Rob Maetzig.

The big news surrounding the arrival of Suzuki’s latest Swift is that for the first time, one model is turbocharged. And that speaks volumes about the efficiency of new-age, threecylinder engines, writes

The other day we climbed into an RS version of the new Suzuki Swift, started it and listened to the quiet thrum of its Boosterjet threecylinder engine.

We moved the car’s six-speed automatic into Drive and moved off. Once we’d toured out of the city and on to country roads, we snicked the transmission down into an M mode and began to work the gears manually via paddles on the steering wheel.

The thrum got louder, but not intrusively so. As the rev counter needle moved up towards the red line before each gear change, the little turbocharged 1-litre triple sang cheerfully as we treated ourselves to an enthusiastic drive in this very nice new hatchback.

Take note of those words, folks. Triple. One litre. Turbocharged. It’s something we’re seeing more and more of – car companies installing small and efficient turbocharged three-cylinder engines into their vehicles in the interests of superior fuel economy and lower exhaust emissions, but not at the expense of performance.

This new Suzuki Swift RS is an outstanding example of this trend. It’s what can best be described as a warm addition to the Swift lineup – the lesser models are powered by a normally-aspirated 1.2-litre Dualjet multipoint fuel injected engine that develops 66 kilowatts of power and 120 Newton metres of torque; the RS’ direct-injected and turbocharged Boosterjet engine develops 82kw of power and 160Nm of torque, with the torque available from just 1500rpm right through to 4000rpm.

At the top of the Swift lineup there’s the hot model, the Sport – but at present that continues to be the previous-generation hatch, which is powered by a normallyaspirated 1.6-litre DOHC that develops 100kw and 160Nm.

The Sport is going to be replaced by a new-generation model next year, and while Suzuki