Suzuki SwiftSport

Britain’s biggest and best car buyer’s guide
Reprinted from AWARDS 2012
Suzuki Swift Sport
‘Tight body control
and accurate
steering make the
Swift great fun’
Suzuki Swift Sport
vs Renault Clio Gordini
‘No other hot hatch
comes close at
this price’
Suzuki Swift
reprinted from 2 & 15 november 2011
‘Updated model gets added pace and precision but
retains entertaining old-school handling’ AAAAC
ld.
OUR CARS ’Everything in the car works the way that it shou
No tricks, no fuss. Just how a good warm hatch should be’
car of the year
TWIN TEST
Renault Clio Gordini vs Suzuki Swift Sport
Hot hatch
TEST
CENTRE
What are we looking for?
‘Building a good hot hatch isn’t easy; it requires far more than simply putting a big engine into a small hatchback.
The best hot hatches have to be as thrilling in the corners as they are in a straight line, and that takes real engineering.
‘However, while driving thrills are undoubtedly at the top of our wish list, our winner can’t merely be a one-trick pony.
It also needs enough class, comfort and kit to make life easy when you’re not in the mood to play.’
Ivan Aistrop
Content editor
Ivan.Aistrop@whatcar.com
Best buy less than £15,000
Suzuki Swift Sport
Renault’s stranglehold on the hot
hatch category (the firm has swept the
board for two years running) has finally
been broken. It has taken something
pretty special to do it, and that
something is Suzuki’s new Swift Sport.
The face-lifted version of last year’s
winner, the Renault Twingo
Renaultsport, isn’t on sale yet, but don’t
go thinking that the Swift won by
default. It’s a brilliant junior hot hatch.
The 1.6-litre petrol engine has 134bhp
which, according to our test figures, is
enough to fling the Swift from 0-60mph
in a sparkly 7.9 seconds. The strong
grip, tight body control and accurate
steering make the Swift great fun, too,
and with decent refinement and a
surprisingly supple ride, it’s at home
on all kinds of roads.
The best thing, though, is that you get
all of this for just £13,499, along with
luxury kit such as climate and cruise
controls, Bluetooth, xenon lights and
keyless start. Throw in the reasonable
insurance premiums and affordable fuel
costs, and you have a hot hatch that’s
perfect for young drivers.
Pricing
List price £13,499
Performance
0-60mph 7.9sec
Top speed 118mph
Running costs
Average fuel economy 44.1mpg
CO2 emissions 147g/km
Tax liability 19%
Insurance group 19
‘Tight body control
and accurate
steering make the
Swift great fun’
a question of sport
Suzuki’s bargain Swift Sport has a zingy engine, sharp reflexes and a good
helping of old-school charm. Is it enough to beat the Renault Clio Gordini?
The contenders
NEW
Suzuki Swift Sport
List price £13,499
Suzuki’s new firecracker brings some muchneeded affordability to the hot hatch market. It’s
anything but no-frills, though.
Renault Clio Gordini
List price £14,000
Renault has built some of the finest hot
hatchbacks in history. Can it pull off the same
trick for such a low price?
Whatever happened to cheap thrills?
These days even a hot Vauxhall Corsa will set
you back £19k.
Suzuki hasn’t forgotten about buyers on a
smaller budget, though; the new Swift Sport’s
old-school formula of a small, revvy petrol
engine and a featherweight chassis keeps it
cheap, yet it’s remarkably well equipped.
The Renault Clio is one of our favourite hot
hatches in range-topping Renaultsport 200
Cup form, but we’ve pitted the Swift against
the cheaper 1.6 Gordini 128 version. It’s been
tuned by the same team, but trades outright
pace for a lower price and cheaper insurance
premiums.
keep you entertained. It’s a shame the engine
sounds so plain when revved; the Suzuki’s
plays a much sportier tune.
Outright pace is only half of the story,
though, because hot hatches need to be fun
through the corners. Thankfully, the Swift is a
riot, with an agile chassis, plenty of grip and
What are they like to drive?
These cars prove you don’t need lots of power sharp, accurate steering. The best bit is that it
to have fun. The Swift’s 134bhp isn’t much in a gets you involved at legal speeds.
