DRIVEN: 2013 Suzuki Swift !

There are plenty of reasons why people love Suzuki Swift: Great handling, nippy characteristic and comfortable ride. That's why, the all-new, fourth generation Suzuki Swift adopted the 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it' concept by not altering much of the winning formula of its predecessor. The exterior doesn't differ much compared to the older Swift, which is a good thing because the design haven't dated yet. Suzuki then made the design cleaner and more contemporary for the all-new Swift.

The headlights are now larger and longer, sweeping further up into the bonnet, and this injected some excitement to the rather normal looking front end. The same case goes to the taillights, which gives the illusion that the Swift is a bigger car than it really is. How the rear number plate housing is located right at the bottom of the taillights and tailgate's line is clean and tidy.

The redesigned cabin looks much better than the old one. Silver finishing in the dark cabin cheer things up a little and brought along some upmarket feel into it. Right now the Swift is a CBU unit assemblied in Thailand, everything in the cabin felt they are built to last and no weird or creaky noises emitted during the test drive. However, the plastic used for the dashboard and door panels are hard to the touch, albeit their texture doesn't look cheap. Other than that, the leather-wrapped steering wheel is nice to grip and there is USB connection, automatic climate control and steering wheel audio controls as standard.

Dimension wise, height remains unchanged at 1510mm, 5mm wider at 1695mm, the wheelbase of the all-new Swift has grown by 50mm to 2430mm, while the overall length is 3850mm, almost 100mm longer than the old Swift. This translate to more cabin space for the passengers, especially the rear ones. Front occupants has ample space to move around but albeit the increase in overall length and wheelbase, the rear seat was a little cramp for me, especially the rear headroom. No thanks to the sloping roof, my head was touching the roof even before I lean my back fully against the seat. However, my friends who were sitting in the back seats during the test drive found that the space is adequate for them.

 Caroline and Isaac has no problem fitting in the back seats!

Boot space is measuring at mere 210 litres, but people who buys a Swift won't care much about this problem. The loading lip height is a little high due to the alignment of the taillights and number plate housing which is mentioned earlier. Better design but sacrificed a bit of practicality.

Suzuki is generous enough to give keyless entry system and push start button as standard features. Push the start button once and you'll have a hard time noticing the engine is idling or not because the vibration level is very low. This time around the all-new Swift is using a 1.4 litre engine instead of a 1.5 litre engine found in its predecessor. The 1.4 litre engine produces 95PS and 6000rpm and 130Nm of torque at 4000rpm, mated with a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Although the engine has been downsized, the 1.4 litre powerplant offers almost similar performance figure while providing better fuel economy. Even with 5 adults onboard, the powerplant was still able to propel the Swift swiftly. Its noise was apparent but not intrusive while accelerating hard, but the noise is never rough, giving a refined impression to the one who drive it. Even with only 4 gear speeds, the gears are spreaded evenly and provided seamless gear change.

While on the go, noises were isolated to its minimum even at the maximum of legal national speed. The best thing of the Swift is its go-kart handling characteristic. On the 'test route', there was a dip in the middle of a corner but the Swift handled it composedly while cornering at 100km/h. The wheels were planted on the tarmac with no apparent body roll and understeer too. Yours truly is truly impressed with what this small car can do!

The ride was slightly stiffer than its predecessor from what I can remember. But still, the suspension was able to absorb road undulations well enough to not have a jittery ride. The steering also felt a little numb, a normal scene in modern cars. Anyway, the 4-wheel solid disc brake provided surefooted braking ability, and ABS, EBD and BA will provide additional braking force and ability when things get tense.

CBU Suzuki Swift is priced at RM78,888 OTR with insurance. I hope there will be a CKD model or an entry level variant in the future to bring the price lower, so that Swift will be even more appealing to the younger buyers or first time car owner.

+ Handling, performance, equipment.
- Price, cabin space.

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