I've driven a couple of Swifts and the larger SX4 crossover in recent months, and have enjoyed them all, so I was intrigued to see if my enthusiasm for Suzuki cars continued with the smallest model of all.And I'm delighted to say that it did. Following a rocky start at launch, which saw the model recalled following a loss of braking experienced by a motoring magazine when carrying out an emergency braking test from high speed, it's now all systems go for the Celerio.It retains the manufacturer's trademark compact car ease of drive that its predecessors the Alto and the Splash boasted in bucketloads, while the surprisingly spacious interior means there's enough room in the back for two adults and surpasses most conventional A-segment cars.The Celerio also boasts a class leading luggage capacity of an impressive 245 litres that defies its measurements of just 3.6-metres long and 1.6-metres wide.The new city car, which is set to rival the likes of the Volkswagen Up! and the Hyundai i10, is available in two trim grades, with the SZ3, unlike some of its rivals, coming with six airbags, air conditioning, alloy wheels, DAB radio, CD tuner, USB and Bluetooth connectivity as standard.The SZ4 adds polished alloy wheels, body coloured door mirrors, a chrome front grille, front fog lamps, electric door mirrors, rear electric windows and four speakers.I drove the latter which, like the SZ3, came with a sprightly and economical one-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine that is free to tax. There's loads of new cars of this type being launched on to the market at the moment, but I liked the style of the Celerio with its sharp front end design with continuous headlamps and grille. It's dynamic look is completed by a flowing press line running from front to rear and the instantly recognisable badge at the centre.The interior was clean and clutter-free, and I particularly liked the elevated driving position that every Celerio gets thanks to a height-adjustable seat. This combined with relatively large doors mean that getting in and out of the car shouldn't be a tight squeeze.It's 1.53m tall and the non-slanting tall roofline means that you get more headroom than you may think – both in the front and back. So much so in fact that an adult could even sit in the middle rear seat.Because space is at a premium due to its size, the designers have had to go back to basics and put their thinking caps on.By reviewing the body structure of the Celerio they have created a cleverly packaged interior that boasts several pockets and a large glove box.Black is the dominant interior colour, and this combined with the dot pattern design to the seats gives the Celery a classic and stylish look.As you'd probably expect, it is most at home around town. It's well-weighted steering gives confidence when negotiating tight streets, but it feels light and easy for parking. The turning circle is impressive too, while its shape offers great visibility thanks to its large glass area.It handled well on country roads and, combined with the smooth gear changing, I was pleasantly surprised how well it drove and how stable and quiet it was when I took it on the M1 and A1 on a trip to Harrogate.I was also amazed how little fuel I used during the week that I drove the Celerio and I was comfortably averaging around 60mpg. It already offers low CO2 emissions of 84g/km, but this is set to be even less in the near future when a new K10C Dualjet engine will be available offering even higher combined fuel economy of 78.4 mpg and CO2 emissions that fall to just 99g/km. This engine will also incorporate a stop start facility when stationary.Also available in the summer will be Suzuki's newly developed Auto Gear Shift (AGS). This system features an Intelligent Shift Control Actuator positioned at the top of the transmission that operates the gearshift and clutch automatically.With AGS, the driver can enjoy the effortless driving of an automatic, particularly in City traffic, but without any loss in fuel efficiency or increase in CO2 emissions that would normally be the case with a conventional torque converter equipped automatic transmission.Prices for the SZ3 model start from just short of £8,000, with the SZ4 £1,000 more. That may be a fair bit more than the outgoing Alto and Splash that it replaces, but you definitely get a considerable lot more for your money. The Celerio is available in a choice of six exterior colours. The model I drove added metallic paint at an extra £415.Suzuki projects that it will sell 6,000 Celerio's in the UK in the first year, but from my week driving one I would suggest that they should be raising their bar a little higher as this is a car that exceeds expectations.