The Clio grips just as hard and actually
modern hot hatch world dominated by
leans slightly less, but it doesn’t engage you in
200bhp+ monsters, while the Clio musters
only 128bhp. Neither gives its best until nearly the same way because there’s less feedback
through the steering. The fact that the Clio is
7000rpm, either, but wringing the necks of
significantly slower also means you need a
these cars is half the fun. That’s particularly
long run at any corner to even get close to the
true in the Swift, because its engine loves to
be thrashed. The close-ratio six-speed gearbox limits of grip.
Despite their sporty pretentions, both cars
makes it easy to keep the engine on song, and
the Suzuki’s low weight makes up for its so-so have surprisingly supple suspension set-ups,
134bhp. No wonder, then, that it felt much the which soak up bumps and potholes well. That
keeps the tyres in contact with the road when
friskier in our tests, hitting 60mph in less
you’re pushing hard on less-than-perfect
than eight seconds.
roads, and makes the cars easier to live with
The Renault is 100kg heavier so is a lot
when you’re done having fun.
slower, although it’s still nippy enough to
BEST DASH
Clumsy layout Buttons are
small and poorly labelled;
stereo isn’t user-friendly
awards 2012 whatcar.com
Bright colours Gordini
colours brighten up the Clio’s
otherwise dull and grey cabin
Simple to use Controls are
logical and well labelled, apart
from the Bluetooth system
Plain design Only red stitching
and sports seats distinguish the
Sport from lesser Swifts
whatcar.com AWARDS 2012
hot hatches
QUICK FACTS
BEST TO DRIVE
Apart from chunky alloys and twin
exhausts, the Swift doesn’t exactly scream
‘hot hatch’ from afar, and it’s a similar story
when you get inside. There’s some red
stitching on the seats and the steering
wheel, but little else marks the Sport out
from the humdrum models. At least that
means everything is solid and the controls
are logically laid out.
The Clio’s cabin shares plenty with
cheaper versions in the range, too, but
Clio grips hard and resists roll,
The Swift’s agile handling makes
Renault has made more of an effort. The
but steering is short of feel
it a joy on any country road
famous Gordini blue is splashed over the
BEST REAR CABIN
steering wheel, the gearknob and the sides
of the seats, while the white instrument
dials also add to the sporty ambience.
However, some of the buttons on the Clio’s
dash are small and poorly labelled, and the
stereo isn’t at all user-friendly.
Both cars have figure-hugging front seats,
but the Clio’s sit lower, giving it the sportier
BEST BOOT
driving position. The Suzuki presents you
with a great view of the road ahead, though,
and there’s lots of adjustment to the
Clio can seat
steering wheel to help you get comfortable.
five, and has
The Clio is the bigger car. You won’t notice
the bigger boot
that from the driver’s seat, because the Suzuki
with the seats
has more front headroom, but you will when
up or down
you open the boot; the Renault’s loadbay is
Test figures
Economy
Suzuki Swift Sport
much longer, with the seats up or down.
Weather conditions Dry
Average 44.1mpg
Both cars will comfortably accommodate List price £13,499
Tank 42 litres
Acceleration 30–70mph through the gears
a couple of mates in the back, with similar
Emissions 147g/km, 19% tax
Measurements
7.7sec
Range
407
miles
rear head- and legroom. The Renault can
Figures in bold are best in test
Dimensions in cm
seat five in emergencies, though, because it
30–50mph in 3rd/4th/5th/6th
Buying
3 4.6sec 4 7.1sec 5 10.2sec 6 13.3sec
has an extra rear seatbelt.
Website www.suzuki.co.uk
96
89
51
201
Car pictured Suzuki Swift 1.6 Sport
Will they break the bank?
The Suzuki is the cheaper car to start with,
but some big discounts are available on the
Clio. There will almost certainly be room for
negotiation on the price of the Swift, but it
wasn’t on sale at the time of writing.
Even without a discount, though, the
Suzuki will cost you less to own over three
years. It’s cheaper to fuel and tax, and will
also be worth more when you sell, which
more than makes up for its higher
insurance premiums.
