Suzuki Swift Sport

BIG FUN IN A SMALL PACKAGE
Here’s my advance vote for Most Underrated Car of the Year. By Andy Enright

With hindsight, 2004 was a vintage year for new car launches. The Porsche 997, the Ferrari F430, the BMW M5 V10 and the Aston Martin DB9 were all unveiled and I was lucky enough to drive them all but the biggest grin of the year was caused by something altogether more prosaic - Suzuki’s Ignis Sport. Punting it down a New Forest road, taking a gravel track shortcut and then going back to do it all again served up the most fun of any car I’d driven that year. Based on the Junior World Rally Championship car, the Ignis Sport was a little gem. Suzuki are at it again with the Swift Sport, a car that offers even more get up and go.

Where the Ignis Sport came equipped with 108bhp, the Swift Sport ups the ante to a healthy 125bhp. Couple this with the fact that the Swift weighs about as much as the average American buttock and you’ll appreciate that this thing isn’t about to hang around. Suzuki quotes a sprint to 60mph of just 8.9s, making the Swift quicker off the mark than a MINI Cooper or a Citroën C2 VTR. Not bad when you consider that the Japanese company is asking around £11,500 for the privilege.

High-lift cams help top-end performance, the peak power being reached at a lofty 6,800rpm, a reminder, if ever it were needed, that Suzuki make some very decent motor bikes! The intake manifold has been widened and polished while the forged pistons and free-flowing exhaust also help the Sport realise its dynamic aspirations. Drive in a more measured fashion and you might match Suzuki’s quoted combined fuel consumption figure of 37.7mpg. Just don’t bank on it. That throttle pedal is an addictive thing.

The trouble with cars like this is in getting bums on seats in the dealerships. Once they’ve sampled one, potential customers generally buy them. No matter how often media commentators heap plaudits on such cars, the more mainstream manufacturers will mop up sales thanks to their larger dealer networks, bigger advertising budgets and through some often-misplaced sense of brand loyalty. Drive the Suzuki Swift Sport up against, say, a Peugeot 207 1.6 16v Sport and you’ll be blown away. Yes, the Peugeot will have a plusher feeling interior and a slightly smoother ride but that’s not why you buy a sports hatch. The Swift will decimate the 207 on a country lane and the Suzuki driver will have by far the bigger smile at the end. In fact, you’d have to spend £14,395 to find a 207 (the 1.6T GT) that could hope to hang onto the Swift.

"The Swift Sport has an almost unmatchable grin per mile factor"

Unless you want to risk being embarrassed by the Suzuki, here’s what to look out for. The deeper front bumper with a redesigned lower grille is the first clue that this is no ordinary shopping trolley. The 17-inch alloy wheels and the aggressive rear bumper with twin exhausts emerging like Mauser cannons are another not-so subtle indicator that this car means business. Inside, there’s a striking red and black trim, sports seats and brushed stainless steel pedals.

Otherwise, the interior is also very different from what we’ve come to expect from Suzuki. Again, a wraparound theme dominates, with smoothly curved surfaces and a number of bright ideas. The illuminated ring around the speedometer is a welcome change from the usual chrome surrounds and the three-spoke steering wheel looks agreeably sporty. Taking its cue from Suzuki’s sports bike expertise, the tachometer dial features a zero mark at the six o’clock position. A centrally-mounted information display takes care of the time, fuel consumption and outside temperature functions. Suzuki have listened to customers who are tired of manipulating tiny, fiddly audio and climate buttons and have instead opted for big, easy to reach dial-type controls. The audio system can also be operated from a set of optional wheel-mounted switches. Standard equipment on this model includes automatic air-conditioning, curtain airbags, an MP3 compatible audio system, front fog lamps, steering wheel-mounted audio controls and a Keyless start system.

It would have been easy just to tweak the engine and throw a few options at this car but Suzuki has done the job properly. The chassis has been uprated and features stiffer springs and dampers with an electronic stability control program that has been tweaked to take into account the higher g-loadings. One of the key factors in the Swift’s handling and packaging is the fact that the chassis offers the class widest track (1470mm wide at the front and 1480 at the back), which in turn translates into one of the greatest overall widths in the supermini class (1,690mm). Coupled with a long wheelbase and compact engines, this frees up plenty of room in the cabin and allows for a 213-litre luggage area.

The glasshouse of the car is broadly reminiscent of a MINI, as are the Swift’s definite shoulders, offering what Suzuki calls a "1.5 box" design. Rather than being an amorphous blob, the Swift has a pronounced bonnet line. A wide airdam and big headlamps give the car a distinctive ‘face’ and the big wheels at each corner of the car give the impression that it’s solidly planted to the road. The black pillars help the floating glasshouse effect and the wraparound glazing helps to promote better all round visibility. The rear of the car is even more expressive, with thickset haunches and a roof that melds into an integrated spoiler.

Forewarned is forearmed and Suzuki has a little more to live up to this time round with the Swift Sport. It’ll still generate blank looks of puzzlement from those not in the loop but if you’re looking for a fizzy little hatch that works for today’s driving conditions, it’s hard to do a lot better than the Suzuki Swift Sport.