It’s been one week since the Suzuki Swift Sport was delivered. Although the break-in period isn’t over yet, I’ve been driving it almost every day, including on the Royu Driveway and highways, and I’d like to share my impressions so far. (My husband’s review will follow later.)
To sum it up, it’s a fast, light, fun, and incredibly cost-effective car.
It’s a car with solid basic performance that clearly reflects the driver’s skill. That makes it very rewarding and enjoyable to drive. Even though I’ve only had it for a week, I can say from the bottom of my heart that I’m so glad I bought it.
First of all, the Swift Sport is faster than I expected. The acceleration in second gear is light, smooth, and exhilarating, but what’s really impressive is that it accelerates strongly in third, fourth, and fifth gears too—at any speed range.
It’s so smooth and lively that you might wonder, “Does it have an electric motor in there?”
Equipped with a 1.4L direct-injection turbo engine producing 140 horsepower, it feels more powerful and torquey than the numbers suggest, probably because it weighs under one ton (970 kg). Even on fairly steep hills, it climbs strongly in third gear, which is impressive.
Also, its perfect balance of power and compactness makes city driving a real pleasure. Handling this car with a manual transmission gives a strong sense of unity and partnership with the car.
Despite its light weight, it also impresses with a solid planted feel.
I’ve driven several compact cars from other manufacturers in the same price range before, but honestly, their suspensions felt unreliable, and I couldn’t fully trust or feel safe in them.
In contrast, the Swift Sport, designed with driving enjoyment in mind, has a firm suspension that makes even slow turns at city intersections fun. Yet, it’s not as stiff as the Note e-POWER NISMO S we had before, offering some compliance and a comfortable ride.
The way the shift lever engages is also wonderfully satisfying.
It’s not as crisp and precise as a modern Porsche’s shifter, but it’s easy to operate and has a slightly soft, squishy feel that makes you want to shift just for fun (laughs).
The clutch is light, and the engagement point isn’t too strict, so you don’t have to worry much when starting off, making it easygoing to drive.
However, it doesn’t have a hill-hold function, so when starting on a slope, the car may roll back a bit (you can use the handbrake, but I don’t), but it’s not difficult to manage.
On the highway, there’s no complaint about acceleration when merging; it’s actually very quick and enjoyable. It also cruises stably at high speeds, so there’s no feeling of instability or nervousness from the light weight.
Lane changes are very smooth as well.
It’s unbelievable that such a well-built, fun car can be bought new for just a bit over 2 million yen.
On the downside, road noise is quite loud. Even driving at normal speeds on national roads, the road noise is noticeable, and it gets louder on the highway.
Because of this, the sensation of speed feels stronger on highways, and driving long distances from home to places like Fuji Speedway (…which is quite far, haha) might be a bit tiring.
However, my husband plans to install sound-absorbing and vibration-damping materials inside the car, which should significantly reduce the road noise. (I’ll write about that later too.)
Also, this isn’t really a downside but rather part of what makes driving engaging… Unlike a modern Porsche, it lacks advanced electronic controls, so if you take corners on the Royu Driveway at a certain speed without much thought, the body roll is quite large and the car tends to drift outward.
That means you need to sharpen your senses to understand where the load is on the car and how it’s moving and drive with a good understanding of the car and road conditions.
At first, that was a bit intimidating, but gradually I’ve come to feel that it’s great practice for driving, and thinking and feeling your way through it is really enjoyable.
I’m still far from fully trusting the car and driving as one with it, but I think if I could drive this Swift Sport as naturally as an extension of my body, it would be incredibly fun. It’s a car that motivates me to improve my driving skills to that level.
By the way, my husband said:
I haven’t fully opened my heart to the Swift Sport yet either, but the dialogue with its behavior is interesting. Also, it holds its ground pretty well in corners and feels more stable than I expected, so I feel like I can trust the car more than I thought.
Rumor has it the next Swift Sport will be a hybrid, so this might be the last pure gasoline engine Swift Sport. I think we bought it at a great time, and it’s worth taking good care of it for a long time.
We’ve only driven about 300 km so far, but it’s truly fun and offers unbeatable cost performance. I wish I had bought it sooner (laughs).
I expect the driving experience will continue to evolve, so I’ll keep sharing updates here on the blog.