2017 Honda Jazz vs Suzuki Swift

What's the difference?

Small cars - really small cars - still stand quite tall, in sales terms. Well, they do if you're Honda, which is still shifting not far off a thousand Jazzes every month. If you think the Jazz is a poor choice of name, or you just don't like aimless, formless music, be aware that this Honda is called a 'Fit' in other markets, so it could be worse.

While it can't escape the silly names brigade it is quite a serious car. Serious because while other machines in the segment serve up meat and two veg, the Jazz does two extraordinary things - it's gigantic inside for such a diminutive car, and it has an innovative back seat.

If that doesn't make you read on, I don't know what will.

The Suzuki Swift was a mainstay of the first-new-car market, offering bulletproof reliability, good dynamics and, above all else, accessible pricing.

But then it went from mainstay to just staying. And staying. And staying. In fact, it barely changed between 2005 and 2011, and then changed only a little bit for what Suzuki called its “second generation”.

So, this 2017 all-new model is a pretty big deal. A new platform, new engines and new technology headline the dramatically overhauled Swift line-up, as Suzuki tries to stoke the fires of interest in one of its most enduring and important models.