Suzuki Swift Sport review – the back-to-basics drivers' hatch - Ride and Handling

Suzuki claims that the Swift Sport can achieve 44.1mpg combined. As respectable as this is for a naturally aspirated engine, it falls short of turbocharged cars like the ever-popular Fiesta ST, which can manage a claimed 47.9mpg. We've achieved good figures from the Fiesta before but turbocharged engines do guzzle fuel at quite a rate when driven briskly, so the real-world difference is likely to be minimal.

What will likely draw customers away from hotter hatches is the Swift’s lower insurance group. The Sport squeezes into group nine, beating even the 1-litre Ford Fiesta Zetec S (which is group 15) and significantly undercutting more potent models like the Fiesta ST – which sits up in insurance group 30.

Swift drivers won’t save on road tax, however, because the Sport produces 147g/km of CO2. The Fiesta ST produces 9g less, meaning it sits in bracket E and costs £130 a year to tax, compared to £145 per year for the bracket F Swift. Suzuki supplys a 3-year/60,000-mile warranty with the Swift Sport.