The Suzuki also comes with heaps more
standard equipment, including Bluetooth,
xenon headlights and even metallic paint.
Both cars get alloy wheels, climate and
cruise controls, and electric windows and
mirrors.
These cars will be bought mainly by
young drivers, so it’s worrying that Renault
charges £315 extra for stability control – a
crucial safety system that helps prevent you
skidding off the road. Suzuki fits the system
as standard, and also trumps the Renault
with a driver’s knee airbag.
105
243
64
389
Space
211-512 litres
125
151
80
195
3 4.9sec 4 6.8sec
Euro NCAP crash rating y
xy
xy
xy
xy
x
Braking 30–0mph/70–0mph
101
55-85
50–70mph in 3rd/4th/5th/6th
Safety
94%
82%
62%
10.0m
71%
Engine and performance
Size 1586cc, 4cyl
Peak power 134bhp@6900rpm
Peak torque 118lb ft@4400rpm
5 10.5sec 6 14.4sec
0-60mph
Top speed
sec
mph
7.9
Our verdict
50.4m
118
Only one of these cars will truly put a smile on your face, and it’s the Suzuki. The new Swift
Sport is quick, agile and good fun to drive, not to mention remarkably well equipped, so it
easily wins this match-up. The Clio, by contrast, is somewhat disappointing. It feels like a
nippy supermini rather than a hot hatch, and that’s something its racing stripes and
dolled-up interior can’t mask.
1
2
Suzuki Swift 1.6 Sport
For Great fun; easily quick enough; loads of kit; low running costs
Verdict No other hot hatch comes close at this price
Renault Clio 1.6 VVT Gordini 128
For Grips well; more practical than Swift; cheap insurance
Verdict A decent car, but fails to excite like a hot hatch should
Price £14,500
On sale January 2012
Suzuki Swift Sport
25.10.11, Barcelona Proof that an old-school take on hot hatch fun can still have appeal
first verdict
Updated model gets added pace and
precision but retains entertaining
old-school handling
AAAAC
The new Suzuki Swift Sport is
a pleasingly old-fashioned sort of
hot hatchback. On sale in the UK
next January, the warmed-up Swift
has been made quicker, stronger,
more powerful and more efficient
– improvements necessary just
to keep up in such a competitive
segment as Europe’s for superminis.
But when you get into the detail
of exactly how this little bundle of
joy has been revised – and what it
represents alongside other exciting
contemporary superminis you
might be considering – you can’t
help making slightly dewy-eyed
comparisons with a few of the
affordable front-drivers that so
many of us lusted after
20-something years ago.
For instance, when was the last
time you read about a performance
car updated not with automatic
engine start-stop or an E-Diff, but
a high-lift camshaft, suspension
bracing and synchromesh on both
first and second gears? And when
did any major car manufacturer
dare to release a full-sized,
front-driven, top-of-the-range
performance supermini with less
steering system have helped here,
than 140bhp? My money would
too. Whereas the last Swift Sport
be on Suzuki, circa 2005, with the
would pivot beneath its driver at
previous Swift Sport.
the slightest invitation, darting at
The new one seeks to improve
corners and dancing through them
on the zesty recipe of the last
with pointy abandon on a lifted
by degrees. A variable length
throttle, the new one has a more
intake plenum, as well as the
rounded dynamic temperament. It
aforementioned changes to the inlet turns in with a little less zeal, but has
timing and lift, has boosted peak
more progressive steering response
power on the car’s 1.6-litre normally than the last car, and a very pleasing
aspirated engine to 134bhp from
sense of accuracy and feel through
121bhp, and torque to 118lb ft – not
the steering wheel’s rim.
massive hikes by any measure. More
There’s balance to the car’s
important is the
chassis – and,
update from five
more easily
TESTER’S NOTE
forward speeds
accessed than in
The Suzuki falls into group
19 insurance. That’s cheaper most compact
to six in the car’s
than a Skoda Fabia vRS.
manual gearbox.
front-drivers,
matt saunders
Those changes
it’s enough to
may knock
paint a wide
only a couple of tenths off the car’s
smile on your face on the right road.
