Suzuki Splash: Jellybean proves a top treat

The sweet-handling Suzuki Splash was popular with the driver and family. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

Test cars come and go with such regularity that they're rarely able to imprint their character - assuming they have any.

Even my own vehicles haven't always merited a name. But the Suzuki Splash which stayed for the summer break was tagged Jellybean, a name that suited its lolly-red paint and universal appeal.

At first sight it doesn't look like a car for my active semi-rural lifestyle or petrolhead preferences.

A short wheelbase and tall roof don't suggest good road manners for starters. But Splash sits atop Suzuki's three-door Swift platform and uses much of that model's running gear allied to a relatively wide track, ensuring sweet handling and a reasonably compliant ride.

The 1.2-litre engine's a goody too, smooth and willing, with almost the power of Swift's 1.4, here well matched to a four-speed auto.

A five-speed would further improve the already reasonable fuel economy, but we weren't far off Suzuki's 5.7l/100km claim and it would come at an extra cost.

Suzuki's engineers seem to have hit the gear ratio sweet spot and the car tackled ascents with unexpected verve and coped just as easily with highway jaunts.

But the acid test was the varied requirements of a summer holiday, with guests, luggage and summer treats coming and going at a bewildering rate. The elevated roof made it easy to spot in crowded carparks. The tall seat height eased entry for grandma.

The high waistline just let my 9-year-old passenger see out, and four were seated comfortably. The modest boot floor takes 178 litres and I liked its 36-litre underfloor cubby into which we tucked valuables when at the beach. The back seats fold down more-or-less flat for loads up to 573 litres, with flaps to prevent detritus from slipping into the spare-wheel well - and that level of thought impresses in a car at this end of the price range.

Jellybean - Suzuki's Splash - retails at $19,500 ($17,990 in five-speed manual form) and includes six airbags, air-conditioning, a multi-function trip meter, steering wheel-mounted radio controls and five years of roadside assist.

But ESP is not yet standard, a startling omission nowadays given its proven ability to cut crash rates.

Suzuki NZ planned to introduce it early this year, but the Thai floods interrupted component supply.

ESP-equipped cars will not be here until June or July, with any price adjustment subject to euro exchange rates on arrival.

Suzuki Splash auto

We like
Handling, capable all-rounder despite small size

We don't like
Lack of ESP

Powertrain
1.2-litre dohc fuel-injected four, 69kW at 6000rpm and 118Nm at 4800rpm, four speed auto drives front wheels

Performance
0-100 n/a, 5.7l/100km

Safety
ABS brakes, six airbags

Vital stats
3715mm long, 178/573-litre boot, 45-litre tank