• Reasonable rear space and versatile boot
• Bigger than rival estates
• Thoughtful design, easy to live with

How much space is there?

The Suzuki Swace exemplifies the benefits of the smaller family estate car. Despite a parking-space friendly size and shape, it has a generous amount room for adults in the back seat as well as the front.

It’s not all good news, though. Families with small children, or passengers with limited mobility, may find the angle of the rear door opening to be less convenient than the near 90-degree angle offered by many crossovers. The seating position is also lower, which makes the Swace more difficult to get in and out of.

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Clever touches make the most of that interior space and, if there’s not enough room in the car, the subtle, cleverly designed aluminium roof rails make adding a roof rack or box very easy and non-destructive.

Boot space and storage

The Swace offers an impressive 598 litres of boot space with a reasonably wide, low opening. However, its sportier, angled tailgate means the Volkswagen Golf Estate just overtakes it for outright capacity at 605 litres.

The Suzuki’s boot opening is 1,027mm wide, while the boot itself is 1,170mm wide at the narrowest point, extending to 1,470mm into the arches and a little more if you’re using the folded seats area. Seats up, you still have over a metre of boot floor (1,020mm), and the 60:40 split will allow 1,860mm long loads.

You get a load cover and a mesh cargo protector, which can be stored in the widest point of the underfloor area, and the boot floor itself can be reversed to provide a wipe clean plastic surface rather than carpet. While the boot is generous enough with the floor in the highest position for a flat loading area, you can also drop it down for a recessed load area, or remove it revealing a huge, carpeted spare wheel well perfect for squashy bags.

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There’s also a bonus pair of small compartments behind the rear seat. Suzuki has not wasted an inch of this car’s interior volume. However, not wasting space with furniture does mean that the cupholders and cubbies are merely average. The glovebox is a good size, but there’s nothing clever or notable in the door bins and centre cubby. The generous, sensibly-placed wireless phone charger is a nice touch though.

Is it easy to park?

Thanks to the big mirrors and good visibility all round (complemented by a reversing camera, plus sensors and parking assistance on the higher specification Ultra) the Suzuki Swace is very easy to park in most spaces.

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At 4,655mm long and 1,790mm wide it’s not a small car, as such, but as it’s relatively narrow with fairly short doors, it feels more compact than some rivals of a similar length, and doesn’t overhang the majority of standard parking spaces.

Safety

• Swace’s twin, the Corolla, awarded five stars in 2019
• Comprehensive suite of electronic safety systems
• Seven airbags standard, effective driver assistance

As business partners go, Suzuki couldn’t have picked better than Toyota for its family estate car. The Swace inherits the Corolla’s full Safety Sense package, with lane departure warning and speed limit detection.

Isofix attachments are offered on the two outer rear seats, and the Swace has seven airbags. Safe handling is helped by electronic stability control and a tyre-pressure monitoring system, while driver fatigue is mitigated by standard adaptive cruise control with lane guidance. Only blind-spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert are missing on the entry-level model.

Neither the Swace or the Corolla Touring Sports have been tested by Euro NCAP, but the Corolla hatchback was in 2019 (pre-facelift) and scored an impressive five stars. Given how closely related the body and tech are, it’s unlikely the estate would perform differently.