My first time

-exhales slowly in and out twice, wrings hands nervously

I'm shooting myself in the foot, jumping into the deep end like this. This probably won't be the best review you've ever read, but it certainly will be something special for me. I'm aspiring to be an automotive journalist, so I'm doing my best to kickstart my fledgling career by writing something like this.

Audrey, this one's for you.


Compared to most hot hatches on the market, the Suzuki Swift Sport seems more like a tame rabbit then a charging bull, like for example the new Renaultsport Megane 230 R26 Fisi Team F1 OMG Win, or whatever it's called these days. And to the naked eye, it does seem almost staid by comparison. The R26 has a 1.9l turbocharged inline-4 pushing out 227 horses and 229lb ft of torque, which makes for stonkingly fast performance. But too much power is a complete farce if you can't control it.
The Sport is also an I-4 powered, naturally aspirated little rocket, but makes do with a barebones 123bhp and 109 lb ft of torque, which allows it to sprint from 0-100kmh in just 8.5s. The engine has to be revved to its 9000rpm redline to wring all that power out, but somehow that's all part of the fun. Compared to the original Swift, it's a proper little terror. To cope with the extra power, Suzuki engineers have stiffened the suspension, increased the compression ratio and added sporty touches like twin exhausts and an aggressive front air dam. Blacked-out A-pillars create the impression of a 'floating roof', which mimics the Mini Cooper's. They've added side skirts to the rocker panels, which makes the car appear to sit lower to the ground. Topping off the go-kart dartlike look is a subtle rear spoiler and alloy racing pedals, though what use they have is beyond me.


The interior strikes enough sporty notes. The seats are a bright shade of red (that's aggressive, see?) and very cosseting. The cabin has good all round visibility and the driving position is excellent, if a little van-like. The steering wheel is leather wrapped and has red stitching, which does feel nice when you're gripping it in terror going round corners. Big, clear instrumentation fills up the dash and good quality plastic clothes it. It certainly doesn't feel like 58 grand in there.
If you're saying "well, it's a bit of a slowpoke", you'd be dead wrong. The Suzuki doesn't need 5000000bhp to be fun. It doesn't need gigantic turbochargers and equally monstrous intercoolers. It doesn't need tires so low profiled you might as well be running on rims. It doesn't need any of those. If you were, say, in a Porsche 911 then yes, all those things make sense. But in the Swift, they don't. All it needs is an attitude to drive it.
The real enjoyment starts when you get to a corner. The Suzuki's chassis and suspension have been set up so that you can readily fling it around corners and it won't punish you with horrendous understeer so beloved of front wheel drive cars. This one handles properly. I daresay that Suzuki has gotten it right with the near-perfect combination of handling and power, which eludes many a car manufacturer. Like Renault. The Megane might be insanely quick, accelerating hard and leaving your guts at the start line, but it doesn't feel as accomplished as the Swift. In the Renault you get banged around thanks to its rock-hard suspension, but in the Swift you don't get such nonsense. And you can steer it with the throttle too.
This then, is a really good car. It does everything a hot hatch should do. Ample trunk space, room for 4, go-faster styling, go-kart handling and a sticker price that doesn't break the bank more than make up for its power deficit and zero motorsport genes. The chassis is a bit soft but never lets you believe for a moment that it's not up to a spot of racing. The steering has also several numb spots but I'm not complaining. I've seen more expensive cars with worse steering feel.
Love the car? I do.