TMW - The Suzuki Swift is one of those cars thats just brilliant at everything it does.

The Suzuki Swift, can be summed up in one word - AWESOME - this car, the 1.0 litre 3 cylinder automatic has so much runt that you would be forgiven for thinking that the car had a far bigger engine. 

The car is an all new version, taking the brand into the future, along with the Ignis and Baleno, the brand has a reputation for beng the best small car maker in the world, and with its current range of cars, you can easily understand why it has this rep, the Swift, just oozes quality and safety, becasue this car is so full of safety features it would put a far more expensive car to shame.

The 1.0 litre boosterjet auto comes in at £16,334, which includes the beautiful Burning Red Metallic paint, from the outside, there are hints of previous Swifts, as they dont want to move it too far away from the car that preceded it, but they wanted it to be a model on it's own, the lines of the car flow nicely from the front to the back, with the "hidden" door handles in the back doors, you feel like you are in a coupe rather than a five door hatchback.

The lines continue to flow around the back, including the rear lights, the car from the outside looks to be compact and small, but like other Suzuki's the interior of the car belies the fact it is a compact car, you have loads of room inside.

The seats are very supportive and comfortable, and the touchscreen and all the buttons, dials and switchgear are all close at hand and you never feel as though you have to stretch or spend too much time looking away from the road to press a button etc.

Once you have managed to get the steering wheel and seats into position, you amazingly find yourself with quite a bit of space in the rear for passengers, i would say that you can get five adults in this car, because you can, but you probably wouldn't want to go to far fully loaded two adults in the back would be a better bet, they would have sufficient room, and be comfortable.

This car comes with a raft of safety equipment, the main one being the cruise control, which is adaptive, this means that the car will detect a car ahead and automatically slow down to match the flow of traffic, and in the case of an emergency, the car will brake to a stop, even in heavy traffic, the car will alert you if you are too close to the one in front, with either an audible warning or if set, it slows/stops its self.

the car is so easy to drive with very light power steering, just put it into drive and off you go, no hassles, no worries, the touchscreen is basic, and follows the same system as found in other Suzuki's, the sat nav is easy to operate and is very quick and accurate, unlike some i have had, which seems to run about half a mile behind the car, Suzuki has it just right.

You get few creature comforts inside the car, i felt that it could have done with an arm rest, but thats just a personal choice, and does not detract from an ideal car, the rest of the interior has plenty of storage pockets etc, to keep all your bits and pieces in, from a dent sized bottle of drink to the cup holders that will take a small bottle or cup.

The fuel consumption for the Swift as per the brand's numbers are :-

• Urban - 44.1mpg
• Extra Urban - 65.7mpg
• Combined - 56.5mpg

I managed to get in combined driving situations about 49 mpg, according to the display in front of you, and i do believe that this is achievable, it is very "swift" in getting to the speed limits your require, and sometimes it can be too quick getting there, thats how brilliant the engine/auto box work together, the car has a 114g/km rating, not the best especially for a small car, but it does beat a lot of other cars, especially as the top speed is 118mph, i dont think i would be happy doing this speed in this car, without the assistance of Adaptive cruise control, and brake assistance.

The car comes with loads of extra kit for the asking price, these include :-

• ABS with EBD & Brake Assist
• ESP
• Six Airbags
• Seatbelt Pretensioners
• ISOFIX Child Seat Anchorages
• Childproof Rear Door Locks
• Tyre Pressure Monitor
• High Beam Assist
• Remote Central Locking
• Push Button Start/Stop
• 4.2" Touchscreen
• Electric Windows All Round
• Power Steering
• Tilt & Telescopic Adjustable Steering Wheel
• Gear Shift Indicator
• Auto Air Conditioning
• 16" Alloys
• Tinted Rear Windows
• Navigation System

The Swift will follow the Baleno and Ignis and become a really popular car, the swift has been a big hit in the UK throughout its many body styles, and this new one deserves to be an even bigger hit with UK Buyers, than ever before.

CONCLUSION

Would i have one, if I were in the position of wanting a small car with lots of safety and oodles of interior room, then yes, this car ticks all the boxes and many more too, the pricing at £16k is not the cheapest, but you do get an awful lot for that money, and for that reason alone i would have one, unfortunately i have just purchase a new car, so i am not looking, but if i were, this would be within the list of cars to consider, and you should consider it too, you would be daft to ignore this car.

Audi A7 drives it's self wherever you want to go, the technology is getting better and more realistic day by day.

