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We seem to live in an age of doom and gloom. So what’s wrong with some whiz and fizz… and quite frankly a bit of fun? Like champagne corks popping on a dreary day, it’s great to have something to put some sparkle back into an otherwise dull moment. Like a little firecracker, enter stage right the new Suzuki Swift Sport. Let me say first off I absolutely loved this hot hatch; it weighs about the same as a bag of crisps and goes like the clappers. The old school model was in itself keenly priced and a fairly honed hot hatch when it was launched in 2006. Suzuki has used the same formula again but with some twists and turns to make the new Swift something quite special without losing the intrinsic values that made it so much fun in the first place. The new car is slightly larger and heavier than the old one, but manages to keep the Nautilus-style wraparound windscreen and Giugiaro-inspired window shape. The previous Swift Sport was great fun to drive, but you’ll find the new one easier to get on with. It’s like and old mate who’s grown up a bit but hasn’t lost his sense of humour. The cheeky, almost squat silhouette is there in spades which bodes well for both handling and looks. The laid-back life continues inside, because Suzuki has loaded the new Swift Sport with enough treats to keep most drivers including the junior hot hatch mob happy. You get cruise and climate controls, keyless start, privacy glass, Bluetooth and a USB socket for your MP3 player. As I roared away from John Wilkins Cars (the local Suzuki dealership in Cheltenham) I was smiling before I hit the first corner. The cabin itself looks much like a regular Swift which means it’s solid and chunky. There is however a few neat changes such as the red stitching on the steering wheel and gear knob. The figure-hugging bucket seats grip you tightly delivering that ‘rally driver’ moment. The Swift’s rev-ravenous 1.6-litre petrol engine pushes out only 134bhp, but as I said the Suzuki is light; weighing a third of a tonne less than a VW Golf GTI, so performance is very vigorous. If you keep the revs high and rip quickly through the close-ratio six-speed gearbox the Swift will hit 62mph in 8.7 seconds. It’s on the twisty Cotswold roads where the Swift really glows. I pushed the Swift into every corner with my usual ‘no lift’ policy and there was very little body lean. This is a cracking little car that’s heaps of fun to drive. Any understeer is easily countered by feathering off the power and you’ll be returned to the straight and narrow without the need for a prayer. The brakes are strong and responsive which means you can flit across the pedals shoving the Swift around like the roadrunner on steroids. Stability control is standard which helps you point in the right direction and it’s got seven airbags in case you get the wrong side of a hedge. The extra gear has made the engine much more benign on the motorway helping to cut fuel consumption to 44.1mpg and CO2 emissions to 147g/km. So if you want to put some fizz and zap into your life without the need for some over-priced bubbles from France, then the new Suzuki Swift Sport is guaranteed to brighten up an otherwise dull day. Prices start from £13,499. For more information please call 01242 224477 or visit the website at www.johnwilkinscars.co.uk. MARCH 2012 COTSWOLD STYLE 2 motoring hot fizz… Eric Barton rips the road in the new Suzuki Swift Sport. CS 000 Motoring Suzuki March 12:Layout 1 20/02/2012 15:21 Page 2
