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I just looked up the specs on the 'new' car on the Suzuki website, and whilst it has a generally decent spec (only two trim levels for the standard one), the performance of the 1.2 engine is essentially the same as its predecessor, which was...not terrible, but not exactly living up to the car's name.
This is why I would prefer either the significantly extra grunt of a 1L turbo like those in the VAG cars, or a larger displacement N/A engine like the 1.5 in the Mazda2, which is more spritely even in its most de-rated version of its engine because of the extra power and torque on tap.
I don't mind cars being able to have the proverbial nuts thrashed (Civic Type R from the mid 2000s etc, even the 'old' Suzuki Swift Sport), but other than that, no, and such cars are really 'A to B' and shopping cars, which is fine if that's what people want, especially if they are great in most other respects, especially on efficiency, which obviously is a very important factor these days.
Are Suzuki intending to bring a Sport with a much more powerful engine to market this time out? I might still consider the standard one in the future, though not new, given the £18k+ price tag for the 'base' model. The performance would be a step down from my (hardly quick, but fine) 18yo Mazda3 1.6 petrol (0-60 in 11.2sec), but then its still a good deal better than my first car, a 1L Micra (0-60 in 14.5sec or so).
It's amazing how much car prices have gone up in recent years, especially at the smaller end of the market. I remember not that long ago when such cars were going for much nearer £10k (often on the low side) than £20k.
Still, at least the latest auto version isn't a DCT or automated manual, hopefully its a reliable unit and not the sort that wasn't IMHO that used to be fitted to Nissans and the like.
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