Suzi's a red hot little mover
IT’S a disgrace. That’s what it is.
What is George? What’s worrying you so much you actually sound angry?
Well it’s obvious isn’t it. Suzuki have had the nerve to continue calling their racy new car the Suzuki Swift Sport, just like the two that went before it. How dare they?
Putting the name Sport on a car is as dangerous as actually asking people to drive quickly.
It’s encouraging them. We can’t have that. Not in a sensible safety first society.
OK that’s enough of that, it’s proper George here now and I really think that the world has gone nuts.
Last week’s launch of the latest Suzuki Swift was weird.
There we were in Spain, being told that the third version of the Swift was lighter, quicker and better handling than ever, before we were sent out on the fabulous road that leads from Marbella to Ronda only to find that it’s been wrecked by a ridiculous 80kph (50mph) speed limit enforced by average speed cameras, normal speed cameras re-routed “safe” bends and a visible police presence.
Were we good boys? No. We went elsewhere and had fun, even if having fun in a car is now considered an evil sin.
So much so, in fact that the second longest list of standard kit in the Swift is “Safety Equipment”, with 21 features compared to the 34 under “Comfort and Convenience.”
It includes vitally important gadgets (not) like “Lane Departure Warning” and “Dual Brake Support” so if you’re driving along gazing out of the side windows rather than watching where you’re going it will warn you by shaking the steering wheel, sounding an alarm and jamming on the brakes if you get within half a mile of the car in front.
I did what I always do and switched off the lot. Then I did what the Swift Sport advertising claims: “It wants to be driven,” so I hammered it within an inch of its life.
Boy does this car go. A power lift from 136 to 140hp may not sound like much but a turbo lifts torque from 160 to 230Nm
(170lb). That’s a 44% rise and it makes a dramatic difference to controling the car’s handling. Top speed is up too, from
124mph to 130mph, which is why Suzuki claim the Swift has moved from being a warm hatch to a hot hatch.
The Sport’s weight has also fallen by 85kg to 975kg and the extra power, lightness, a stiffer bodyshell and platform make it great fun (oops) around the most vicious of bends even at high speed. It all encourages you to just go quicker and quicker. That won’t do, will it.
The interior is a sporty mix of racy red-lined bucket seats, red stripes across the doors, dashboard, centre console, instruments and even the steering wheel. It’s blatantly dangerous encouragement to drive at more than 20mph.
The Swift’s £17,999 price when it goes on the market on June 1 is designed to pinch sales from rivals Peugeot 208 GTi (£21,820), Renault Clio RS (£20,295) and Vauxhall Corsa VXR (£20,195).
Knocking a chunk of cash off the price is bound to work for Suzuki, who are enjoying surging sales, having seen European figures rise from 194,700 in 2014 to 280,000 last year.
Will the new Sport continue the success? It’s certain to.
That should upset a hell of a lot of moaning miseries.