| A
suspension tuned for spirited driving and a muscled motor under the hood,
all contained within an affordable hatchback body. The Swift Sport is
the stuff of enthusiast dreams.
‘The
Sport has a better power-to-weight ratio than even the 150bhp Skoda Octavia
RS!’
Nowadays,
the question, “Is yours ready?” can often be heard in the
corridors of Autocar India. Preeti’s got hers, Sonali too. Sandeep;
Punoose; and Jim as well. That’s five. Five Autocar team members,
five Swifts. And another three I know are seriously considering one, debating
colours and EMIs. You could safely say that we at Autocar India are smitten
with the Swift.
Me too. Recently, after the Car of the Year judging, while everyone made
a beeline for comparatively more exotic cars like the Skoda Laura, Hyundai
Sonata and Ford’s Fiestas, I slunk quietly into the seat of the
Swift. The drive down to Mumbai from the hill station of Lonavla along
the empty twisting ghat section of the Expressway proved to be one of
the best I’ve had recently. The Swift’s steering may be a
touch too light, but the amazing body control and balance, the willing
motor; that mildly tail-out cornering stance and its ease of adjustability
via throttle, make it a fun car to drive.
If
the Swift is a fun car, the the Swift Sport you see here is serious fun.
Dressed to look the part, the basic dimensions are identical, but the
Swift manages to look chunkier, with deadly serious intent written all
over it. The wheel wells are filled to the brim with some serious-looking
rubber on stunning multi-spoked alloys. Wide 195/50 tyres on 16-inch rims,
normally seen on much larger cars, enhance the effect.
The Sport, as a result, looks like it is well-planted and has bags of
grip. Changes to the bodywork are obvious too, especially the all new
chin and bumper area. A gaping airdam that sits directly below the grille
is enclosed within the ‘V’ of the bonnet lines, the cavity
that houses the fog lights has been scooped out thoroughly to match, and
the entire section is backed with same meshing found on the grille. The
lights are also different. The headlights are blacked out and taillights
use raised circular elements. Faux carbon fibre skirts and chin inserts
look cool and complete the nose’s ‘rad’ look. The bikini
spoiler at the rear of the standard Swift is replaced by a larger, more
meaningful-looking unit. The best bit about the rear, however, are the
twin tail pipes. The changes have the desired sporty effect, but the design
loses some of the original’s cheekiness.
Changes in the cabin are more subtle, with chrome-ringed dials, brushed
aluminium inserts on the three-spoke steering, real drilled alloy pedals
and a trip computer. Splashes of paint match red trim on the doorpads,
red piping on the steering wheel and red and black pseudo racing seats,
which have huge bolstering for the shoulders and the thighs, are other
interesting elements.
Our
test car was an automatic. Yeah, my reaction exactly, but we were here
to a quick feel, so I’m not complaining. Waking the lively motor
from slumber reveals nothing special save for a slightly sportier boom
in the exhaust note. The motor responds well to blips of the throttle
and the car pulls away smartly in D or drive, but there is nothing particularly
impressive about the bottom-end power — nothing more than experienced
on other 1600cc hatchbacks, like the Fiat Palio 1.6 in particular.
Could this be nothing more than a mild improvement over the standard Swift,
I wonder. There are some 60-odd kilometers on the odometer and car feels
tight and stiff, like an un-stretched athlete. But where are all the 125
horses, almost 40 more than the standard car, hiding? And what about the
variable valve timing that should give this 1600cc motor a very healthy
bottom-end? The Sport, after all, has a better power-to-weight ratio than
even the Skoda Octavia RS! Gets you thinking, doesn’t it?
Done with the
static shots, photographer Shafiq now wants me to pass the camera at speed.
Ahh! Finally, an excuse to open up the Sport. I’m overcome with guilt,
but I simply can’t resist wringing this oven-fresh motor to the redline,
just to see if it can deliver what the spec sheet promises.
