Suzuki Swift Sport The giantkiller gets a turbo
Previous Swift Sports were affžordable, rev-hungry and hilarious to thrash. And now?
TURBOCHARGING HAS claimed another victim. This, the third-generation Suzuki Swift Sport, has joined the ranks of hot hatches with forced induction, leaving the free-breathing opposition pretty much non-existent. The main promise of turbocharging the Sport was torque – something the previous two iterations lacked – so Suzuki has slotted in the 1.4-litre Boosterjet turbo engine already found in the very sweet Vitara S and chunky S-Cross crossovers, squeezing out 138bhp and 170lb ft of torque.
The pound-footage available allows you to ride a wave at around 3000rpm, but the trade-off is the top end feels and sounds strained. On a twisty road you’re more inclined to use the mid-range in third gear than rinse it in second, as in the old naturally aspirated Sports. It’s not as much fun.
Added to which the steering, although heavier, is as lacking in communication as a regular Swift, which dents your confidence on tricky roads. But the suspension makes the Sport the bestdamped Swift in existence, riding over ruts unfazed and keeping body roll to a minimum.
Further good news? I’ve handled heavier balloons. This Swift Sport is 80kg lighter than the Mk2, which means decent acceleration and agility that’s easily egged on into lift-off oversteer. The ventilated brakes are strong, too.
Looks the part too, with unique honeycomb alloys and, on the inside, gorgeously bolstered sports seats. Shame the generic hot hatch flashes of red do little to distract you from the justabout-acceptable interior quality. And that’s not what you want when your warm-ish hatch costs £17,999 – three grand more than a five-door Volkswagen Up GTI.
On paper the Swift Sport is more powerful, lighter and a more practical, but previously it was about bargain fun, and this is less the case now. The Up sounds fruitier, feels almost as fast and its tighter, more rewarding dynamics put a bigger smile on your face.
Go just a smidge further up the hot hatch pricing ladder and you’re into territory hotly contested by the new Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208 GTi and Renaultsport Clio.
So the Swift Sport sits in a bit of a miasmic middle ground in terms of pricing, where the performance and interior quality aren’t quite enough to fully convince you it’s good value for the money. That said, the Sport looks the part, the engine is more flexible in mundane driving situations and the damping and brakes are bang-on. But why bother having a good hot hatch when you can have a laugh-aminute great one from VW for £3000 less, or a properly sorted Peugeot for a little more?