Review of Maruti Swift

Maruti Swift is the most smart and handsome looking hatchback at present in India, offers very good equipment leveles and safety like airbags and ABS in top models, overall its very good option for zen and wagon R owners to upgrade to swift but it lacks boot space and also interiors are not comfortable. Suzuki’s popular small car, the Suzuki Swift has been awarded “Most Fun to Drive” at the annual Japanese Car Of The Year awards for 2005-2006.

The awards, run and sponsored by the Car of the Year Executive Committee, recognised the stylish European design, dynamic performance and high levels of standard equipment and features as contributing factors to the overall driveability of the Suzuki Swift.

First Impression

Maruti Suzuki Swift comes with a number of safety features such as collapsible steering column, front seatbelt pre-tensioners with load limiters, and energy absorbing trim all around. Active safety technologies include dual front airbags, and antilock braking system together with electronic brake-force-distribution. As first impressions go, I came away with a mixed feeling about the Swift. It looks fabulous and drives really well. The power steering gave pin-point control (and this is inspite of the fact that I’m a very ocassional driver). Power delivery seemed to be bit lacking, but I can’t be sure, if this is because of the car or because I was tentative and needed to be careful in the Delhi traffic.

What really turned me off is the shockingly poor quality of the interiors. Cheap plastic and upholstery just gave a tacky feeling. The inside door handle (molded into the interior of the door) when used to pull the rear door shut gives a feeling that the whole assembly would come off. Similar tacky materials, if you saw the lining near the hatch door. The facia for the music system is a far cry from the Swift one sees in Europe. Leave alone integrated CD player and steering controls, one sees a gaping hole where the Casette Player needs to go in.

Surprisingly enough, the outside finish was excellent. It’s almost as if different companies were manufacturing the two parts of the car. Last but very important from my perspective, the drivers seat and footwell is not big enough to accomodate me. In the VXi model (which I sat in while being stationary), the thighs keep threatenign to touch the steering wheel. I have this problem with the Wagon R as well, but not with the Santro. Though while driving the Swift ZXi model, I didn’t notice this. I will probably have to start looking outside the Maruti stable for a suitable car. All things said and done, maybe pricing the car about 10K more for better interiors would still make the car a good deal (Of course I’m betting on the car being available in CSD). Also, I’m just itching to now go and try out the Getz.

Swift Comes in Three Models

LXi - 4.2 L
VXi - 4.4 L
ZXi - 5.4 L

Engineering

The dashboard houses the instrument cluster, the glove box and central console, with slots for the music system, aircon controls, and so on. The centrally-located instrumentation display includes a tachometer, speedometer and digital odometer, as well as a clearly visible digital clock. The climate control system has an easily-operable large circular dial. The material and textures used for the dashboard and car interior are of good quality and make the ride feel opulent. The door trims and other consoles, too, are nicely designed. The driving posture is excellent as the driver’s seat has a height adjuster and a slide range that ensures driving comfort. Leg room is sufficient at the back too. Relax in the back seat: the bench-like seat allows three passengers to sit together comfortably. Or else, it can be folded down to create additional boot space (total luggage storage capacity: 368 hires). Shifting gears is quite quick in the Swift, due to Maruti’s newly-designed short stroke shift linkage.

Fuel efficiency

All Maruti vehicles are economicallypriced vehicles that are certainly fuel efficient, and the Swift is no exception. After clocking almost 500km through both highway and inner city traffic, we figured 11.3kpl in start-stop city traffic, and 13.4kpl on the expressway. In mixed conditions, we logged 12.4. Not bad for a car this swift!.

On the road

There’s a choice of three engines: a 65bhp 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol, a 75bhp 1.5-litre petrol with variable valve timing, and a 1.3-litre turbodiesel with common-rail injection. There are also three gearboxes on offer, with a five-speed manual, robotised five-speed manual and four-speed automatic gearboxes available on selected engines. Our Japanese-spec test car was a 1.3 petrol model with the four-speed auto transmission, and it had no problem in keeping pace with busy town traffic.

The engine revs smoothly through its range and remains refined even when worked hard; pulling through the ‘box’s four gears is thankfully not a chore. The Swift strikes a pleasing balance between decent ride comfort and control, and although the power steering could use a little more feel and precision, the wide track and long wheelbase give it a sure-footed feel. The engine and suspension will be tuned differently for European-spec cars, but it feels strong and secure on the road, and while it’s not especially sporting, it does what you expect of it. The brakes are particularly noteworthy, combining good stopping power with a well-weighted action. The Swift now drives in a manner comparable with its main rivals.

In the cabin

The cabin is a roomy, distinctive place to travel in with an impressive level of quality to its construction. The layout of controls is simple and clear, although some cheap plastics hinder the impressive overall feel. The seats are comfortable and of a good size with plenty of under-thigh support, and room is generous in the back, even if headroom is a little compromised for taller passengers. Only boot space lets the Swift down: at just 213 litres with the seats up, it’s significantly smaller than a Honda Jazz’s 353 litres.

