LIFE WITH the Vitara is not progressing without hiccups. This month Suzuki discovered that there was an errant bit of maths in the emergency braking system that was leading the car to respond and react to hazards that weren’t there.

I’d already noticed, to be honest, and so had my wife. The piercing shriek of the ‘PANIC!’ alarm tends to make an impression when it catches you unawares. A sensor needed a quick recalibration, I was told. It’ll need a trip to your nearest Suzuki dealer.

I turned up and parked next to an Atlantis Turquoise Vitara; Ponthir Road Suzuki’s demonstrator. Between the two of them they show off the model’s best colours. I was almost envious, actually. The work didn’t take long and they even offered to give GKC a wash. I’m not going to turn that down.

Since then the sensors have definitely calmed down a bit, but it’s still a little eager to cry wolf when a car slows and turns off the road ahead of you. More so than any other car I’ve driven. I’ll keep an eye on that and take it back to Ponthir Road if needed.

This month I’ve been happily getting to grips with the engine and gearbox. As I mentioned last month, it’s a detuned Swift Sport engine, but it comes with a five-speed gearbox rather than a sixer. It’s a curious choice that leaves you wishing for an extra cog at motorway speeds. You have to think it would be easy enough for Suzuki to simply leave the six-cog ‘box installed but change the gear ratios if needed.

That said, it’s a light unit with a nicely mechanical feel and a precise lever action. It’s stuff like this that Suzuki usually does very well on its larger and more powerful cars. It adds to the Vitara’s likeability.

It’s certainly not rev-shy, zinging around to the redline with ease and ever-stronger muscle. There’s not much torque low down in the rev range so it needs a firm right foot and the determination to leave it in gear for overtakes and slip roads. When you use the revs on offer, it gets a move on pretty well.

Thank the low overall weight for that. At just 1,075kg or so depending on spec, the chunky Vitara is lighter than most superminis. I had to check that figure wasn’t a misprint. Lightness starts a virtuous circle, where the ride, handling, acceleration and braking all benefit, and there aren’t any compact crossovers or small SUVs I know of that drive more sweetly up a windy mountain pass.

It hasn’t been plain sailing, though. Not only has the recall been and gone, but some utter moron has opened a door into it – twice, by the looks of the marks in the dent. It’s not a pretty sight, being right on the curvature of the door panel. From certain angles it’s invisible but from others it looks like poor GKC has been hit by a train.

At least the interior is standing up to the mileage it’s being subjected to already. The Alcantara seat fabric is grippy and the seats are pretty supportive. I wouldn’t mind more lumbar support, though.

As for fuel economy so far, 58mpg is the best I’ve managed so far on my modest cruise from Wales to Heathrow Airport, which is as much as I could normally get out of the Seat Leon X-Perience diesel I had until recently. Overall I’m clocking 40-41mpg without making any effort yet to improve that. Yet. There’s plenty more to discover in the coming months.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

  • Suzuki Vitara 1.6 Allgrip SZ5, from £20,299 (£21,099 as tested, range from £13,999)
  • Engine: 1.6-litre petrol producing 118bhp and 111lb/ft
  • Transmission: Five-speed manual gearbox driving all four wheels on demand
  • Performance: Top speed 112mph, 0-62mph in 12.0 seconds
  • Fuel Economy: 50.4mpg
  • Emissions: 130g/km