Suzuki Swift 1.0 > Reviews (18)

*UPDATE 1/8/07*

I brought a Suzuki Swift about 3 years ago for my first car. Being a student who doesn't have money which's is growing on trees I had to find a reliable car which will get me from A to B, is cheap to run and also looks aright.

I looked around but in the end I decided that the Suzuki Swift would be the one for me considering everything else on the market at that point in time.

First impressions when I saw the car as that it was a bit old compared to the likes of a Peugeot 206 or Honda Civic. I knew that there are a few different sorts of Swift models considering it was launched in 1992 and I was buying mine a full 10 years on in 2002, early 2003. I had seen some around and mostly they have been green or white which doesn't help the look of the car as it helped it stand out places that were dirty and the green was a horrid colour. I was lucky enough to see two different colours at the garage I went to and they were red like a Ferrari Enzo and darkish blue like a Subaru Impreza. I felt the blue was the best colour as it was really nice on the eyes and looked great with the sun shining off it.

Older versions of the Swift often had a black safety bumper around the bottom of the back and front which didn't help the look at all. It was like big padding around a car, almost like bubble wrap folded over and over again but as a bumper it stood out that much. Luckily Suzuki noticed this and improved the model as time when on and the bumper was then coloured the same as the car which helped also and it almost looks like a near car. Also from the back in older versions you may notice the lights would go all along the back which may look good on a HondaCivic but doesn't really look great on the Swift. Suzuki noticed this and updated to only having the lights placed on the back corners and not touching in the middle under the boot middle. There are also different variations to the front of the Suzuki swift as well with some having big bumpers and others like myself having floodlights. I think they did this later on as having floodlights gives the user more options at night plus its something more to add to the cars list of features. There are some different front grills as well but these are much harder to notice unless you get up close to the car itself. The original wheels of the Swift are rather boring looking which doesn't help with credibility so I have places alloy wheels on mine which made it look great compared to how it was, this is my first recommendation to do if you buy a Swift as it will look and grip much better.

The shape of the car is quite strange as I think it looks nice from the front, the bonnet is quite long and the front curves nicely to your lights. It then goes to more straight lined shape towards the back which I think is the biggest let down of the car considering its just a few lines with no curves which looks quite unattractive, like they gave up designer the car as they were bored and just used a ruler quickly to get the job over and done with.

The wing mirrors are good sizes where you can see a lot from behind when in the drivers seat and these are controlled buy an electronic switch to the right of the steering wheel.

When you get inside you car you do notice why the car is slightly cheap as you can see the plastic coating on the dashboard and holding in the steering wheel. Now unlike some swifts my car has 2 similar kinds of bucket seats in it which are quite high up but these do not block your view in the main rear view mirror. Talking of the rear view mirror you may find the back window a decent size to look out from but with the brake light in the middle of the back window and people sitting in the back seat it will be harder to use that for reversing in. The seats itself are close to the ground which for myself is great as I like to feel every movement the car makes but for some you may feel it doesn't offer great support so if you get bad back it may be worth trying a longer test drive than normal. The steering wheel, a main part of driving doesn't adjust which some may find a problem but so far it has never bothered me. You have a horn in the middle which is loud enough if you need to use it and I think the wheel itself fits your hands perfectly. This is because it has various lumps behind the wheel for you fingers and a thump rest each side of the wheel for good driving position although I tend to drive more one handed it suits me just as good. You have the indicator and lights on the right and washers on the left but if you wish to wash your back window you have two buttons to the left of your steering wheel, one for wipe only and the other for wipe and fluid together.

The inside features are pretty basic as you have your two vents at the top of the middle section. Then you have all your air flow controls like temperature, whether you want fresh air or recycle it, which vents you want the air to come from and the speed of the air. You then have a tape of CD player, where in mine I have a Kenwood CD player installed which works fine unless you go over a big bump where it may skip a second on your CD. At the bottom you have your cigarette lighter which I think works fine but I've never used it and a bin which slides out. It's also worth mentioning that there is also a double cup holder which you can pull out but as its well hidden a lot of people don't notice it.

On the passenger side you have a glove box, not the biggest but fits about 18 CD cases in it with a smaller shelf like section on the dashboard which come in handy e.g. I have a torch and a pair of sunglasses in it. Your hand brake is pretty simple, gets a bit dusty but otherwise nothing special apart from doing the job it needs to. The gear stick doesn't look great but again does it job.

In the doors of both sides you have you window controls which are electronic and a big section to store manuals, CD's and much more stuff along the bottom of the door which is very handy. On the drivers side you can also control the passenger window and lock his window control if you're feeling mean.

The back windows do open but they push out at one side and only open a few inches which don't help when the wind blows the windows shut if you drive quickly.

The seats itself are comfy in the front but after a while they can get a bit sore so not great for long drive unless you take the odd break. I find it really helps with the bucket seats for corners as it keeps you in the middle of the seat which helps both your driving and your neck from getting sore. The back seats aren't the best for the long journeys again but they do their job. The seatbelts can be annoying sometime as they like to dig in a bit after a 30+ minute journey and the middle seatbelt broke on my Swift although I have a feeling it was more of a mate doing that by accidentally than it just breaking itself. There is plenty of leg room in the front of the car but due to this it is very cramped in the back and my mates hate going into the back considering they are kind of frozen when they sit down and when they move it will dig into the back of the seats.

The Suzuki Swift itself is a very light car and even though I have a 1-litre engine, it has good acceleration, well up to 30 mph anyway. It goes from 0-60mph in 15.5 seconds but I have tried mine and it will do it in 13 seconds which is a small improvement but it all counts. It can do about 52/54 mpg although I find my Swift like to drink the petrol and only does about 42mpg. It also isn't the best for overtaking considering it has about 52 bhp which is rather small. Although I do overtake a lot, you may want to gain a bit of speed up to be perfectly safe when overtaking some cars if you have a small straight you wish to use to overtake at. There is a 1.3 version and a 1.3 GTI version which is quite fast but it's a bit thrashy and drinks petrol.

The handling of the swift is good as its easy to drive, you have a good driving position and you have a good view looking out of the front of the car. The steering feels great but if you do go round a corner too fast you feel the car lean slightly to that side. It tends to have good drip on all roads but not the best when its raining as it just slides over the surface being so light and it won't even go on snow if you go up a hill but its ok if you drive slowly on a non hilly road.

The boat itself is big considering the size of the car, big enough for most golf clubs but the golf drivers may need to get wedged in (no golf pun intended). As I mentioned before the back passengers will feel cramped up but it's a nice position for the driver in the front.

The swift has an average safety record, basically doing what needs to be done to pass the Ncap test but there are airbags in the front but hopefully you or myself won't need them.

Reliability is very good as I have had the Swift for about 5 years now and never had a problem and it breezes through its MOT every time. The only things I've have changed is my break pads and exhaust but that was broke because of potholes, otherwise everything lasts for a very long time.

Overall I may have a few problems with the Suzuki Swift which I have mentioned above but I love my car and don't really want to change it as its one of those cars that you learn to like and now I just feel like I know its limits and we are one. Sounds a bit weird but I find it easy to drive, gears change easily and gives me a lot for a 1 litre. I think you need to drive it to appreciate it and you shouldn't forget about it because it is a cheap car, only insurance group 3 + so worth a test-drive if your looking for a super-mini. Buy it if you need something reliable and don't want to spend too much money on your car but if you looking for a car and your expecting kid of have children of your own I would personally go for another car. This tends to be better for 2 to 3 people max to get the best from it but the Swift is like marmite, you either hate it or love it.