It’s been noticeable that changes have been afoot at Suzuki recently. With the Concept S and concept S2 - shown at the 2002 Paris Motor Show and the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show respectively - and a large, successful presence in the Junior World Rally Championship with its canary-coloured Ignis rally cars, Suzuki looks like a brand trying to chisel a niche for itself rather than drown in a sea of anonymity. The new Swift proves that it’s also capable of seismic shifts in the way it produces cars.

The Swift is one of the most intriguing small new cars for some time - more so because it comes from the left-field, from a manufacturer that’s not been associated with producing competitive mainstream cars. But the Swift signals Suzuki’s intent to compete on a global level and to do so they need the right standard of product. We’ll have to wait until we can conduct a proper test on European roads to give a firmer verdict, but on this initial evidence it would appear that Suzuki has succeeded in that goal. You might not be tempted out of your Polo just yet, but there’s plenty of reasons why other supermini makers should be dreading the Swift’s arrival.

Looks

The desirability factor starts from the way an automobile looks and that is one area in which the new Suzuki excels. Suzuki could have easily built yet another brilliant small car and clothed it with regulation, boxy bodywork like, say, the Wagon R. Instead they got inspiration from the right places such as Italy, France and England, and came up with a Japanese equivalent of a Mini, with the design eccentricity of Renault and the glamour of small Fiats. The new age design had to meet new safety regulations, but Suzuki, for a change, didn’t let that come in the way of creativity. The end result is a car that pays homage to some of the very best small cars ever produced.

The front end features ‘lifted-up’, vertically stacked headlamps and a raised bonnet line that meets new pedestrian safety norms in Europe. Well-defined, muscular wheel arches, a waistline that runs the length of the car, chunky C-pillars that suggest strength and the beautiful floating-roof (an effect created by black-taping the pillars) all make the car as state-of-the-art as it gets. Add to that a wide footprint, fat rubber, a neat stance and you get the picture. This is one of those small cars that even those who can afford much bigger cars will appreciate. Seriously, it is difficult to find a flaw in the design of the Swift - I personally would have liked a base version in white with black bumpers, but then it could well be just me. And yes, the five-spoke alloys look much better than the seven-spoked ones. Round one to Suzuki.

Interior

The Swift meant for India is built to a price and it reflects in the interior. Despite following the overall international theme (Suzuki calls the Swift their first World Car), you can see where the bean counters won over designers. Still, the instrument console is clean and well textured, the three-spoke steering really sporty and there is adequate room for five passengers and their elbows. The top-end ZXi version should have been given adjustable steering, electric rear-view mirrors and a quality jukebox along with the automatic climatiser which it gets. Rear seats offer decent legroom but could have been better padded. And pray Suzuki, why cringe on headrests for base models? Isn’t that a basic safety feature? Ditto with the external rear view mirrors - the base model gets just one! Come on!

Power

At the very outset of the Swift project, it was clear that the Indian and Chinese versions would use the existing 1.3 litre engine from the Esteem - albeit revised, reworked and re-mapped. The new generation VVT (variable valve timing) engines on offer in the European Swift would have pushed up the list price by almost a lakh of rupees - hence. So was that a smart move? To begin with, there is nothing seriously wrong with the Esteem motor - it has got adequate performance and decent drinking habits - and it does a good job of propelling the slightly heavier Swift. The familiar 1298cc motor breathes through 16 vales and develops a not-so-anaemic 87 bhp at 6000 rpm and 11.7 kgm of torque at 4500 rpm.

What it lacks is the kind of refinement a decade of engineering advancements have brought in. So it feels a bit stressed as it accelerates from standstill and a bit coarse as the revs build up. The gearbox though, is new, and the new imported ‘gears’ are an important cog (couldn’t help that) in this powertrain equation. Going by the speedo, the first gear is good for 58 kph, second 98 kph, and third, a bloody brilliant 150 kph. Even before driving the car, we knew that the Swift has outstanding dynamics going for it, though we had our reservations when it comes to power-train refinement and performance - I can say that performance was not disappointing, though I expected more on the refinement front.

Ride and handling

This is one area where the Swift scores over its competition. The Indian version rides higher and has an altogether new chassis balance and setup - needless to say, tyres too. It must have been real hard work to get the rubber compound/spring and damper rating correct for our roads, and I have to say the result is outstanding. The Swift can be used to attack corners at speeds that would impress much bigger cars. Remember, the original Mini was a brilliant handler and it won many a laurel. Same with the Swift - this is one car that begs to be driven hard and one Mr Alec Issigonis must be a content man up there. It is also good to see sub-frame mounted suspension underpinnings on mass production small cars. If I must crib, there could have been better feedback from the steering (electrically assisted - pinion driven) which feels not so well-weighted and hence not connected. Full marks to JK Tyre for producing outstanding tubeless rubber for this new generation car though.

Technical Specifications