• Piloted A7 displays the results of further character-building development work to foster ‘social competence’ 
• Audi A7 piloted driving concept: concept car impresses with its natural interaction with other road users during autobahn testing
• Navigation system can now devise routes containing maximum piloted driving opportunities
• Car-to-X communication: digital test site on the A9
• “First mile”: piloted driving in the urban environment

The evolution of the piloted Audi is continuing apace – the Vorsprung durch Technik brand’s latest research car, the Audi A7 piloted driving concept “Jack”, is now even more adept at operating just like a human driver – its autonomously performed motorway driving manoeuvres have been further refined, and it is now even more proficient at showing consideration for other road users. 

“Jack” exhibits a driving style that is adaptive to the given situation, safe and especially interactive – it is a research car with social competence.

Audi is continually advancing the development of its piloted driving test car. “Jack” – the internal nickname for the A7 Sportback-based technology platform – is now driving more naturally. 

This is illustrated by the way it confidently deals with hazardous points on the road, passes trucks with a slightly wider lateral gap and signals upcoming lane changes by activating the indicator and moving closer to the lane marking first – just like human drivers would do to indicate their intentions. The opportunities for taking full advantage of “Jack’s” piloted features are also now made more apparent to its driver – its sophisticated navigation system is now capable of computing a route containing the largest possible proportion of piloted driving sections.

The cooperative attitude of “Jack” is especially apparent when other vehicles want to merge into its lane on the motorway. Here the test car decides – based on the selected driving profile – whether to accelerate or brake, depending on which is best suited to handling the traffic situation harmoniously for all road users.

State-of-the-art zFAS controller

The super brain of piloted driving is the central driver assistance controller, or zFAS. It uses state-of-the-art, high-performance processors to evaluate the signals from all sensors in real-time and create a model of the car’s surroundings. This model represents the prevailing traffic situation as accurately as possible. It lets the zFAS calculate upcoming manoeuvres in advance, taking a look into the future, so to speak.

Piloted driving offers greater safety, more efficient utilisation of the transportation infrastructure and more relaxation time for the driver. Audi has already derived systems for assisted driving from the tested technologies, including the traffic jam assist function now available in the Audi A4 and Audi Q7.

Audi continues to document its progress in piloted driving with spectacular events. In the United States, for instance, a driverless Audi TTS etched the brand’s four rings trademark into the surface of a salt flat and also conquered the legendary hill climb up Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains without a driver. At the Hockenheim Motodrome, a driverless Audi RS 7 Sportback chased down the limits of driving physics in fall 2014. Since then, Audi has been demonstrating the next steps in piloted driving on public roads too, for example under real traffic conditions on American highways from the west coast to Las Vegas.

Digital test site on the A9 autobahn

The future is networked – this is especially applicable to piloted driving. In the future, cars and the infrastructure will communicate with one another more intensively. Common information interfaces are an important condition for this, so that the benefits of piloted driving can be better utilised on motorways. The digital test site on the A9 autobahn – announced by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure – offers ideal conditions for evaluating and further developing future functions and concepts together with representatives of the Free State of Bavaria, the automotive industry and the IT industry. The brand with the four rings can once again probe the technical possibilities of Car-to-X communication here – under real road conditions and in real time.

In the future, information on variable-message traffic signs, for example, will be digitally transmitted into the car in order to assist the traffic flow. In addition, Audi is defining and testing elements of the future communications standard 5G together with IT partners. Car-to-X communication immediately enables piloted driving cars to use paved road shoulders when these are temporarily opened.

Another step forward is Car-to-Car communication between automobiles that are travelling on the same routes. They can report on hazardous points and accidents in real time. The driving speeds of other road users operating with piloted driving are then automatically adjusted to the potential hazard.

The local infrastructure plays a special role for piloted driving on the motorway. In addition to sensors in the car, signals from the environment give the driver a precise preview of the road ahead. Audi’s partners for the digital test site on the A9 autobahn, for example, are testing the internal composition and modified material structure of roadside posts. These are to be designed to reflect the radar sensors of cars even from greater distances. In addition, project participants within the scope of the test parameters are studying special traffic signs that allow the test vehicles to localize their positions with high precision within the various driving lane markings.

For most customers, the complexity of traffic situations significantly intensifies again along the route segment from the motorway exit to city zones. Audi is researching and developing another test site for this so-called “first mile” in Bavaria, near the redesigned autobahn exit “Ingolstadt-Süd.” From 2017, Audi – together with the city of Ingolstadt – will be testing construction methods such as the use of different types of pavement as well as technical solutions such as the use of sensors in junction zones. Piloted driving research cars from Audi are already being incorporated into the design of the new infrastructure. Test operation should begin in 2018.

The new MINI Clubman can now be specified with a new All Wheel Drive System.

