IF you cast your mind back a couple of weeks you may remember that parts of Northern Ireland got a fair dusting of snow and ice, writes William Scholes.
The snow fell heavier in some places, of course, including where I live. A clatter of rear-wheel-drive Mercedes and BMW cars couldn't make it up the icy hill beside our home, forming an expensive temporary roadblock that meant no-one else could get on to the main road.
I wish I had today's featured car at the time. I didn't, so I had to wait for the German cars to extricate themselves, but I'm sure the Suzuki Swift 4x4 would have made it up the hill with ease.
The four-wheel-drive Swift is something of an oddity, in the sense that it doesn't really have rivals.
Fiat has the Panda 4x4, but while it's a capable little off-roader, it's not that pleasant on-road. Plus, it's tiny and I don't think you would really want to have an accident in one.
The Panda and the Swift are around the same price - the Fiat starts at £15,155, while the Suzuki will cost you as little as £14,823 thanks to a 'VAT free' offer the company is running until the end of March. The Swift feels like a far more modern car, though.
The cheapest four-wheel-drive Dacia Duster is a fiver under £18k, but that's a slightly bigger car than the Swift or Panda.
A more interesting alternative is Suzuki's own Jimny, the cheapest version of which costs £16,249. It's ridiculously capable off-road but not as nice on it as the Swift. And they're as difficult to track down as hen's teeth.
Which brings us back to the Swift. We're big fans of the little Suzuki here at Drive.
Its lightweight kilogram-saving ethos infuses the little hatchback with an infectious fun-to-drive character.
This is a roomy little five-door hatchback which weighs as little as 890kg; keeping the weight down like this is a virtuous circle for cars. For example, engines can be smaller and don't have to work so hard, which benefits fuel economy.
Suzuki's lightweight kilogram-saving ethos infuses the little Swift hatchback with an infectious fun-to-drive character
The Swift Sport is a great package, its 1.4-litre turbo engine punching harder than its 138bhp might suggest.
That engine's little brother, a 110bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder 'Boosterjet' unit, is found elsewhere in the Swift range, along with a 89bhp 1.2-litre 'Dualjet' four-cylinder engine.
Depending on which trim level you opt for, both of these engines are available with Suzuki's mild-hybrid system, which it calls SHVS.
This uses an integrated starter generator, known as an ISG, which is able to be both starter motor and a generator.
The ISG generates electricity through regenerative braking. This energy is sent to a 12-volt lithium-ion battery which is placed under the front passenger seat; it can send this energy to the ISG to assist the engine when the car is moving from a standstill and during acceleration.
The whole system adds just 6.2kg to the weight of the car and helps improve fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
It's a simple, no-nonsense approach that's in keeping with Suzuki’s attitude. Similarly, the four-wheel-drive system is no less effective for being straightforward.
There are no knobs or switches for the driver to operate, unlike the 4x4 set-ups found on Suzuki's larger four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Suzuki calls its 4x4 technology 'Allgrip'. On the Swift, it's a fully automatic system which transfers torque to the rear wheels via a viscous coupling when it detects wheel slip at the front of the car.
When the front wheels spin the centre viscous coupling locks due to friction caused by the differences in motion of two sets of plates which move in a casing filled with a silicon fluid; when the plates lock, the torque is shifted to the rear axle.
It's worth pointing out that the 4x4 hardware adds just 90kg, meaning that the car still weighs less than a tonne.
I didn't have the chance to put the Allgrip system through its paces during my time with the Swift 4x4 - even the lanes of a friendly farm didn't cause it to activate - but I know from previous experience that it is highly effective and will allow the little Swift to go far further off the beaten track than you will imagine.
You can tell this car has been set-up by people who enjoy driving; the Swift encourages you to drive it hard, to revel in its accurate steering, abundance of grip and up-and-at-'em attitude
The Allgrip and front-wheel-drive cars have different damper settings.
Pull out a tape measure and you will see that the 4x4 Swift is 25mm taller than the regular front-wheel-drive car.
That's a gentle rise in ride height, and you feel that if Suzuki had lifted the car a little more it would be even more capable in the rough stuff.
It wouldn't drive so nicely on-road if they had done that, though. I reckon it's a sensible enough compromise. If your intended off-roading is going to require more ground clearance, then you are probably better off swerving past the Swift and going for a larger Suzuki 4x4.
For everything else - muddy lanes, snow-covered hills, icy driveways - the Swift 4x4 should cope admirably.
It takes a keen eye to tell a 4x4 Swift apart from its front-drive siblings. As mentioned, the ride height is a little higher and you can specify some plastic wheelarch cladding to give a bit of extra protection when exploring the bush. It's subtle stuff, in other words.
The 4x4 drivetrain comes only in range-topping SZ5 trim. It's a well kitted out car - automatic air conditioning, 16-inch alloy wheels, sat-nav, keyless entry and start, electric rear windows, LED headlamps, adaptive cruise control and an advanced forward detection system are all part of the package.
There's also a little digital screen in the instrument cluster which shows how energy is flowing through the hybrid system. I found this strangely addictive...
The screen can also show information about engine power output, torque, fuel consumption, average speed and - believe it or not - a G-force tracker.
In the centre of the dashboard is a seven-inch touchscreen to control the sat-nav, phone, stereo and so on. It's neither the best nor the worst of these infotainment systems, but it is enhanced by also offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The other controls are clearly laid out and easy to operate, and I really click with the driving position. The steering wheel is a pleasure to hold, the pedals are perfectly placed and the gear shift is quick, light and accurate.
For those who need the assurance of four-wheel-drive in a small package, the Swift is an appealing car without serious rival
You can tell this car has been set-up by people who enjoy driving; the Swift encourages you to drive it hard, to revel in its accurate steering, abundance of grip and up-and-at-'em attitude.
Remarkably, no matter how hard I drove it, I couldn't get the fuel consumption to fall below 50mpg.
It's spacious inside, too. I'm tall but never find myself short of space in the Swift, and with the driver's seat set for me there's still decent room in the back seats.
The trade off for the generous passenger space is that the boot isn't massive. However, with a volume of 265 litres, it's perfectly acceptable for a car with such a small footprint.
The Swift is a great small car - value for money, well equipped, spacious, fun to drive and full of vim - and the 4x4 version adds an extra layer of versatility.
For those who need the assurance of four-wheel-drive in a small package, the Swift is an appealing package without serious rival.
AT A GLANCE
Suzuki Swift 4x4
Price: £14,823 (including £2,926 'VAT free' saving)
Engine and transmission: 1.2-litre four-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol, five-speed manual, four-wheel-drive; 89bhp, 88lb.ft
Performance: Top speed 105mph, 0-62mph in 12.6 seconds
Fuel consumption and CO2: 49.7mpg (WLTP combined), 52.4mpg (real world), 101g/km
Car tax: £150 in first year, then £145 annually
Benefit in kind: 24 per cent
Euro Ncap safety rating: Four stars (88/75/69/44), 2017
