2021 Suzuki Swift Sport Series II review

CarExpert

The Suzuki Swift has been updated! While most of the 2020 Suzuki Swift range gets styling changes, the 2020 Suzuki Swift Sport Series II just gets a new colour and a couple of minor interior changes. Is it enough to take it to the Ford Fiesta ST and the Volkswagen Polo GTI? Paul Maric finds out! It's also known as a Maruti Suzuki Swift Sport in India!  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2020-suzuki-swift-sport-series-ii-review?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=review&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=single-car-review  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:53 Interior: 02:43 Infotainment: 03:55 Features: 06:02  Practicality: 07:05 On the Road: 09:41 Verdict: 13:17  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #suzuki #review #swiftsport #swift @SuzukiGlobal_official @suzukiaustralia

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. How cool is the name BoosterJet?

00:03 That's the name of the engine that Suzuki fits under the bonnet of the Swift Sport,

00:07 and the Swift Sport has this massive heritage. It goes back ages, it used to be a fun car that was cheap,

00:14 economical, and then just enjoyable to drive on a mountain road.

00:18 Now with the name like BoosterJet, it sounds like a fighter jet, something nice and fast.

00:22 This is priced at just under $29,000.

00:25 The Swift Sport competes with cars like the Volkswagen Polo GTI,

00:29 the Ford Fiesta ST, and the Renault Clio RS.

00:33 Today we're going to do a detailed review of the Swift Sport,

00:36 and if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review, just use the time codes up on the screen there,

00:41 or if you're on YouTube, you can use the chapters below.

00:44 And if you haven't done so already, I'd love it if you could subscribe to our channel,

00:47 and also press the bell icon so you can find out every single time we drive a BoosterJet.

00:53 So the Suzuki Swift has been updated. All the base models get some new trimmings down the front here,

00:58 but the Swift Sport stays pretty much the same.

01:00 You won't really tell much of a difference on the outside.

01:03 It comes with seven colors and all, but white is an extra $595,

01:07 or you can get this two-tone version here, which is just under $1,100.

01:11 Now let's have a look at this design. There's like this faux carbon fiber plastic front end,

01:16 nice little grill there with that proudly worn Suzuki logo,

01:19 and then you've got this lower carbon fiber-esque trim down the bottom.

01:23 It's quite a cool-looking car. The standard Swift looks good,

01:26 and I think with the Sport, they just give it that edgy look.

01:29 This car weighs under 1,000 kilograms.

01:32 So you get the idea that this is fun to throw around and will be powerful

01:36 because it just doesn't really weigh much, so you don't need to have a lumpy big engine under the bonnet.

01:41 Now in terms of headlights, you get full bi-LED headlights with LED daytime running lights.

01:46 Four lamps down there. Jump around here to the wheels.

01:50 17-inch alloy wheels, and I love this design.

01:53 You've got that chrome finish there on the black. 195 wide, so they're not massive tires,

01:58 but it's not a massive amount of power, so you don't need too much holding this to the ground.

02:01 It's quite a nice look. Looks sporty, but also stylish at the same time.

02:06 These black mirror caps match that two-tone roof that continues on the top here.

02:10 You get privacy glass, and check this out, an inbuilt door handle.

02:14 So instead of having it down here, they've kind of chucked it up the top there.

02:18 I like the look of that. Down the bottom, a little more of that carbon fiber-y fake stuff,

02:22 and then come around to the back, the spoiler tucked into the roof there.

02:25 LED taillights, and then these two exhausts that sit within this more carbon-fiber-esque type stuff.

02:31 It is really quite a cool and aggressive-looking car,

02:34 and then of course, you know it's the Sport because you've got the red Sport badge under the Swift.

02:38 Let me know in the comments below, do you think it's a good-looking car?

02:41 I'm a big fan of the way this is designed.

02:43 So we're inside the Suzuki Swift Sport.

02:46 I like the way that it looks. On face value, you can see all these red highlights down here as well.

02:51 Got that nice steering wheel with the red stitching in it too.

02:54 But then when you start looking at it a little bit closer, you start noticing that everything is super cheap in here.

03:00 It just feels like a standard Swift that they've just thrown a little bit of red stuff at.

