SUZUKI SWIFT ALLGRIP

Charming supermini ups its abilities with all-wheel-drive option

- ILLYA VERPRAET

The Fiat Panda 4x4 is an unlikely cult hero. A small hatchback is never going to have the ground clearance for hardcore off-roading, nor the torque to be a capable tow vehicle. And yet its pluckiness makes it really quite endearing.

The most intrepid of Pandas is currently on hiatus while a four-wheel-drive version of the new hybrid Grande Panda is being readied, but for decades there has been a lesser-known alternative: the four-wheel-drive Suzuki Swift, which these days is called 'Allgrip'.

Every Swift has the same mild-hybrid, naturally aspirated 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with 81bhp, and a five-speed manual gearbox is standard. A CVT is available, but only on the front-wheel-drive version.