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

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OURCARS.A rare shot of ttieSwift not beingl)edalled hard oyMark Walton:,......• r.,-· ,;,.' ,,. ..-··,,,t •'.. ..- .. -;, ... ..... ..I. J--.. ' ·\ .<-•:t ,,... . : .".j...'. .,,...•.' . -_,,. ,-·', '. ,,,,. -: -."'""' ...,----·•-'.,,, '-,,-•• •..SEAT ARONAHigh-rise 'Beefa issooooo2018SUZUKISWIFTNot the Sport,but surprisinglysportySmall. Perfectly formed?Neat, lovable and good to drive, the only thing more funthan an Arona on Welsh B-roads is a Suzuki SwiftHE TWO LEAST powerful, least expensive carshere. But- hats off to the CAR extended familyneitheris neglected or looked dow11 upon.In fact, both get a good amount of thumbs-ups.Albeit son1e of that's inspired by the just-rightheight of the Arona's boot when deployed as apic11ic table, or its easily accessed USB slots for phone chargi11g.And at the end of the two days, Jake ends up back with his Swiftand I end up back with my Arona, without anybody attemptingto wrestle them from us.We're both perfectly happy about that. Jake's always likedtl1e Swift, and finds new ways to like it in Wales, where thenarrowness of many of the roads favours small cars. But thespeed of said roads -and tl1e excellence of some of the other carshere -makes the steering seem slightly less sharp.Mark Walton leads the cheerleading for the Swift. Yes, thesame Mark Walton who arrives in Walesat 150mph in the Ms, sideways.'I think the Swift's the real, unexpectedtreat of this trip,' he tells n1e over arefreshing Crunchie. 'Blasting around intl1e 592bhp BMW Ms is a bit like ta1ninglions or walking a tightrope - there'salways an edge to the fun you have it in.But in the Suzuki you can pedal alongjoyfully, foot mashed to the floor, flat outI THINK THESWIFT ISTHE REAL,UNEXPECTEDTREAT OFTHIS TRIPand completely fearless. The shape of the thin steering wheel inyour hand, the way it turns in so confidently, the fizzy engine -it's all so much more lively and engaging than you expect. Notentirely sure about the styling, but otherwise I really love it.'Anthony ffrench-Constant's not quite so sold. 'Like so manythese days, it isn't half as good looking as the car it replaces; theperils of feeling the need to facelift every 20 months whether itneeds it or not. And the interior detailing is poor - everythingseems to be at least partially obscured by everything else. Forall that, it's a blast to chuck around - takes me back to my firstcar days. No power, so you learned to drive everywhere withouttouching tl1e brakes in fear of how long it would take to rekindlethe speed scrubbed off.'He's keener on the Arona: 'Phil McNamara told me tl1is isthe worst car Seat makes. In which case they really are on a rollbecause I think it's pretty spiffing. Looks good, both inside andout. Comfortable and nicely kitted outwith last-ge11eration VW tech that youcan still understand and use intuitively.'I don't know what's under the bonnet[the VW Group's fine 1.5 Eva four] but itbiffs along with alacrity. I haven't had somuch fun in something small and tallsince that wardrobe incident with theBatman costume and the Swarfega .. .' ►COLIN OVERLAND2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 14
I,-(' '' ' .i/,\··;'After two h ours. 1n traffic I hadch .no01ce but to 0.,n this, sadly .. Possibly the only ___ _time an Arona and aModel Shave hunteddown a Civic Type RThe Snowdonia verdict: What two days in Wales revealed about 16 very different carsSEAT PEUGEOT AUDI TESLAARONA FR 5008 RS& MODELSA generic VW Quirkily designed Straddling the As a big saloon.Group compact spacious gran turismo and the Model Scrossover, but a crossover with a sports no man's scores highly, butgood one Gallic flavour land there are issuesSUZUKISWIFTAffordable smallcar from a longline of dynamiclivelinessBMWMS2018's version ofsupercar-bashingperformancefrom a big saloonKIASTINGERA Korean carplaying theGerman gamevery wellSKODAOCTAVIA vRSA generic VWGroup fast estatecar, but a goodone',-Spritely engine, Ride quality, Fast, refined and Rapid, roomy andpractical.and cabin design, a top-notch cabin refined, and justeasygoing vast and versatile quality plain differentI tResponsive,engaging andcha racterfu IAstonishing.Don't fear thechangesQuick,comfortable anddifferent• •Wonderful blendof poise, powerand practicalityIt's a heavier, Interior quality Thirsty, patchy Chargingcostlier Ibiza not the best ride quality compromises'Impressed in OK to drive, Emotional The world is stillWales with its wonderful to engagement just not quite readyhappy usability live with isn't there for Tesla;IToo much crudecost-cutting'.For a small, .1nexpens1ve carthis is a lot of funPrice, lack of anestate versionThey didn'tengineer.out thepassionRS Audi any-weather abilitywithout the costSteering takesgetting used toImpressivenewcomer, butit's no 440iSteering couldbe more talkative•2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 15
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16 Long Term Test Cars on The Road Racing to The Hill

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