• Newly developed all-wheel drive system for the latest MINI generation introduced for MINI Cooper S Clubman and MINI Cooper SD Clubman
• Premiere of new generation of ALL4 all-wheel drive system with electrohydraulic regulation, optimised weight and increased efficiency
• First ALL4 model to be built at MINI Plant Oxford
• Available April priced from £24,305 OTR

MINI has this last week launched the all new MINI Clubman ALL4 – the brand’s first all-wheel drive model in the C-segment. This launch marks the MINI brand’s further advance into the premium compact segment and represents the first ALL4 model to be built at MINI Plant Oxford.

MINI’s ALL4 all-wheel drive system, which has previously only been offered on MINI Countryman models, has been specially redeveloped to ensure sportier handling and improved versatility to further enhance the everyday practicality of the new MINI Clubman.

MINI Clubman was launched in October 2015 and is notable as MINI’s first vehicle in the competitive C-segment. Now, the brand is offering something new to the market in the form of Clubman ALL4. Available with two of the latest MINI engines, the MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4 and the MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4.

The 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology is the latest example of MINI’s engine technology. Offering 192 hp, the new MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4 is combined with a 6-speed manual transmission as standard, and optionally with an 8-speed Steptronic transmission. It achieves fuel consumption of 40.9 mpg with the manual transmission (44.8mpg for automatic transmission) and has CO₂emissions of 159g/km (146g/km).

The new MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4 features a 190 hp diesel engine with 400 NM of torque which is paired with the brand’s capable 8-speed Steptronic transmission as standard. Fuel consumption on the combined cycle is 58.9mpg with CO₂ emissions of 126g/km.

The new MINI Clubman ALL4 includes an exceptionally high specification, with the brand’s highly acclaimed Navigation System standard on all models. Furthermore, every MINI Clubman ALL4 also benefits from the MINI Excitement Package as standard, which features a projection of the brand logo on to the ground beneath the driver’s side door mirror when the car is opened and closed, as well as extended interior lighting.

Production of MINI Clubman ALL4 has started at MINI Plant Oxford, with first deliveries at MINI retailers nationwide in April.

Model	HP	Trans	CO2	OTR
MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4	192	Man	159	£24,305
		Auto	146	£25,985
MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4	190	Auto	126	£27,410

• MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4: 4-cylinder petrol engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbo charging, direct injection, fully variable valve control, variable camshaft control), capacity: 1998 cc, output: 141 kW/192 hp at 5 000 rpm, torque: 280 Nm at 1 250 rpm (300 Nm with overboost), acceleration (0–62mph): 7.0 seconds (automatic: 6.9 seconds), top speed: 142mph (142mph), 
  average fuel consumption*: 40.9mpg (44.8mpg), CO2 emissions*: 159 g/km (146 g/km), exhaust emission standard: EU6.
• MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4: 4-cylinder diesel engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology (turbocharger with variable turbine geometry, common rail direct injection), capacity: 1 995 cc, output: 140 kW/190 hp at 4 000 rpm, max. torque: 400 Nm at 1 750 – 2 500 rpm, acceleration (0–62mph): 7.2 seconds, top speed: 138mph, average fuel consumption*: 58.9mpg, 
  CO2 emissions*: 126 g/km, exhaust emission standard: EU6.
  
  
  * EU test cycle figures, fuel consumption dependent on the selected tyre format.

Exterior dimensions:

Length: 4 253 millimetres

Width: 1 800 millimetres

Height: 1 441 millimetres

Wheelbase: 2 670 millimetres

The new all-wheel drive system ALL4: fast and precise, compact and efficient.

The electronically controlled all-wheel drive system distributes drive torque between the front and rear axles depending on specific road conditions. This enables faster acceleration and increases agility when taking bends at speed. ALL4 also ensures utmost traction and optimised driving stability in all weather and road conditions.

The latest version of the ALL4 all-wheel drive system has been designed to be compact and light-weight, therefore increasing efficiency. This means there is only a slight increase in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions compared to the respective front-wheel drive models.

The drive power delivered by the engine via the manual or Steptronic transmission in the form of engine speed and torque is fed to the front axle differential. An integrated single-stage power take-off bevel gear diverts the power and relays it to a propeller shaft leading to the rear axle. Power transmission to the rear axle differential is continuously managed via a hang-on clutch.

If necessary, the hang-on clutch can relay torque to the rear wheels within a fraction of a second by means of an electrohydraulic pump. Fast and precise reactive changes to road conditions are possible because the all-wheel drive system is connected to the Driving Dynamics System (DSC) which continuously calculates the ideal power distribution between the front and rear wheels.

Not only are the wheel rotation speeds and the current longitudinal and lateral acceleration figures taken into account, but so is the road speed, accelerator position, engine torque and steering angle as well as the Driving Dynamics System (DSC) settings and the optional MINI Driving Modes. Based on this data, MINI Clubman ALL4 calculates the risk of wheel slip and can then anticipate and counteract any loss of traction, oversteer or understeer of the vehicle.

