WILLEM VAN DE PUTTE

BUYING a car is never an easy choice and certainly in South Africa today there are more options out there than there are crooked politicians.

It’s relatively simple when you’re at the top of the food chain and probably the same at the bottom, but it’s in the middle most of us find ourselves, where it can become totally overwhelming.

Your choice is easy enough when you’re a slave to a brand but if you’re not, you could find yourself confused to the point of throwing your hands up in despair and buying the first thing that looks like a good deal.

Enter Suzuki with their Splash, which fits nicely between the entrylevel Alto and the underrated but successful Swift. The Splash is slightly shorter than the Swift but has a high roof with lots of glass which takes a bit of getting used to and won’t be to everyone’s liking.

Powered by a 1.2-litre petrol motor that pushes out 63kW and 113Nm of torque powering the front wheels with a five-speed gearbox, you’re not going to burn rubber.

To put it in perspective, though, my father bought a new 1 600cc car (no names, no pack drill) in the early 1980s and it pushed out all of 54kW.

Apart from the high stance, the outside is funky with colour-coded door releases, fog lights and a spoiler. Inside the Splash is an attractive package built with typical Suzuki quality that has durability and practicality in mind. It has a rev counter, four-speaker audio system with auxiliary and USB inputs and audio control on the steering