JUST like a well loved but boisterous child, the lively Suzuki Swift Sport has grown up as the years whizz past.

So with this latest version, in comes a sense of maturity which make everyday life a bit less of a bother when you don't feel like being entertained.

But with the arrival of this new found maturity comes a loss too. Some of the lively interaction of old has faded, replaced by a properly grown up feel.

Mostly, you reckon, owners of this latest and fastest of Suzuki's little hatch will reckon the changes are for the better, most of the time.

Adding a turbo to the 1.4 litre petrol engine has pumped in lots more low down pulling power, making the car quicker and even more obviously, much keener to hang on to higher gears at lower speeds.

It also means this new £17,999 Swift Sport is a 130mph (and 8.3 seconds to 62mph) machine that weighs a useful 70kgs less than before, uses a touch less fuel (on the official test at least) and cuts CO2 by a meaningful 15 per cent.

It also ceases to be the obvious £15,349 bargain of the old Sport but counters the new bottom line with a determinedly well packed standard spec that includes intelligent cruise control and the choice of several metallic paint colours, both of which usually add many hundreds to the bill.

Add in touches like satellite navigation (on a rather tiny screen), climate control, reversing camera and LED lights and that newly boosted price looks much more justified.

All these goodies are mounted in a car whose cabin reflects the inevitable hard plastics and cost watching associated with a model range that starts at £11,999 for lesser versions but it's all neatly assembled, and Suzukis have a reputation for built-in toughness.

Sporty touches inside run to grippy front seats, (very grippable) sport steering wheel and an instrument panel that will reveal your economy but not speed in digital form, which is a pity.

Beneath the gently sportified exterior (think spoilers and big twin exhausts) sits a stiffened suspension honed over British roads where 100 different set ups were put through their paces.

Which was only right and proper as the UK, with 1,500 Suzuki Sport sales annually, is the largest market for the car in Europe.

The result is one of the best riding warm hatches you'll encounter, thankfully lacking the big wheeled harshness attached to many rivals. It means our awful roads will be less of a (literal) pain than they might have been.

A little larger than before, the Swift Sport remains small enough to add confidence to an enthusiastic B-road drive but big enough for a couple of grown men in the back, with gently splayed knees perhaps, and a boot a useful 25 per cent bigger than before.

So, there's an awful lot to like about this new Suzuki with extra punch from its now 138 horses, including an easy ability to top 40mpg in everyday life, with a combined 47.1mpg in the new and more realistic official economy test (and 135g/km too).

If you're stepping from the old to new you will surely mostly enjoy the change but perhaps sometimes mourn the passing of youthful enthusiasm. The lively puppy has grown up.