Road test: Suzuki will have you making a Swift decision

WHICH one are you? Upstart, or upstanding member of the community? To help you make up your mind, we have enlisted the help of two Suzuki Swifts. Specifically, the Sport and the 1.3 DDiS diesel. They look like twins, but their personalities are poles apart. And no, there are no prizes for guessing which one’s the upstart.

So join us while we spend a little time familiarising ourselves with both cars. We’ll chuck them into the bends, sit at 70 on the motorway for a few miles, overtake some slow stuff, trundle around town, squish about in the seats for a bit, then pore over the performance and fuel economy figures. All you need to do is sit tight and pick a favourite at journey’s end. Will you be won over by the playful puppy-like pep of the Sport, or will the diesel Swift’s thrift fill you with thrills?

Let’s start with the Sport, since it’s the newer of the two kids on the block, having been reintroduced to the Swift range for 2012 after a brief hiatus. Finished in white, it looks a bit like one of those titchy Nike trainers designed to be bought for a new-born tot by parents with too much money and no taste.

Like the Nike, it’s short, squat and cute enough to put a smile on the face of a Rangers creditor. But, while the trainer will go nowhere on the foot of a drooling urchin too young to stand upright, the Swift has a million miles of fun on its mind.

Twin exhausts and 17-inch alloys shod with low-profile rubber are visual clues to this car’s sportiness, while the upward sweep of the rear window evokes fond memories of the Peugeot 205 GTI from two decades ago. Come to think of it, the similarities between the Swift and that early icon of the hot hatch movement go a lot further than a pane of glass.

Like the Pug, the Swift Sport has a naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre engine under its bonnet. None of that fancy turbo trickery, thank you, it’s happy to rev and rev all by itself all the way to 7,000rpm. Like the Pug, the Swift doesn’t weigh very much – a touch over a tonne – so you know it’s going to cover the ground quickly.

The engine is a touch more powerful and torquier than the one fitted to the previous-generation Swift Sport (134bhp and 118 lb/ft versus 121bhp and 109 lb/ft) which is good, but in an era where hot-hatch membership starts at 200bhp, you might wonder what all the fuss is about, especially when you consider the Sport’s modest 0-62 time of 8.7 seconds and 121mph top whack. The key to Swift Sport happiness isn’t straight-line acceleration, though, it’s in wringing every last drop of performance from its willing motor and carrying that speed through the corners.

Fortunately, the well-balanced chassis is up to the task. Beefier springs help the Swift hold its line at the expense of a bit of ride comfort, and the steering is pin-sharp. If it is wrong to put in a few extra laps of the roundabout just for giggles, then I must have sinned half a dozen times on the way home from the office.

Inside, there’s space for four adults to share the fun, although that blunt rear end means boot space isn’t brilliant for a Fiesta-sized car. The cloth-covered front seats are firm and figure hugging, although I figure I’ll need to go on a diet before taking a Swift Sport on a tour of Europe.

I don’t normally dish out praise for a car’s heater controls, but I liked the way the Swift’s old-school rotary dials offered multiple options for directing the airflow. In a world gone touchscreen-control crazy, that’s a rare moment of retro-themed sanity.

Less retro are the goodies Suzuki has thrown in as standard. Cruise control, climate control, stability control and seven airbags are things that 205 GTI drivers can only dream of, and proof that not everything modern is rubbish.

Faults? There are a few. The car’s high haunches and small rear windows give it tremendous presence, but they don’t do much for visibility when reversing. Mind you, if you’re feckless enough to prang a car this small, you really ought to take the bus. The twin exhausts could do with sounding a bit fruitier and, although a tall sixth gear (one more cog than the old Swift Sport) helps cut down fuel consumption and emissions, you’ll still be doing a buzzy 3,000rpm at 70mph.

If it bothers you that much, just turn up the stereo, which can do all that Bluetooth, MP3 and USB connectivity stuff. Or admit that you’re far too sensible for this sort of thing, and buy the diesel instead.

VITAL STATS

CAR Suzuki Swift Sport 1.6 VVT

PRICE £13,500

PERFORMANCE Max speed 121mph, 0-62mph 8.7secs

MPG 44.1 combined

CO2 EMISSIONS 147g/km

Nice and diesel does it...

If the Swift Sport is the tousle-haired mischief maker of the Suzuki stable, then the Swift 1.3DDiS is its laid-back twin. Sensible, but not square.

One of the Ds in “DDiS” stands for diesel. That, coupled with its tiddly 1.3-litre engine capacity, qualifies this Swift for a first-class honours degree in economy from the University of Thrift. How does 67.3mpg on the combined cycle tickle your fancy? That’s the official figure, and for once it’s no piece of make-believe: on a rush-hour run from Edinburgh city centre to the Falkirk Wheel, the Swift returned 63mpg, and the figure was still climbing as we neared journey’s end. This makes forecourt sums simple – a fiver’s-worth of fuel adds 50 miles to the range. Ten pence a mile, in other words.

The trade-off for all this economy is tamer performance than the wild child up there at the top of the page, of course, but don’t think you’ll be stuck with the tortoises in the slow lane. The engine develops a torquey 75bhp which, in a car weighing little more than a tonne, makes for satisfying progress, even with four adults aboard. You can even wheelspin away from junctions if the mood takes you.

The engine lacks a little urge below 1,500 rpm, but it’s fine after that. Pootling around town, the diesel Swift makes a bit more noise than its petrol-engined pal but, thanks to a long fifth gear, it’s more relaxed on the open road.

The Swift diesel also rides comfier than its hooligan twin, and, although it can’t hold a candle to the Sport in the handling stakes, it’s not going to throw a wobbly in the corners.

The Swift Twins came to visit three weeks apart, but how I wish we’d got the chance to test the two cars head-to-head, because I’m sure the diesel wouldn’t lag far behind the Sport on a B-road blast.

VITAL STATS

CAR Suzuki Swift 1.3DDiS SZ3

PRICE £13,355

PERFORMANCE Max speed 103mph, 0-62mph 12.7secs

MPG 67.3 combined

CO2 EMISSIONS 109g/km