52,000 New Zealanders voted for the the AA/Driven people’s favourite car in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the playful, fun and class-leading value of the Suzuki Swift Sport shone through, and the car was crowned the winner.

Suzuki’s hot hatch also picked up best-in-class for light/micro cars for the second time running. This comes after a brilliant few years for Suzuki during which millions of units of the Swift were sold around the world and picked up more awards than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

What’s all the fuss about?

The Swift Sport is really fun to drive

One of the main reasons everyone (including us) loves this car is because it’s a blast on the road. Under the hood, there’s a respectable 4-cylinder engine that throws out around 138 hp, which doesn’t sound like much, until you find out the car weighs around 970-990 KG. That’s less than half the weight of your average SUV.

Suzuki set the wheels as close to the corners as possible and stiffened the suspension so the car can hurtle around corners. The 6-speed auto transmission is responsive and efficient, but the manual version is 20 kg lighter and feels just a little faster.

You’ll appreciate all those little details every time you jump in the driver’s seat.

It’s the most affordable Car of the Year winner

Car of the Year winners aren’t exactly affordable—except for one of them. The Suzuki Swift Sport is the only one that you can drive away with, brand new, for under $30,000. Buy from a used car dealership and you could find a Swift Sport for even less.

Despite that low price point, Suzuki hasn’t cut corners when it comes to the build quality and features.

The Swift Sport is packed with features

Suzuki has gone mad and dropped every feature they could dream up into the Swift Sport.
There’s keyless entry and push button start so your keys never have to leave your bag or your pocket. Cruise control makes long drives a little easier, and all the usual technology like sat-nav, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity and a punchy six-speaker sound system are standard. There’s even a pollen filter in the climate control system to make driving more comfortable for hayfever sufferers, and paddle shifters behind the steering wheel for the Formula 1 wannabes out there.

Safety-wise, the Swift has a range of features you’d expect to see on a car that costs twice as much. That includes:

• Lane departure warning.
• A 5-year extensive warranty.
• Weaving alert.
• Brake assist.
• And much more.

Does the Suzuki Swift Sport sound like fun to you? Drop in to your nearest Nicholson Auto dealership and ask for a test drive to get behind the wheel and find out.