Today I'm going to review, arguably, one of the most fun cars in production at the moment . . . the Suzuki Swift.
I own one of these myself so I could be accused of being a little biased, but I love this car! It's small, has a good amount of grunt and handles fantastically well (kind of like driving a go-kart).
But of course like any car the Swift has its weaknesses as well, which I'll share with you in this review.
So let's get into it!
The exterior
I think one of the reasons why the Suzuki Swift has been the most popular selling small car in NZ for the last 7 years is largely due to its versatility for NZ driving. Not only are they perfect for around town driving they are also comfortable out on the open road. Because - lets face it - not many of us can afford to have a town car and an out of town car sitting in the garage.
The performance from the 1.4L engine is surprising as it has happy to sit along at 100kmhr on the open road and still have the legs to pull out and overtake if you need to. The economy from the engine is also great. With the Swift using a measly 5.5L per 100km in the manual and 6.2 in the automatic. The thing I like the best about this stated fuel usage is that it is actually achievable in real driving, unlike some other cars in which you will never achieve the fuel usage figures unless you are driving donwhill with a tail wind.
Here's why this is a great feature: having little guard overhang, coupled with the compact shape of the Swift, means you know exactly where the corners of the car are at all times. This makes it incredibly easy to park, steer around obstacles and it allows you to squeeze past other cars in tight traffic.
If you're like most of the population and spatial awareness isn't your strongest driving attribute this is a helpful useful design feature.
The Suzuki Swift is also BIG on safety with seven airbags and ESP (Electronic Stability Program), which detects when the car is sliding or losing control and then brakes automatically and independently to "steer'' the car back into the correct position so you stay in control the whole time.
One of the Swifts weaknesses is its boot space.
If the majority of your driving is with a family of five, with luggage and the family dog than the Swift probably isn't for you. You can fold down the back seats to give you more room, which makes the space quite versatile but it is still more suited to a couple with luggage or an around town family car.
The interior:
The first thing you'll notice once you get in the drivers seat is the head-room. It's a bit like the Dr Who's tardis once you get inside as there is a lot more room and especially head room than what you would expect. People often comment about how roomy it is and through the Swifts clever design it is very good at fitting the tallest driver down to the shortest!
The cockpit is packed with the usual features such as stereo, cupholders and adjustable seating. It also has a USB port so you can easily plug your music right into it. This Swift model has a seven speaker sound system installed.
In summary:
As I said earlier, I own a Swift and I love it. It's a pleasure to drive around town and I find it very comfortable and fun to drive on the open road along with being super economical (even when driven a bit harder). I also love the fact that you have the best safety technology looking out for you the whole time.
If you haven't experienced driving a Suzuki Swift then all I can say is that you're truly missing out. You should make the time to come down and see either myself or Vince and take one for a drive.
We are located at 874 Princes St (across from the Oval) at the southern end of the Main Street. If you mention this article you will go in the monthly draw for an Apple iPad.
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