Taking the form of an electronic locking function for the front axle differential, the standard Electronic Differential Lock Control (EDLC) improves traction when accelerating out of bends by means of selective braking. In DSC Off mode, this prevents spinning of the front wheel on the inside of the bend and transmits drive power to the outer front wheel instead. The Performance Control function is another standard feature that helps enhance agility in the MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4 and the MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4 and works regardless of the DSC mode selected.

Other functions of the driving dynamics system DSC include the anti-lock brake system (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Cornering Brake Control (CBD), the braking and drive-off assistant, the brake dry function and Fading Brake Support. DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) can also be activated when the vehicle is setting off in loose sand or deep snow.

Petrol and diesel engines with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology: a lot of power efficiently distributed over four wheels  

The latest generation 4-cylinder engines featuring MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology are responsible for distributing the power between the front and rear axle.

Featuring a peak output of 192 hp, the 2.0-litre petrol engine in the new MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4 is the most powerful engine in the range.

With the standard 6-speed manual transmission, the new MINI Cooper S Clubman ALL4 accelerates in 7.0 seconds from standing to 62mph, while in conjunction with the optional 8-speed Steptronic transmission the standard spurt takes just 6.9 seconds. The top speed is 142mph in each case. These figures are combined with an average fuel consumption of 40.9mpg (automatic: 44.8mpg) and CO₂ emissions of 159 (146) grams per kilometre (EU test cycle figures, dependent on tyre format selected).

A turbocharging system with variable turbine geometry and common rail direct injection operates at a pressure of up to 2,000 bar inside the 2.0-litre diesel MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4 engine. The new MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4 combines the most powerful diesel engine ever installed in a MINI with the brand’s 8-speed Steptronic transmission as standard, achieving superb pulling power as well as exemplary fuel consumption figures and emissions.

This enables the MINI Cooper SD Clubman ALL4 to sprint from standing to 62mph in just 7.2 seconds. The top speed is 138mph. These figures are combined with an average fuel consumption of 58.9mpg and CO₂emissions of 126 grams per kilometre (EU test cycle figures, dependent on tyre format selected).

Innovative transmissions for performance and efficiency.

The standard 6-speed manual transmission is characterised by low effort and short shift distances. A ‘rev matching’ function built into the manual transmission ensures jerk-free clutch engagement, thereby enhancing comfort when shifting down a gear.

The optional 6-speed Steptronic sport transmission combines excellent efficiency with smooth yet fast gear changes. In manual mode it’s possible to change gear using shift paddles at the steering wheel. Furthermore, in conjunction with the MINI Navigation System the transmission is able to take account of the route profile in automatically controlling gearshifts.

A complete set of safety features, innovative driver assistance systems, intelligent connectivity.  

In addition to the torsionally stiff, rigid and light-weight body structure, a complete set of standard safety features also contributes to the outstanding occupant protection of the new MINI Clubman ALL4. This extensive protection comprises of six airbags, 3-point automatic belts on all seats including belt tensioners and adaptive belt force limiters at the front, as well as ISOFIX child seat mountings at the rear. A tyre pressure display for each individual wheel is also included as standard. Meanwhile, impact absorbers and precisely defined deformation zones ensure optimised pedestrian protection.

Optional driver assistance systems offered on the new MINI Clubman ALL4 serve to increase both safety and comfort. The MINI Head-Up Display which extends from above the steering column enables the driver to focus their concentration on the road. In addition to the cruise control with brake function, the Driving Assistant system is also available, featuring camera-based active cruise control and collision and pedestrian warning with brake function, high beam headlight assistant and road sign detection. Additional options include the Parking Assistant and rear view camera.

Make Clubman Yours: High standard specification and options for every taste including atmospheric lighting, electrically adjustable seats and much more.

With the MINI Yours Interior Styles option, the door trim design is highlighted via illuminated decorative strips. These can combined with interior trim finishers of various types and colours of the customers choosing. The MINI Excitement Pack features LED interior and ambient lighting which illuminates the cabin with a choice of selectable colours as well as an external light display activated when unlocking and locking the car using the remote key. The MINI logo is projected onto the ground for 20 seconds from a light source housed in the exterior mirror on the driver’s side.

Over 50% of MINI Clubman customers are expected to choose the Chili pack which adds a host of additional extras to the car. These features include cloth/leather upholstery with heated sports seats, MINI’s comfort access system, park distance control, automatic air conditioning, LED headlights and LED fog lights among other features. Chili pack is priced at £2,785 across all models – a 30% customer saving on MINI Cooper Clubman compared with selecting the options individually.