We drive the sexy Suzuki Swift
01 August 2007
Price as tested: £11,499
Range price: £7,995 - £11,499
Insurance group as tested: 9D
Insurance group range: 4A – 9D
Date tested: July 2007
Road tester: Stuart Milne
Auto Trader Ten Point Test rating: 81%
The Swift has transformed the perceptions of Suzuki. Hailed as a name to be reckoned with in the world of motorcycles, it struggled to replicate the same success on four wheels.
But in the Swift Sport, Suzuki has a stylish car which it says owes plenty to its competitive Junior World Rally cars.
This will count for nothing if it can't deliver on the road. We borrowed one for a week to find out.
Looks | Looks Inside | Practicality | Ride and Handling | Performance
Running Costs | Reliability | Safety | Equipment | X-Factor | Rivals
It's almost as though Suzuki has cherry-picked the best bits from its rivals and blended them to create a car which is more than the sum of its parts. The front has hints of Fiesta, while the rear is reminiscent of the previous-generation Clio. The side window line is pure Mini, with the glass tapering towards the rear. We tested the range-topping Sport model, which features a deeper front bumper with a unique lower grille, a redesigned rear bumper with twin exhausts, a rear spoiler and a set of 17-inch alloys with low profile tyres.
9/10
With a funky exterior, the Swift lets itself down slightly inside – compared to its most stylish contemporary, the Mini at least. The dash is clear and well laid out, and the trio of dials – speedo, rev counter and fuel/temperature combo – especially with an 'Illumi Cancel' button which prevents the dash lighting from dimming. This function proved to be useful during dusk where the headlights were on, but the daylight would have made the dimmed dials hard to read. The red and black-trimmed sports seats looked as though they'd fail to offer support, but proved to be supremely comfortable despite the lack of lumbar support for the lower back.
8/10
The diminutive Swift looks on first glance to be too small to offer a huge degree of practicality. And a small, 213-litre boot backs this up. However, the boot is easy to load and there's plenty of space to cram goodies around the cabin. A large storage area in front of the gearstick is joined by two cupholders (perfectly sized for a mobile phone) and a third slot for the rear passengers' latte between the front seats. Any of these can be used to house the movable ashtray. Although the three-door version we tested looks sporty, access to the rear seats is compromised and legroom limited for any occupants more than six foot tall.
The biggest gripe with living with the Swift Sport is its short gearing, which means at motorway speeds in fifth gear, it feels more like third. That means is noisy, coarse and thrashy, which is fine for short distances, but becomes wearing.
7/10
The Swift Sport is not a huge straight line performer, but an enthusiastic driver can make up the pace by utilising its cracking chassis. There's pleasingly little bodyroll, and the steering offers more feedback as the speed increases. That means the steering is light and manoeuvrable around town, but becomes almost go-kart quick and weighty at speed. Suzuki says its competitors include the Citroen C2 VTR and Mini Cooper; against which it performs well.
9/10
As mentioned, the Swift's 125bhp, 1.6-litre engine won't win awards for straight line pace. It just squeezes under the nine second marker in a 0-62mph dash before topping out at 124mph. But the engine loves to rev and sounds pleasingly sporty, if a little loud on a motorway speed run. That's got a lot to do with the car's short gearing which leaves the car working hard at higher speeds.
8/10
At £11,495 the Swift Sport is good value, especially when considering the Mini Cooper costs around £2,000 more. And that gulf is likely to increase when ticking the options to bring the Mini up to match the Swift's comprehensive spec sheet. During our week long loan, the Swift returned an average of 38mpg, which is remarkably close to the figures offered by Suzuki. Insurance is reasonably lightweight at group 9, while emissions of 175g/km place it in tax band E, which currently costs £165 a year.
8/10
The Reliability Index places Suzuki forth for the cheapness of repairs and rarity of breakdowns. It felt solid, although the doors and boot didn’t always shut first time, requiring a forceful slam. The interior developed a couple of intermittent rattles too.
8/10
Scoring four out five in the EuroNCAP crash test programme, the Swift is slightly behind the class leaders such as the Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio and Mini. But the rating belies the level of safety kit installed. It has driver, passenger, front side and curtain airbags, pedals which detach in a collision to avoid leg injury, ABS, brakeforce distribution, brake assist and stability control.
9. Equipment The standard Swift Sport comes with a level of kit which punches well above its £11,499 price tag. Highlights include keyless entry, electric/heated door mirrors, climate control, a MP3-compatible CD player with controls on the steering wheel and a trip computer.
8/10
Funky and fun, the Swift Sport ticks many of the boxes for the cost-conscious petrolhead – providing motorway driving is not a priority. It really is the Japanese Mini.
8/10
You might also want to consider:
Mini Cooper
Fiat Grande Punto Sporting
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