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our test drives or view them all

Suzuki Splash 1.2 GLS+

YOU can splash out on one of the best budget supermini people carriers on the market for little more than £8000.

Suzuki’s Splash five-door is a spacious, low-cost lightweight that’s ideal for family transport duties or a small runabout for people downsizing.

Four models make up the front-drive Splash range including a 75mpg 1.3 litre DDiS diesel that will average 62mpg and costs £10,300 while mainstream GLS and GLS+ versions come with lively 86bhp 1.2 petrol units and cost £8850 and £9350.

And from January this year you can even “splash out” at the budget end of the family – a lowly 996cc three-cylinder petrol model that produces 65bhp.

At £8350 it’s cheap, cheerful and very roomy – but don’t expect it to tackle long-distances and leave you relaxed and chilled.

With an engine smaller than the 45bhp 997cc four-cylinder Ford Anglia I passed my test with 42 years ago, I wouldn’t expect breath-taking performance.

The best-selling Splash is the 1.2 GLS I’m testing here and even that needs all its time when it comes to overtaking. Liberal use of its revs is needed to ensure you’re not left exposed in the wrong lane. It’s lively enough around town where it excels, but load the Splash up with three passengers and head off down the A96 to Aberdeen as I did and it quickly lets you know climbing the Dramlachs brae at Fochabers is not its strength.

In good conditions on a flat road, and with a bit of wind assistance, it will cover the rest to 62mph gap in a leisurely 13 seconds. Throw in a typical north of Scotland gale, bucketing rain and a few passengers and that acceleration time stretches and stretches. Hardly surprising when it delivers motor-mower levels of torque at just 84lb.ft and needs 4400rpm to do that!

But I’m being unkind. The Splash 1.2 GLS is a perfect budget car, ideal for town or urban roads with a 131g/km emissions level that lands it in Band E at £110 a year.

But if you are looking for even lower costs and clean exhausts wait for the new three-cylinder 1.0. It is the cleanest and most frugal Splash in the range and brilliantly easy to park because of the Splash family’s sit-up-and-beg lines and overall 3.7 metre length. They all have excellent visibility and wide opening doors.

With its three-cylinder unit churning out just 120g/km of emissions the 1.0 GLS costs just £35 to tax for a year. Performance and acceleration is modest but it will average 55mpg and has an official combined figure of 65.5mpg.

My more powerful 1.2 test car is still frugal and averaged 50mpg in mixed driving.

Spending a lot of time in the twists and turns of a town or city is where the baby Splash 1.2 does well. Power steering and a light body, tipping the scales at barely over a tonne, makes it a breeze in congested areas. The slightly elevated seating height delivers good visibility and is great for easing it into tight parking spots. And for such a budget car the seating is surprisingly supportive.

On the road the 1.2 four-cylinder engine is thrashy, but the ride is good. That smoothness is down to Suzuki’s sensible choice of tyres – 15-inch Continental covers with a cushioning 60-section. That means, despite a pretty firm and bouncy ride, there’s a lot of sidewall rubber between the rim and the road that eases rough surfaces and reduces noise and vibration.

It proves my point that going the other way, for good-looking low-profile tyres, simply ruins any refinement a car might have otherwise had.

The Splash is a well-engineered little car. The body panels are very thin, but clever sound-deadening give the doors a reassuring solid feel and mean they close with a “thump” rather than a “clang”.

The dash is well designed and sensibly laid out with good ergonomics and reasonable storage cubby holes – but the hard plastic finish looks a bit low rent. On the other hand it does mean that families have a simple wipe-clean surface that should be able to take family-sized knocks.

Where this budget car really impresses is on the safety front.

It’s the only car in this class where all models (including the new 1.0 GLS) come as standard with electronic stability control (ESP) – that’s brilliant and a big safety plus. It also has ABS braking, Brake Assist, six airbags, including twin front and full-length curtain side airbags, in addition to front seatbelt pre-tensioners and twin Isofix child rear seat fixing points.

On the equipment list there’s air conditioning, an immobiliser, central locking, good power steering, split and fold rear seats, electric door mirrors, powered front windows, and an RDS radio/CD system – that’s pretty generous at this end of the market and it’s all wrapped up in a three-year or 60,000 mile warranty.

Servicing should be straightforward and certainly not expensive, but the routine service package does mean you will have to visit your dealer every 9000 miles.

It all sounds great – but there are some damp patches on the Splash scene. It’s a bit wet when it comes to range. The fuel tank is tiny and just swallows nine gallons so it needs to be topped up regularly. Then there’s its luggage capacity.

Tucked behind the rear seats is a daft space that is most useful in the vertical sense, but can only take 178 litres. Even with the rear seats folded and making use of the car’s considerable 1.6 metre height, there’s only 573 litres of space.

As a shopping trolley it might make the family’s weekly visit to the supermarket a frustrating business.

As a driver’s mount it’s a hoot. Built using the award-winning Suzuki Swift platform, it has great handling. The Splash is fun on twisty roads, very surefooted with its front-drive and has a slick five-speed gearbox and powerful brakes.

The mew 65bhp 1.0 lacks punch, but you always have the 1.2 GLS with 86bhp from £8850 – my better-equipped GLS+ test car cost a steep £9350. The extra horses of the 1.2 are well worth the additional cash for owners contemplating longer distances with loads.

I liked the cheeky Splash – but at the end of the day it is a little more expensive than it ought to be.

It has two good rivals – the virtually identical Vauxhall Agila 1.2 Club from the same Suzuki factory at £9110 and the very impressive Daihatsu Sirion S 1.3 with 89bhp that costs £8495.

But if you can negotiate a better Splash price from your dealer you won’t be disappointed with the Suzuki.

Rating: 7/10

FINAL THOUGHT: It’s a twin sister to Vauxhall’s Agila and built in the same Suzuki factory, but the Splash has the great attraction of the Suzuki badge which screams "reliability". As an affordable and well-appointed one-litre family holdall that’s cheap to run, it’s a winner. Construction is light and the boot not all that useful but the Splash is comfortable with an excellent driving position and great visibility.

Suzuki Splash 1.2 GLS+

• Price: £9350
• Capacity: 1242cc
• Power: 86bhp
• 0-62mph: 12.3 seconds
• Maximum speed: 106mph
• Economy: Combined 51.4mpg; Urban 40.9mpg
• CO2 emissions: 131g/km
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 3