0-62mph pace, but they make it feel But there’s measure and maturity
that bit quicker through the gears.
now, too. The car is quieter on the
The kerb weight is 1045kg, which
motorway and has more grip and
puts power to weight at 128bhp
body control when you really ask
per tonne. Funnily enough, that’s
for it, but not so much of either as to
almost exactly what the original
rob the Swift of any rolling comfort
Peugeot 205 GTI had.
or suppleness, or of the accessible
The little Suzuki really isn’t so
thrills that so many modern frontdissimilar to that wonderful old
drivers fail to deliver.
Peugeot dynamically. Higher spring
One or two might wish for a bit
rates and firmer bushing for its
more poke. In quieter moments,
torsion beam rear suspension have
Suzuki’s engineers admit that they
traded a little of the playfulness of
considered a turbocharger in the
the old car’s handling for precision. early stages, but decided that a car
A more rigid front subframe and
with a surfeit of chassis composure
over sheer grunt – of handling
capacity over performance, in other
words – would be more fun.
And on the evidence of the
cracking little driver’s car they’ve
created, it’s hard to disagree. A Clio
Cup it ain’t, but you’d certainly pick
one over a Renault Twingo Cup or
Abarth 500.
matt saunders
So Good
■ Responsive chassis
■ Improved performance
and refinement
■ Communicative steering
Suzuki Swift Sport 1.6 VVT
Price
£13,499
Top speed 121mph
0-62mph 8.7sec
Economy 44.1mpg
147g/km
CO2
Kerb weight 1045kg
Engine
4 cyls, 1586cc, petrol
Installation Front, transverse, FWD
Power
134bhp at 7000rpm
Torque
118lb ft at 4400rpm
Gearbox
6-spd manual
Fuel tank 42 litres
Boot
211-512 litres
Wheels
17in, alloy
Tyres
195/45 R17
NEW TECH beam me up
The most telling update is to the torsion beam rear
suspension. With spring rates firmed up in greater
proportion to the front axle, the Swift has been fitted
with firmer bushings to better control camber and
toe angles at the rear wheels in hard cornering and,
says Suzuki, make the car respond 20 per cent more
awards 2012 whatcar.com
quickly to the steering.
Despite the higher rates, the car rides quietly
and with plenty of absorption — and variable rate
bushings are the reason. At the rear of the twist beam,
Rear suspension
the bushings are softer, for good ride compliance; at
tweaks quicken
its front, they’re firmer for better lateral control.
steering response
2 NOVEMBER 2011 WWW.AUTOCAR.co.uk
Manufacturer’s claimed figures
What are they like inside?
Second opinion
The previous-generation
Swift Sport was too patchy
for my liking, but first
impressions of this new
one are that it’s more well
rounded and usable — not to mention as
chuckable and fun to drive as ever. This
promises to be a popular car. Allan Muir
Chassis
The development budget
has been spent on supple yet
sporting ride quality.
Decent driving
position and
plenty of kit inside
Suzuki
Swift Sport
Looks
It has an understated warm
hatch look: nice alloys, subtle
body kit and sporty cabin trim.
First report Suzuki’s new sporty supermini
promises even more affordable fun than its
predecessor. We’re set to find out if it delivers
M
any of today’s performance
hatches have become so
obsessed with horsepower
and back-breaking Nürburgringhoned chassis, and so packed with
performance-sapping and weightgaining equipment, that the basics
are being overlooked.
Truth be told, most of us are just
as happy with something that’s
perfectly civilised — and without
compromise — for 90 per cent of
the time, as long as it’s nimble
and lightweight enough to offer a
decent turn of pace and the ability
to attack a corner when we escape
Britain’s crowded town centres and
motorways.
The answer? Step forward the
new Suzuki Swift Sport, my drive for
the next few months. It looks great,
has a lovely, high-revving normally
Economy and CO2
emissions are
both improved
WWW.AUTOCAR.co.uk 15 FEBRUARY 2012
aspirated petrol engine and weighs
just 1045kg. It’s also completely
gimmick-free and is just as happy
around town as it is charging along a
B-road or on a long motorway cruise.
