16 Long Term Test Cars on The Road Racing to The Hill

OURCARS.
A rare shot of ttie
Swift not being
l)edalled hard oy
Mark Walton
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SEAT ARONA
High-rise 'Beefa is
sooooo2018
SUZUKI
SWIFT
Not the Sport,
but surprisingly
sporty
Small. Perfectly formed?
Neat, lovable and good to drive, the only thing more fun
than an Arona on Welsh B-roads is a Suzuki Swift
HE TWO LEAST powerful, least expensive cars
here. But- hats off to the CAR extended familyneither
is neglected or looked dow11 upon.
In fact, both get a good amount of thumbs-ups.
Albeit son1e of that's inspired by the just-right
height of the Arona's boot when deployed as a
pic11ic table, or its easily accessed USB slots for phone chargi11g.
And at the end of the two days, Jake ends up back with his Swift
and I end up back with my Arona, without anybody attempting
to wrestle them from us.
We're both perfectly happy about that. Jake's always liked
tl1e Swift, and finds new ways to like it in Wales, where the
narrowness of many of the roads favours small cars. But the
speed of said roads -and tl1e excellence of some of the other cars
here -makes the steering seem slightly less sharp.
Mark Walton leads the cheerleading for the Swift. Yes, the
same Mark Walton who arrives in Wales
at 150mph in the Ms, sideways.
'I think the Swift's the real, unexpected
treat of this trip,' he tells n1e over a
refreshing Crunchie. 'Blasting around in
tl1e 592bhp BMW Ms is a bit like ta1ning
lions or walking a tightrope - there's
always an edge to the fun you have it in.
But in the Suzuki you can pedal along
joyfully, foot mashed to the floor, flat out
I THINK THE
SWIFT IS
THE REAL,
UNEXPECTED
TREAT OF
THIS TRIP
and completely fearless. The shape of the thin steering wheel in
your hand, the way it turns in so confidently, the fizzy engine -
it's all so much more lively and engaging than you expect. Not
entirely sure about the styling, but otherwise I really love it.'
Anthony ffrench-Constant's not quite so sold. 'Like so many
these days, it isn't half as good looking as the car it replaces; the
perils of feeling the need to facelift every 20 months whether it
needs it or not. And the interior detailing is poor - everything
seems to be at least partially obscured by everything else. For
all that, it's a blast to chuck around - takes me back to my first
car days. No power, so you learned to drive everywhere without
touching tl1e brakes in fear of how long it would take to rekindle
the speed scrubbed off.'
He's keener on the Arona: 'Phil McNamara told me tl1is is
the worst car Seat makes. In which case they really are on a roll
because I think it's pretty spiffing. Looks good, both inside and
out. Comfortable and nicely kitted out
with last-ge11eration VW tech that you
can still understand and use intuitively.
'I don't know what's under the bonnet
[the VW Group's fine 1.5 Eva four] but it
biffs along with alacrity. I haven't had so
much fun in something small and tall
since that wardrobe incident with the
Batman costume and the Swarfega .. .' ►
COLIN OVERLAND
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 14