Improved ride and refinement are two of the significant advances in the new generation Suzuki Swift.
Already the new model is the recipient of several overseas awards and independent road testers are applauding the car’s attributes.
Winner of the 2011 RJC Car of the Year award in Japan, the Swift’s higher levels of refinement are aided by a quieter engine and more effective cabin insulation.
“The Swift is now as refined as you would expect a small petrol hatchback to be,” said the authoritative British journal Autocar. The magazine said few could want more from a car costing the equivalent of $25,000.
The good features had been retained in what was an extremely practical and effective way to evolve an already successful model.
Autocar was impressed by the quality of the cabin and said new Swift was good value, fun to drive and an unpretentious usable hatch.
“It’s now more refined and rides better, yet it remains an entertaining car that rewards an enthusiastic driving style,” said the publication.
Iconic Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson said he liked the handling, the ride, the driving position and, most of all, the look and feel of the interior. From behind the wheel Clarkson said you’d guess this was a more expensive car.
“As a tool it’s fairly close to faultless, but what sets it apart from other Japanese hatchbacks is that, like the old Swift, it has a personality,” said Clarkson, who is rated Britain’s favourite motoring journalist.
“It has a cheekiness and a puppy-dog attitude to its business. It is a car that you look forward to driving,” he said.
Andrew English, motoring correspondent for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Britain, wrote the new Swift may have been made slightly larger, but had lost absolutely none of its charm.
“One of the nicest things about the outgoing Suzuki Swift was how classy it looked,” he said. “The wraparound windscreen, sharply defined haunches and big, elongated headlamps seem in the vanguard of many subsequent supermini designs.”
Despite the increase in length, wheelbase and slight increase in height, he said one of the nicest things about the new model was that the looks had been retained
“Some owners might not appreciate the excellent handling, but this is an outstanding car to drive hard,” said English.
His verdict was that the Swift was a “terrific little runabout with plenty of driver appeal”. He also concluded the car’s lightweight construction aided economy and performance without a loss of refinement.
UK motoring writer Neil Winton said, “Thank goodness the complete redesign retains the original’s beauty. It’s great that Suzuki didn’t change the overall styling much. That would have been a major mistake.”
Winton described the new Swift as an outstanding little car with premium pretensions.
Car magazine in the UK reckons the model is notably brawnier in its proportions. This equated to more room inside and a whole lot more on-road fun for what was already an entertaining little bundle, said Stephen Worthy.
Writing in the monthly journal which is regarded as one of the best motoring publications in the world, Worthy said the car had a stiffer but more compliant ride and was “a gutsy little street fighter with plenty of panache”,
Suzuki sold 55,000 of the previous model Swift in the United Kingdom, a testament to the car’s long-term appeal, and expects to retail 10,000 of the new model each year into that highly competitive market.
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