So we’ll be getting on very well
indeed, thanks very much.
Ordering a Swift Sport is a simple
process. It’s a case of handing over
£13,499 and choosing your colour —
this being your only option. We went
for the handsome Ablaze Red Pearl
metallic out of the five hues on offer.
The new Sport doesn’t really need
an options list anyway, because it
comes with an extensive array of
kit that wouldn’t look out of place
on a BMW 3-series. Included is
everything from a meaty (but not
overdone) body kit and 17in alloys
on the outside to an interior loaded
with things starting with ‘electric’
Economy
Suzuki claims 44mpg, and we’re
already averaging 43.1mpg
after the first 1500 miles.
or ‘automatic’, such as windows,
mirrors, push-button start and air
conditioning. It’s not bad value at
all, and the extra kit doesn’t have a
significant effect on the kerb weight.
Look at the latest iteration of the
Swift Sport next to its predecessor
and it’s a case of playing spot the
difference, despite the fact that
it has a longer wheelbase and is
usefully roomier inside. The car still
has plenty of bulging curves, but
the most important changes have
taken place under the skin. The press
pack describes development as
focusing on “even better handling”
and “driving performance”. There’s
also talk of better economy and an
“uncompromising focus on quality”,
both of which are very welcome
too. But not one mention of the
Nürburgring. Phew.
At the heart of the latest Sport is
a revised version of the old model’s
1.6-litre petrol engine. Power has
risen by 13bhp to 134bhp, while
torque is up by 9lb ft to 118lb ft.
Significantly, peak torque kicks in
400rpm lower than before at 4400rpm.
These gains add up to small but
welcome changes on the performance
side; 0-62mph can be cracked in 8.7sec
before going on to reach 121mph. The
old car recorded figures of 8.9sec and
124bhp respectively in the same tests.
So it’s usefully quicker off the line, and
I’m not sure too many Sport owners will
miss the extra 3mph at the top end.
While the looks and the engine
may be familiar, there are a few useful
additions. The new six-speed manual
gearbox turns the car into a much more
viable motorway proposition than its
five-speed manual predecessor. The
extra ratio has also done wonders for
the economy and CO2 emissions,
which now stand at 44.1mpg and
147g/km respectively. These figures
were formerly 39.8mpg and 165g/km.
Early thoughts? From the lovely
feel of the brakes and responsive
steering to the slick gearchange and
supple chassis, via the comfortable
sports seats, it’s a car that gives the
impression of being gloriously overengineered and more than the sum of
its parts.
One of the criticisms levelled at the
new car is its relative lack of power and
torque next to its rivals. In my eyes,
this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Swift Sport has what you might
describe as ample power, giving
you just enough poke off the line to
not feel like a slouch, and a strong
top end through the gears to aid its
overtaking ability.
Undoubtedly the chassis can
handle a lot more shove, but this
would detract from the Sport’s
appeal. I’d rather the chassis had such
a surplus, rather than veering into
the Mini Cooper’s torque steer and
wheelspin territory. And in a segment
now dominated by small-capacity
turbocharged petrol engines, a highrevving normally aspirated unit harks
back to the old school.
‘Old school’ is also how I’d sum up
life so far in the Swift Sport, and that’s
meant entirely as a compliment.
Everything in the car works the way it
should. No tricks, no fuss. Just how a
good warm hatch should be.
mark.tisshaw@autocar.co.uk
’Everything in
the car works
the way that
it should. No
tricks, no fuss.
Just how a good
warm hatch
should be’
Tiny boot
No one will be taking the Swift
on a weekend camping trip. The
narrow boot limits practicality.
Rear seats
Suzuki Swift Sport
Price £13,499 As tested £13,499
Options None Economy 43.1mpg
Faults None Expenses None
Latest Sport gearbox
gets an extra cog
Shiny 17in alloys
might take some
looking after
There’s really only room for one
adult in the back, and even then
legroom is in short supply.
15 FEBRUARY 2012 WWW.AUTOCAR.co.uk
For more information on the Suzuki Swift
visit www.suzuki4.co.uk