USUALLY I find cars never get anywhere near the quoted average economy figures no-matter how carefully I drive, but one of the best I've enjoyed is the little Suzuki Ignis.

Of course, the official figures - achieved in a workshop on a rolling road - are only meant for comparison with other cars.

So when the Ignis - I drove the 1.2 petrol version - returned an average of 51.7mpg over many miles I was truly impressed because the government average is just 52.9mpg, and few cars ever get that close in the real driving world.

The Ignis is a city car cum baby SUV with space for four that has perky lines and drives beautifully in every way. Suzuki has always been good with small cars, and this one's a cracker.

Unusually, the top spec SZ-5 SHVS model, with mild hybrid electric assistance built in, is also available as a four wheel drive, and that should be enough to keep anyone moving in the worst of winter.

All are powered by the same 88bhp 1.2 petrol engine. The pure petrol Dualjet models get from zero to 60 miles an hour in 11.4 seconds and are rated at 52.9mpg, while the mild hybrid brings the acceleration down to 11 seconds, and is rated at 54mpg.

These are great little cars, and the performance feels good because they are small and light. Acceleration looks ordinary on paper, but the engines are so willing and happy to rev that they are really good fun.

They pull well in all four lower gears of the five speed ‘box, and cruise happily and quietly at motorway speeds.

I found that I had to push the revs up to get the best from them but they pulled well from 2,000revs and harder from 3,000.

There's not much acceleration in fifth, as is normal with small, non-turbocharged cars, but it copes reasonably well with most manoeuvres on the motorway.

Of course, it was designed mainly for use in town and in that it goes to the top of the class because it's so spacious and so easy to drive and park.

The roadholding is excellent even on the standard skinny tyres, with marvellous handling balance even when pushed unmercifully giving a great feel through the corners.

Yet in town at slow speeds and on rougher country roads, the versions I've tested showed a really comfortable and supple ride.

Refinement is good too. Wind noise is decently suppressed and road noise only noticeable on tar and chipping surfaces - as it is with almost every car.

The seats give fair support in the corners and the interior has a good, striking colour combination of light and dark grey plus splashes of strong colour. There are also lovely body colour touches around the cabin aping those in the Fiat 500.

It is only a four seater but there's good rear legroom, giving enough space for one six footer to sit behind another, and the back seat split-folds 50/50.

Even the boot is a decent size for a small car - Suzuki really have managed to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.

The mid-range SZ-T comes with an excellent combination of equipment including aircon, sat nav with a six inch touch screen, parking sensors, traction control, USB and aux in for the stereo, remote locking and electric front windows, trip computer and alloy wheels.

I really enjoyed this Suzuki. It's a very impressive small car that's loads of fun to drive and should be very cheap to run.

Pay about £7,700 for a '20 20-reg Dualjet SZ3, or £14,150 for a '22 22-reg Dualjet SZ5 Allgrip with four wheel drive.