03:04 So, I don't know, it's a pretty expensive way to get yourself into a Sport if it all is going to look like this.

03:09 How hard is it all? Well, we've got our hardness tester.

03:12 Measures from 0 to 100, where 0 is soft and 100 is hard, and I want to give you an idea of what that feels like.

03:19 There we go, that has virtually maxed out our gyrometer.

03:23 That is pretty bad. What about this center section?

03:25 Well, there's no console there, so I reckon we try the doors.

03:29 Okay, that's nice and soft. And then what about the top here?

03:34 That is absolutely rock hard.

03:37 So yeah, I don't know, not a huge fan of that. A lot of scratchy surfaces.

03:40 What about the build quality? Well, not amazing.

03:42 If you look at this center section, that's all sort of moving around a lot.

03:45 On top of that, this thing has also completely come loose on the driver's side.

03:49 So this section here, it's just snapped off and is just whistling in the wind there.

03:53 So yeah, not very impressive.

03:55 Let's have a look at the infotainment system you get in the Suzuki Swift Sport.

03:59 I'm actually a fan of this. It is very simple, very basic, but it does everything that it says on the box.

04:04 It's a 7-inch screen that slots into this area here.

04:08 The home screen is divided into four sections.

04:11 You have listen up the top, which is for radio. You have AM and FM bands.

04:15 There's no DAB+ digital radio in there, unfortunately.

04:18 You can then flick over to media where you'll find USB connectivity plus Bluetooth.

04:22 And the ability to stream from an SD card and an auxiliary port.

04:26 We jump back over to the home screen. You have inbuilt satellite navigation.

04:29 This works fairly well. It's not the best system in the world, but it's, you know, it does the job.

04:33 So let's have a test here. Put in our favorite destination.

04:38 Points of interest search. We'll put in Melbourne Airport.

04:40 Okay, so already this is a little bit annoying because I have to put in an area for the point of interest search country, Australia.

04:50 And then you put in the city, which is, actually I don't even know where Melbourne Airport is.

04:56 So this immediately is kind of convoluted because if you don't know the place that you're trying to search,

05:01 you won't be able to find the point of interest, which is a little bit frustrating.

05:05 So that's not great. What about an address?

05:07 Okay, so that's all pretty straightforward. You just put in the country, city, postcode, blah, blah, blah, and then it goes.

05:11 So that is your inbuilt satellite navigation.

05:13 But you also have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is built into the screen and wired.

05:20 So you have to use a cable. You don't have a wireless setup.

05:23 This works fairly well. It takes up the entire screen.

05:25 You can flick through those menus and you can also send voice commands to your phone so that the voice recognition system is better.

05:31 The car's inbuilt voice recognition system works okay, but it's not amazing.

05:35 So you're not able to give it full navigation commands.

05:38 You can give it basic instructions like calling contacts though.

05:41 So let me disconnect CarPlay.

05:43 This is what the phone menu looks like.

05:44 You've got your previous call history, contacts, and a dial pad as well.

05:48 And then finally, you have shortcuts. So in the center, you have your favorite items.

05:51 So you can click on any of those and then each of your pillars has a shortcut.

05:56 So if you want to go straight to destination entry, you can go there.

05:59 Or if you want to go to your sources, you can go to the shortcut in the listen menu.

06:02 Okay, enough about the infotainment system.

06:04 Let's look at the rest of the features you get in the car.

06:06 So you have autonomous emergency braking that works at low and high speed and detects pedestrians.

06:12 It's now matched with blind spot monitoring.

06:14 You get adaptive cruise control, but you miss out on a couple of little creature comforts.

06:18 You don't have an auto-dimming mirror, for example, but you do get single zone automatic climate control.

06:23 And if you dive down here, you have a USB port, auxiliary port, a 12-volt outlet.

06:28 There's also a digital speedometer that now sits inside this LCD display.

06:32 That includes other functions such as the trip computer.

06:35 You also get a clock, this cool little G meter, a torque and power gauge, and also a boost gauge.

06:41 You also get rear parking sensors and a reverse view camera.

06:45 Reverse view camera isn't amazing.

06:46 The quality is pretty poor, especially at nighttime.

