By Paul Gover.
A surprise, this one.
After playing recently with the pocket rocket Ford Fiesta ST, I expected the Suzuki Swift Turbo to be a bit … well … underwhelming.
But it’s not.
The little Japanese turbo-car is quick and enjoyable and never causes a moment of drama.
It helps that it’s just been updated with a bunch of extra safety stuff, including blind-spot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert to avoid parking mishaps, and the starting price still comes in below $30,000.
Looking at the value, the deal is impressive.
There is a 1.4-litre turbo four-cylinder, 17-inch alloys, sports suspension and some extra sporty body bits.
The basics of the latest Swift are the same as always – compact size, a taut body, classy quality and rock-solid reliability.
Suzuki is still one of the ‘other’ brands in Australia, despite once threatening to break out of its box with the brilliant Kizashi and a run of other impressive newcomers, but plenty of people know its strengths.
A Swift is now an excellent first-car choice or a smart pick as a suburban runabout.
But that’s not the Turbo, which has been progressively boosted until it now makes 103 kiloWatts of power with a solid shove from 230 Newton-metres of torque.
It’s easy to do a compare-and-contrast run with the Fiesta ST, which has 147 kiloWatts of power and starts at $32,290.
The feisty Ford is always busy, moving around as you accelerate and keeping you busy with the steering and manual gearbox. It’s quick, really quick if I think about it, but never relaxing.
The Suzuki can also be brisk, although it misses the top-end turbo surge of the Fiesta, but it can also be enjoyable when you don’t want to go quickly.
My test car is the six-speed automatic, which comes with flappy paddles for manual work and a welcome new digital speedo display.
It looks like a fun car and that’s what it is, from the first sprint away from the driveway.
It has a solid surge of turbo urge but it’s night fighting or fidgeting through the steering, it stops well without dramas, and the sports suspension is firm but not over-firm.
The rest of the Swift package is just as I remember, being tightly wrapped around the wheels with (just) enough room in the back seat and boot for youngsters or a shopping trip.
Parking is super-easy, fuel economy is good, and it’s quiet at touring speeds.
When I push harder on the go pedal it is crisply responsive, with the turbo cutting in from low revs. That means it’s easy to keep it simmering without fighting up and down the gearbox.
The handling balance is neutral until the tyres complain, which means it’s easy and fun to hustle along.
And, even when you’re having fun, it’s not a car like a Lamborghini that is going to tell the whole world that you’re misbehaving.
It’s a genuine fun runner for a world where you have to be responsible but still deserve to get enjoyment from your driving.
And, for most people and most of the time, the Swift Turbo even makes more sense than the pocket rocket Fiesta ST.
THE BASICS:
Suzuki Swift Turbo
Price: from $27,490
Power: 103kW/230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Position: baby hot hatch
Plus: fun and quick
Minus: a little bland
Score: 7/10
THE TICK: Yes
