Range Rover

You're Japanese. You have a family. You need a minivan. But minivans are freaking huge, Japan's streets are crowded, and you want something that's a lot smaller and can dart between lumbering dekotora lit up like Vegas. So, you look to a kei minivan because it's teeny tiny. Suzuki's got your back with the Palette, the micro-mini minivan it introduced back in early 2008.


It's totally neat in that way all Japanese kei cars are, as its compact size belies interior storage capacity capable of swallowing up literally hundreds of packs of Dentyne, several vintage Super Famicoms, and that box of priceless Chevy Astro brochures you overpaid some American pack rat for on eBay.


One problem: the regular-edition Palette's a bit vanilla to look at. Suzuki has apparently gotten the memo and spiced things up in the traditional manner: a new fascia and more letters in the nomenclature. Hence, we have the Palette SW, which wears a more mischievous anime face, as apposed to the docile-looking, doe-eyed standard grade Suzuki Palette.


The other change introduced with the SW is a two-stage CVT that allows drivers to manually select lower or higher pre-programmed gear ratios to place an emphasis on either better acceleration or improved fuel economy. That way, they can wring out every last bit of punch or efficiency the little juice box on wheels can offer.
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