Suzuki Celerio, motoring review: A great runaround, but put the brakes on motorway trips

No matter how keenly the Celerio is priced, Jamie Merrill can't get over his first impressions: that Suzuki has missed a thing or two

The Suzuki Celerio has a top speed of 96mph

Price: £7,999
Engine capacity: 1.0-litre petrol
Power output: 67 @ 6,000
Top speed: 96
Fuel economy (mpg): 65.7
CO2 emissions: 99

First impressions from behind the wheel of the tiny Suzuki Celerio city car aren't great. The pedals feel slightly oddly aligned and the clutch seems to wander vaguely back and forth far too easily before you can find the biting point.

And then there are the brakes, which aren't exactly confidence-inspiring. That's because, a little earlier this year, when the glossy car magazines first put the Celerio through its paces, well, they noticed something odd during high-speed tests: that it didn't, er, stop. One reviewer described this alarming defect calmly as a "loss of braking power", occurring "during 80mph deceleration tests".

Frankly, this description plays down the terror that they must have felt when the brake pedal went to the floor at 80mph without slowing down this dinky Japanese car at all.

Thankfully, the reviewer survived to warn the Japanese firm and Suzuki withdrew the car from sale immediately and put everything right. This car is now safe, but the furore leaves questions as to how a new car got to sale with defective brakes in the first place.

Sadly, all of this is in danger of overshadowing the fact that the Celerio is actually a good little car with an economical petrol engine and plenty of equipment that will attract sensible buyers who are watching their wallets. And that's a shame. While the Celerio can't match the Volkswagen Up! or Hyundai i10 for quality or driving prowess, it does have strengths. For example, there are few cars that include alloy wheels, DAB radio and Bluetooth as standard for just £8,000, and its 1.0-litre engine is so clean that there is no road tax to pay and it is exempt from the London congestion charge.

I'd like to say that, on the road, first impressions start to fade. True, the steering in town is excellent, while its diminutive proportions make the Celerio a breeze to park. But when you take the Celerio beyond the city limits, as I did with a long motorway run to the Midlands last week, above 50mph the noise from the tyres is far more noticeable than with any other small cars I've driven. Motorway overtaking is something to be planned with extreme caution in what is a very low-powered vehicle, and there's still that nagging feeling that the brakes might not be up to the job. Of course, I have to point out that the Celerio is now safe and I had no problems – it's just that no matter how keenly the Celerio is priced, I can't get over my first impressions: that Suzuki has missed a thing or two.