I slot the lever of the automatic gearbox into second, grip the wheel firmly
and grind the drilled aluminum pedal into the firewall. Now, there are no
early upshifts and the tachometer needle heads north.
The engine note turns earnest past 4500rpm. Instead of the soft tone, the
dual exhausts expunge a sporty BWWWAAAAAAA!
All thoughts of photography are temporarily put on hold. And then, while
I’m intently listening to the exhaust note, something else happens.
I feel a shove in the back, and then hedges, trees and general scenery starts
to rifle past the window at a startling rate. The change in pace has been
linear but acceleration now is extremely strong. The front wheels tug the
Sport forward with no let-up. The last 1000rpm of the powerband is raucous
and frenzied right upto the rev limiter at 6800rpm. But that’s not
the end of the run. The upshift on the automatic is reasonably quick, and
we are back in the powerband again, with pressure from the seatback is a
constant companion. This is potentially Skoda Octavia RS and Toyota Corolla-matching
performance, at what could be half the price! And our V-Box timing equipment
confirms that. The acceleration time recorded on the automatic is not dissimilar
to the automatic Corolla’s 0-100 in 11.19 seconds. Expect sub-nine-second
times with the short ratio manual gearbox.
A closer look at the specification sheet explains it all. Torque peaks only
as high as 4800 rpm and what Suzuki seem to have rightly done is skew the
VVT system to deliver tremendous top-end performance and good driveability.
This motor and the Swift Sport will form the basis of their next Junior
World Rally Championship car, and Suzuki seems to be working towards this
end.
That is also the reason the Swift Sport, on its 20 percent stiffer springs
and dampers, drives and handles much better than the normal Swift. And it
stops better too, larger discs at the front and new discs at the rear improving
stopping power. The Sport turns well into corners, but steering is still
a bit vague and this means that you are initially hesitant. However, the
gumball tyres that make the Sport look like a caricature with oversized
wheels, provide huge amounts of grip.
The Sport corners with a hesitant tuck-in and a hint of body roll, but displays
massive grip around corners and this takes some getting used to. After all,
this is an econo hatch! You are, however, soon setting the car up for corners
and using all the grip of the tyres and the performance from the motor to
derive a very gratifying driving experience. And as ever, with all its mass
concentrated within the wheels and a near-zero overhang either front or
rear, getting the Sport to change direction is an absolute hoot.
The Sport should be good for both bursts of speed in city traffic and for
those long, deeply enjoyable drives on sweeping and twisting mountain roads.
But there is always a catch. Maruti currently has no plans on launching
the Swift Sport. And even if they did, features like the high compression
ratio of 11.1:1 need high octane fuel. The stiff suspension and ground clearance
also will have to be altered, all of which mean more cost and less speed.
Maruti will also not be able to price it competitively due to the fact that
the engine and other components would have to be imported. Unless the 1.6
engine is used elsewhere. Here’s hoping...
FACTFILE
Price Rs 6.5 lakh (estimated)
Power 125bhp @6800 rpm
Torque 15.1kgm@4800 rpm
Power to weight 116.82 bhp/tonne
Length
3765mm
Width 1690mm
Height1510 mm
W’base 2390mm
Weight 1070kg
Fuel tank 43ltr
Engine 4-cyls in line, 1586cc I
Installation Front, transverse fwd
Compression ratio 11.1:1
Specific output 78.81 bhp/litre
Bore/stroke 78.0/83.0 mm
Front suspension MacPherson struts and coil springs
Rear suspension Torsion beam and coil springs
Front brakes Ventilated discs
Rear brakes discs
Tyres 195/50 R16 (V rated)
| *acceleration
(Swift Sport automatic) |
| Kph |
Sec |
| 20
|
1.32 |
| 40
|
3.30 |
| 60
|
5.05 |
| 80
|
8.33 |
| 100
|
11.50 |
| 120
|
17.04 |
| 140
|
22.23 |
| 150
|
27.25 |
| *Not
to Autocar test standards |
|