Suzuki Swift Sport

Suzuki's Swift Sport may not be superfast, but it sure is fun.

What's New
Hooray, the Suzuki Swift GTi lives! If you're old enough to remember that car, the Swift Sport is its spiritual successor, and the sort of car to provide conceptual glue to the words 'pocket' and 'rocket'.

If you haven't been around that long, then think of the Swift Sport as Suzuki's gift-wrapped offering to keen drivers on a budget.

Though the cheekily-styled, refined but soft-riding Swift provides the basis for the car, it's been properly honed to make petrolheads sit up and take notice.

The 1.5-litre engine of the standard Swift has been binned, and in its place is a rev-hungry 1.6-litre unit, inhaling through variable valve timing gear and exhaling through fat twin exhausts, which helps it to generate 125bhp at a dizzying 6,800rpm.

Add new steering, stiffer springs and dampers, and fatter tyres over 17-inch alloys, and it's clear that the proper elements are in place to back up the Swift Sport's aggressive bodykitting.

How it Performs
Driving a Swift Sport, you're not likely to worry larger, more powerful machines that prowl the boy racer universe. Despite the relatively short gearing of the transmission, 100km/h comes up in 8.9 seconds, which is brisk but not palpitation-inducing.

Nevertheless, there's tons of fun to be had from the Suzuki's lively nature. The engine likes, and needs, plenty of revs to give its best, and frequent use of the gearlever is needed if you're to keep the Swift Sport on the boil. That's no hardship, for the Suzuki has such a sweet gearchange that swapping cogs feels as nice as stirring a vat of honey.

It's through corners that it feels best, however, the Swift changing direction with a liveliness that never crosses over into twitchiness. Given how the Swift is able to flow smoothly from corner to corner with superb poise shows that Suzuki's suspension tuners were in top form when they were fettling the car, too.

The revised steering system puts plenty of feel in the driver's hands as well, and on a series of twisties the high-revving engine, alert and feedback-full steering and the confidence-inspiring body control all come together to make the Swift Sport a driving tool to wield with pleasure.

As a bonus, the Suzuki is unexpectedly quiet when your mood leads to less vigorous driving. Indeed, with the engine idling at the lights, it takes a quick glance at the tachometer to verify that it hasn't stalled.

How it Stacks Up
Apart from the way it'll perk up your drive to work, the Swift is nicely equipped. Standard equipment includes six airbags, steering wheel-mounted controls for the sound system and a fuel consumption meter that lets you keep tabs on how often you can afford to redline it.

Its quietness and ability to cruise over bumps without much fuss mean the Swift Sport makes a great package for everyday driving too, which makes it a car of multiple talents. All in all, it's difficult to think of something that feels so thoroughly engineered for less than $60,000.

Technical Specifications

MODEL Suzuki Swift Sport ENGINE Engine: 1,586cc 16V in-line 4 Max Power: 125bhp at 6,800rpm Max Torque: 148Nm at 4,800rpm TRANSMISSION 5-speed manual TOP SPEED 200km/h 0-100km/h 8.9s