06:49 It's a bit hard to see what's going on around there, but it is backed up by those sensors.

06:53 Now, what does the key look like? Have a look at this. How cute is it?

06:55 So it's a tiny little key. Lock, unlock, and then on the back of it, you got the Suzuki symbol.

07:00 And it's a proximity sensing key, so you just grab the door handle to unlock the car, and then you have push-button start.

07:05 So let's look at practicality, and we'll start with storage.

07:08 Where are you going to put your phone? Fits in the back there.

07:11 There as well, and also slots down the front. No wireless phone charging.

07:14 What about your water bottle? Fits into one bottle holder there, and then into both bottle holders here.

07:21 And then inside the door, you can also stick a bottle in there with a little bit of room behind it.

07:25 Now, there isn't a center console here, so there's no way to really store things out of sight from everyone outside,

07:31 but you do get a glove box.

07:33 Reasonably sized. Fits the manual in there, plus a couple of other bits and pieces.

07:37 And that's about it for storage. Now, what about comfort?

07:39 These seats are great. They actually look really cool. You've got the sport insignia on them.

07:43 You get those red stitching highlights.

07:45 They are entirely cloth, but they do hug you in nicely, and the seating position is really great, too.

07:50 The steering wheel fits beautifully in the hand, and then you've got some paddle shifters there, a flat bottom,

07:55 and then all of your controls are very easy to reach.

07:58 Okay, back seat. What's it like back here?

08:01 Not a great deal of legroom, but that's to be expected given how big the car is.

08:05 So I have my seat in my normal driving position.

08:08 You can see my knees are sort of nestled into the back there, but it's not too bad.

08:12 It's not like they're getting pushed in on. In terms of toe room, reasonable.

08:16 Headroom is reasonable as well, and I feel okay back here.

08:21 I'm not too claustrophobic, and I can see out the windows.

08:24 Now, there isn't a center armrest here. So where do you put your bottle?

08:27 You can store it there, or you have one bottle holder in the door.

08:32 You have ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats, and then map pockets just for the passenger side.

08:38 It's pretty basic back here, and it continues the theme with all the scratchy stuff.

08:42 There is not one soft surface on here. Even the door armrest is really, really hard as well.

08:48 So it doesn't feel all that premium back here.

08:50 So it isn't the world's biggest car, but how much boot space do you have?

08:55 Well, not a great deal, unfortunately. You have far less than your competitors.

08:59 So that is a little bit disappointing. So 265 litres of cargo space in this area.

09:04 You can see it's quite a high lip as well, so you're going to have to load things over that.

09:08 It's under the floor. No spare tyre. You just get a tyre repair kit, which is interesting.

09:14 Let's see if we can drop these seats, because that expands the space.

09:18 So we get this little cargo blind out of the way. How cute is it?

09:22 This then allows us to drop the seats, and then we get 918 litres of cargo space.

09:29 We'll see what it looks like with our bags in there as well, our suitcase.

09:35 There we go. That fits in very nice and snugly.

09:41 So we've hit the road in the Swift Sport. What exactly is a booster jet engine?

09:45 It is Suzuki's terminology for a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine

09:51 that makes 103 kilowatts of power and 230 newton metres of torque.

09:56 When you look at that from an equation of power to weight, that's actually pretty impressive.

10:00 It's over 100 kilowatts per tonne, so that makes this a fairly sporty little car.

10:04 And that's all mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that sends torque to the front wheels.

10:10 Now in terms of fuel economy, given the car is so light, it means 6.1 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle.

10:16 But if we look at our trip computer, we're currently averaging just over 7 litres per 100 kilometres.

10:23 So close enough to that claim, and I may not keep saying this, but given the car is so light,

10:28 you're never going to see massive fuel consumption here, even when you get up it.

10:32 The only downside to this whole package is that when it comes to fuelling,

10:35 you're going to need to feed it with 95-ron premium unleaded petrol,

10:39 so it's going to cost you a little bit more over the long run.

10:41 There aren't any drive modes per se, but the gearbox is adaptive,

10:45 so it's learning your style, it'll hold gears if it needs to.

10:47 But you've got paddle shifters and you can lock it into a manual mode.

10:50 So we've flicked it down there, we've got a couple of corners coming up.

