Suzuki Swift Hybrid AllGrip – All Good Things …

20 September 2018 Redazione News, Tested

SUZUKI SWIFT

ALL GOOD THINGS …

Words Marco Rallo

Photos by Giorgia Rossi

The new Swift has arrived at the office. Small, with its all new and really pretty line and with the intention of making life at the wheel less boring for those who have for one reason or another to spend hours sit in traffic coming home from work. The Swift has always been an XS-sized city car that has made practicality and the ability to accommodate at least two people in the back seats its strength point. There’s also space for some suitcase, useful for a weekend out of town.

The new generation is no exception, and if on one hand we cannot wait to try the peppered version of the 140-horsepower Boosterjet, I take this opportunity to meet the version that certainly does appeal to whoever considers traveling several kilometers during the year. The model I’m testing is the so-called top of the range, a 1.2cc hybrid with all-wheel drive. It must be said that with a complete package the starting price becomes important, but we will talk about this later. This very Swift maintains a two-color scheme, as you see on the majority of recent compact cars today. The combination of the Azores blue of the body and the silver roof accentuates the youthful line of this all-new model, which shares the chassis with the bigger Baleno. In this case, given the small size like a length that stops at about 3.8 meters and a width of about 1.7 meters, we have a much lower weight that slightly exceeds the ton of weight. This therefore translates into lower fuel consumption, which also taking into account the fact that it’s a hybrid car puts on the table other points on the final average mileage. Some numbers? 4.9 l/100km in the urban cycle, 4.2 l/100km in the extra-urban cycle and 4.5 l/100km in the mixed cycle – not bad.

The password is practicality and thus the Swift has five doors, two comfortable front seats and the homologation for 3 people on the rear bench, where to be honest it is preferable to sit only in two, also not to ask too much to the small engine, especially in the case of long journeys. The trunk is fine and the car offers a good sense of compactness, although some plank plastics are stiff and appear cheaper than you might expect. But what really matters is here, such as the 7″ touch screen display that can be interfaced with your smartphone and from which you can control radio and sat-navigator (unfortunately absent in the unit tested). The gearbox is a five-speed manual, traditional but precise and combined with a soft clutch pedal that allows you to face the endless 6pm traffic.

At the wheel you can’t expect sports performance, certainly not as those of the Boosterjet, but the low weight and the 90 hp of the 1.2cc allow you to be behind the wheel of a small and never thirsty agile hatchback. Although the maximum torque of 120Nm is high in revs – at 4,400 rpm – freeing up an intersection is never a difficult task. For what concerns a mountain road, perhaps even at full load, it will be necessary to act on the gears and keep the small 4 cylinder revving high, certainly more at ease in the city, where you can take advantage of the short wheelbase and the precision of the steering with variable assistance.

Air conditioning is precise and behind the wheel there are two circular instruments separated by a small digital display through which to manage the on-board computer – the controls are on the multifunction steering wheel. Satisfied with what the new Swift is able to offer and found that the design can please more or less than the previous generation, it is time to take a look at the prices. The new Swift starts at € 13.990 for the 1.2 Dualjet with only front-wheel drive. Without bothering the sporty Boosterjet, available with both 111-hp 1.0cc and 140-hp 1.4cc, we have the LPG (starting from € 15.690) and the hybrid (starting at € 17.690). AllGrip all-wheel drive is currently only available with “our” 1.2 Hybrid, with a starting price of € 19.190, certainly not a cheap figure for a city car, despite doing its job well and enjoying a more that sufficient standard equipment. All good things, but it would have been even better saving some extra money.

SUZUKI SWIFT 1.2 HYBRID ALLGRIP

Layout   –  front-engined, all-wheel-drive

Engine  –  in-line 4-cylinder 1.242cc – hybrid

Transmission  –  5-speed manual gearbox

Power  –  90 hp @ 6.000 rpm

120 Nm  @ 4.400 rpm

                    Weight  –  1.035 kg

Acceleration  –  12,6 sec.

Top Speed  –  170 kph

Price  –  from € 19.190