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)