I am not a boastful man, and it’s a good job because the Alto may well be the UK’s smallest car. A few spoilsports pointed out that the G-Wizz electric car is 90cm shorter than my Alto. But I pointed out that the G-Wizz is a toy not a car. You can’t risk going to Surrey in a battery-powered car. You won’t get back and it can’t handle motorways.
I made a spirited and successful little journey down the M3 and back again in the Alto. It managed to get to 70mph (and its top speed is not much more, despite what the speedo says) without me mashing my foot into the carpet and gritting my teeth like my brother used to do as a student in his Mk2 Fiesta. Indeed it’s not something Hyundai’s scrappage-popular i10 can do well either.
What’s more, it sat there, quietly hacking along, not at all bothered by the lorries gusting all around us. Once back in town from this little escapade I found that the Queen had closed all the roads to open Parliament (how ironic that so much gets closed to open something that was never shut).
After a few minutes contemplating the length of the queue ahead, I turned a full right-hand lock and completed a painless U-turn. If I’d tried that in a Vauxhall Corsa or VW Fox it would have been a three-point turn as their turning circles are much bigger. The Vauxhall Agila probably could do it, but the power-steering can be so heavy when you turn from a standing start (it seems to take a second to kick in) that it wouldn’t have been easy.
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The Alto’s little engine then growled like a cat that wants to be a lion and we set about weaving through the congestion. Now some would say my superior knowledge of the road network from Vauxhall to Blackfriars made the Alto look good, but, as I said, I’m not that boastful. The key point here is that lots of little gaps are often big enough to use, and the Alto is so chuckable that you can make great progress even around a congested city.
Other vehicles all seem very close and very big in these circumstances. It feels as though they want to get in the car, which, combined with the growling from the engine and chucking of the wheel, might have been a tiring and sweaty experience in other cars. Yet despite the low price point, the Alto has air conditioning and a CD player. The front seats are also surprisingly big, supportive and comfortable for such a tiny little motor car.
But I’m afraid I can’t tell you about the back seats, because the rear legroom is ridiculously small if the driver is of average height. And as I am 6ft 3in, the only way for me to get in the back would be to remove one of the front seats, which they are not designed to do. Also, mobile disc jockeys, or anyone else with a lot of luggage, will be sad to hear that the boot is equally diddy.
But nothing is perfect.
What’s the market like?
There are never going to be millions to choose from, but there will be more of this generation of Alto than previously as initial new sales look strong.
Prices are firm, with depreciation of between 7% and 10% per annum. On a car with such a low initial price – £7,600 – that means no one is really losing out and you can afford to buy and sell at any time without being stung by depreciation.
What else can this budget buy?
On the nearly new market, the nearest rival is the Hyundai i10, which also boasts fantastic equipment levels and low prices. But the Suzuki engine has more guts, which makes it a more versatile little car for the money and, in most cases, will be £500-£1,000 less.
By comparison, the Peugeot 107, Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo all seem over-priced. A final alternative is the Chevrolet Matiz, which has the same price points to the Alto but not the same equipment.
Summary
A jolly little car that also has guts. Easily overlooked, which makes prices misleadingly soft. This is a first rate city car for the money.
By: Matthew Tumbridge