I make no secret of the fact that I love SUVs and don’t pay much attention to those green campaigners who love to snipe at these alleged gas guzzlers. There are far greater dangers to the environment than SUVs.

I’ve driven quite a few different models over the years: Nissan, Kia, Chevrolet, Ssangyong, Mitsubishi, BMW, Hyundai, but this was the first time I drove an SUV from Suzuki.

All motors are different and while some may share the same platform they all have their own unique touch. For me the memory that stays with me is the unusual back door, which opens out rather than the conventional ones which lift up.
My children are not young any more, but I reckon that if I had this SUV back in the 1980s I would have found it very difficult to stop them and various under 10 footballers from climbing into the back seats via that cute door.

I was told to expect a two-door commercial vehicle when calling to Suzuki, so I was pleasantly surprised that my test model was a five-seater. A two-seater would not have been much use to me for transporting family members.

The dominant colour in the interior is black, but that seems to be the normal with nearly every new car I drive. However, the radio/CD controls were all a decent size and easy to use and there are also slave controls on the steering wheel.

I loved the high driving position and it was a joy to manoeuvre this powerful SUV along the narrow roads of Kildare and West Wicklow. The high driving position is ideal for peeping over the hedgerows and the high seating would I feel be ideal if you were giving tourists a quick guide to rural Ireland.

Unfortunately, as with most SUV drivers, I didn’t get an opportunity to test the motor off-road, but it felt like it would have no difficulty tackling rough terrain. Also I don’t have a caravan, but was told that it could tow weights of up to 2,000kg.

Three rather high head rests dominated the back seat and did initially restrict the view when reversing, but of course they are easily pushed down. There is plenty of room in the boot and if extra cargo space is required the back seat can be folded down. Some SUVs offer seven seats, but in reality how often are most families ever going to use seven seats.

The first Grand Vitara was introduced in 1998 and there have been a few upgrades since then, the model I drove was introduced in 2005. But as this was my first-ever drive I cannot honestly compare it to earlier models. I drove a black model and it didn‚t look out of place on St Stephen’s Green or on the Curragh of Kildare. It truly was a grandmotor.

Prices start at €25,495 for the 1.6 three-door petrol, the five-door 2.0 petrol costs €31,995 and the 1.9 diesel model I drove will set you back €34,995. And while I didn’t count the miles or kilometres, the fuel gauge in the diesel version seemed to move very slowly, which is a good complaint.