10:54 Roll into this.

10:55 Gee, it feels really good as you lean into it.

10:57 It's got a little bit of roll to it, but it's not offensive.

11:00 Gearbox doesn't really want to shift down there all that much.

11:03 Roll onto the throttle here, give that a big old punch.

11:06 We feel that inside wheel slipping a little bit there.

11:09 There's no limited slip differential.

11:12 Still not letting me shift down, that's annoying.

11:15 See if it holds gears, we'll stay in that.

11:18 No, it doesn't hold gears either, even in manual mode.

11:20 I don't know, a little unimpressed with that.

11:22 It's kind of, okay, it's an automatic gearbox, but you should be letting me hold gears,

11:25 and it's not overly quick either.

11:28 As I flick down a gear, it's taking a little while there.

11:31 Give it a punch.

11:32 The mid-range acceleration is pretty impressive though.

11:34 That 230 newton meters of torque feels like a lot when the car weighs this much.

11:40 It's not sort of shoving you in the back, but it's more than enough to keep it moving.

11:44 Given it doesn't have adaptive dampers and all that kind of stuff,

11:47 the ride is actually pretty impressive.

11:48 It's not too firm, it's not too soft, so you're getting this nice and compliant ride.

11:54 It refuses to change gears.

11:55 As you tip it in, you get that feel from the steering wheel, but it's not overly direct.

12:00 I would have liked just a little bit more feel through the wheel.

12:03 But surprisingly, it's actually on sweeping bends that it kind of comes into its own.

12:07 You can get it tipped in, you feel that rear left wheel lifting a little bit,

12:11 then you can roll onto the throttle and it just moves you away.

12:14 There's really not a great deal of stability control intervention either.

12:18 It just constantly feels like it's brusque and getting somewhere.

12:21 So look, it doesn't feel as agile or sharp as some of the other cars that it competes with,

12:26 but it's actually quite entertaining to drive.

12:28 It feels, I don't know, a bit soft around the edges, but it doesn't feel like it's going to bite.

12:33 It always feels like it's giving you enough leeway.

12:35 Tell you what, one thing I'm not loving here is the engine noise.

12:39 It just sounds really thrashy.

12:41 The Polo GTI, the Fiesta ST, they both have a unique sound.

12:44 They both crackle and pop.

12:46 There's just really nothing coming out of this.

12:47 I don't feel like it's special or engaging.

12:51 So when you're done having fun and you go back into the normal drive mode,

12:55 there's a fair bit of road noise that comes into the cabin.

12:57 It's quite droney as you're on course chip roads, travelling at highway speeds.

13:01 Visibility is excellent though.

13:02 I can see clearly out the front.

13:04 The wing mirrors on the side are big enough.

13:06 You've got that blind spot monitoring system, and visibility out the back is excellent too.

13:10 Turning circle, given it is such a tiny little car, 10.2 metres,

13:15 means you'll really have to be doing three-point turns.

13:17 So the Suzuki Swift Sport, I really enjoyed the car.

13:20 You nail the throttle, you find some corners, and it puts a smile on your face.

13:24 That is what these hot hatches are all about.

13:27 But there is a bit of a problem because the last generation car was smile-inducing as well,

13:31 but it was really cheap.

13:32 This one has become a lot more expensive, and I don't know that it's reflected inside the cabin.

13:37 Still feels a little bit cheap for this price tag.

13:39 And if you compare it to its peers, yes, they've gone up in price as well,

13:43 but cars like the Fiesta ST and the Polo GTI are just so much more engaging to drive.

13:47 They feel so much quicker and more athletic and dynamic,

13:51 and they feel like they're worth their price tag.

13:53 Whereas this feels like it's just creeping up a little bit too far.

13:56 Let me know in the comments below, am I missing something here?

13:58 Have you bought one of these?

14:00 Let me know what you think about it, and would you buy the Fiesta ST or the Volkswagen Polo GTI instead of this?

14:06 If you did enjoy this video, I'd love it if you could hit the like button,

14:09 follow it up with a subscribe, share the video as well, and then press the bell icon,

14:13 because that'll tell you every single time we drive something new.

14:16 But until next time, take it easy.

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