for this price.

On the road, the Swift’s five-speed gearbox felt slick and its steering and chassis tight. It’s a hoot on a twisty bit of tarmac, but its lack of oomph quickly becomes apparent on straight stretches. Unless you have momentum, it’ll urge you to shift down when up against slight inclines. 

With a full tank of fuel and a 400-mile readout, the Swift was ready to be my chariot for the week, with my first stop being Edinburgh for the Genesis Scottish Open. It nipped in and out of Edinburgh’s tight areas with ease and even came out of its famed cobblestoned streets with all its bits still in place.

The Swift was a decent motorway cruiser, but I couldn’t help but feel that my back would suffer on longer runs due to a lack of lumbar support. Opening up the trip computer on the touchscreen revealed 60mpg for lengthier runs, while town trips were closer to 44mpg, which is still an impressive figure.

Overall, the Suzuki Swift Hybrid makes for a fantastic argument in the world of affordable cars. It’s fun, well-equipped and frugal. There’s little that can come close to it for the price. Therefore, I’ll need to extend my top three list to a top four.