In Gear: Win this Suzuki Splash

The brief was to drive the car that you can win with The Bay of Plenty Times. Easy, I thought, until I spied it in the garage. It was covered in hearts.

And worse - beside it stood chief photographer John Borren wearing a wicked smile. How would the long-time lens-man want to photograph me and a car called Splash, covered in hearts?

The embarrassing answer is at right.

Once the photos were done, I got to have a splash around myself - and Splash felt quite familiar. It should have.

It's basically one of New Zealand's favourite small cars, the Swift, underneath but with a taller body and some other chassis and department bits.

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Up front, a 1250cc engine makes a fairly decent splash on the go. And it makes just a little splash in the petrol pool.

Interestingly, while most Suzuki vehicles for New Zealand come out of Japan, the Splash comes from the Hungarian town of Esztergom, making it the first Euro-built Suzuki to be sold here.

Suzuki has actually been building models in Hungary for 20 years.

The left-hand-side blinkers and right-side wipers point to the Splash's provenance. However, it takes no time to get used to that.

Splash fits in between the wee Alto hatch and the larger-engined Swift, expanding the range for the maker that's long been a big seller of little cars.

The Hungarian plant has an excellent reputation for build quality and standard of finish.

Splash has just been introduced to India and China, and New Zealand is the first Southern Hemisphere market to have the model on sale.

For a sub-$20 grand car, Splash has everything you're going to need on board - manual mirrors, though. First time I've seen those in years.

The hearts are appropriate; there's quite a bit to like.

I'm sure the Splash's winner will absolutely love it. And probably keep the hearts!

The Bay of Plenty Times and Tauranga Motor Company have a Suzuki Splash to give away. Bay of Plenty Times subscribers can add a bit of colour to their lives and nip around town in a new car. Just call 577 7757 to subscribe. If you're already a subscriber, enter as many times as you like.