New turbocharged Suzuki Swift Sport a true pocket rocket

Suzuki has an enviable reputation in the motor industry for building reliable, fun little cars, and with the introduction of the much-anticipated turbocharged Swift Sport expectation has been high. We covered all the nice and fluffy aircon and electric windows stuff that the Swift Sport offers a few months ago when we attended the launch of this little pocket rocket. Now it’s time to get into what it means to have a 1.4-litre turbocharged engine under the bonnet.

In the past, Suzuki has relied on naturally aspirated engines to get the job of being sporty done. The previous generation Swift Sport ran a 1.6-litre powerplant that developed 100 kW of power and 160 Nm of torque and came in at just over 1 000 kg on the scales. Nothing wrong with these numbers, the 0 to 100 km/h sprint was done in 9.6 sec, the quarter mile in 16.94 sec, the 1 km at 167 km/h and the top speed came in at 191 km/h.

Fast forward to 2019 and welcome to the K14C Boosterjet era for Suzuki. The smaller capacity 1.4-litre turbocharged engine produces only three kilowatts more power at 103 kW, but way more importantly, a full 70 Nm of torque more at 230 Nm.

The power to weight ratio is now above that sought after 100 kW per tonne mark, thanks to the new car being lighter than the previous model at 995 kg for the auto and 970 kg for the manual. And as much as the purists will whine about the loss of the high revving naturally aspirated model, this turbocharged offering is so much better on an everyday basis and against the clock in outright performance terms.

We had both the automatic – yes you can get a Swift Sport now with a smooth easy shifting automatic transmission – and the manual on test. You would think though the two derivatives would feel basically the same in power delivery and drive terms, but they don’t.

They feel quite different to be honest. The automatic is the more chilled of the two on the move, and manual always feels a bit more manic. The gearing on the automatic is longer and this results in a more relaxed lower revving experience out on the open road. But this doesn’t mean the automatic is slow or unresponsive, in fact it is quicker off the line compared to the manual.

I actually think this is the better choice of the two if you are not into hitting gymkhanas like Ken Block every weekend. But if you do enjoy your motoring experience a little more on the edgy side and if flicking through a gearbox is your thing, then you will love the manual.

It is always on the boil as the gearing is short and I had a blast using my suburb as a go-kart track for a few days. There is a downside or two though with the manual version. The rev limiter kicks in at just under 6 000 rpm, which is a bit too early in my opinion and if you are not paying attention, you will find yourself hitting it most of the time and this just slows things down completely.

Unfortunately, all that fun short ratio gear changing that is required to get the car moving also results in it coming in a fraction slower than the automatic to 100 km/h and the quarter mile at 8.02 sec versus 7.67 sec and 15.91 sec versus 15.74 sec respectively.

The manual does come back and get past the automatic at the half mile and 1 km mark at 172 km/h versus 169 km/h and 180 km/h versus 177 km/h, while also recording a slightly better top speed too of 213 km/h over 206 km/h.

For what it is worth these numbers are better than what are claimed by Suzuki South Africa, which is almost unheard of these days. And no this is not a Polo GTI killer, it was never meant to be, but some completely arbitrary information, the automatic Swift Sport will run neck and neck on the Reef with the giant killing, benchmark Opel Kadett 2.0 16v from back in the day.

Fuel consumption was great too. You would think though that you will only get around the block once or twice with a 37-litre fuel tank. But the real-world data came back at 6.9-litres per 100 km for the auto and 6.7-litres per 100 km for the manual. And this will see you easily get over 500 km on a tank of fuel. But straight-line speed is only one piece of the puzzle, a light, peppy car like this must handle well too.

We know its lighter, but it is stiffer too and runs thicker anti-roll bars, an integrated single-unit solution for the wheel hub and bearings plus increased spring and damper rates on the front axle. At the rear, there are Monroe shocks and greater toe and camber rigidity, which in the latter case is three times more rigid than the outgoing Swift Sport.

The Swift Sport also features a completely unique trailing arm design, for better tracking between the front and rear wheels. In real world terms this translated into a hatch with a lively rear that would rotate quite fast as you were turning in, and if you let it and then came on the throttle in a smooth and controlled manner, you could get through a corner rather quickly. But if you are not used to this, you will mess it up and think the car is trying to go around on you, lift off and then mash the accelerator pedal to pull it straight and this will result in lots of understeer and will spoil your day.

I can say I really enjoyed the light easy nature of the Swift Sport. It is priced at R315 900 for the manual and R335 900 for the automatic along with a four-year/60 000 km service plan and a five-year/200 000 km vehicle warranty and this makes it very hard to ignore.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.