The New Suzuki Swift Sport may not carry the famous GTi badge (it no longer has rights to the name) but it has the firepower to outgun its predecessor. The 1.6-litre twin-cam VVT engine (which forms the basis of the rally car’s engine) spins into life with a light zizz before settling to a busy idle. It puts out 123bhp at 6800rpm and 109lb ft at 4800rpm, and, as you might guess from those figures, it does its best work at the top end of the rev range. Indeed, it’s typically Japanese in that it wants to be thrashed and never makes what you’d call a deep-chested sound.

A rear wing, deeper bumpers and twin tailpipes are all regulation add-ons, but sometimes sporting models look as though they’ve had such appendages thrown at them, possibly from a great height.The Swift Sport comes in a 5-door hatch version for Japan but is only available as a 3-door hatch in Europe. The car basically has a sportier bodykit over the normal Swift and comes with 16 inch rims standard, with an optional 17 inch upgrade.