What's this
The successor to the one of
the most popular hatchback in India. One could argue that the Swift is so
strong in India that even if the car turned out to be bad (spoiler alert: it
isn’t), they would still shift thousands of them each month. This is the third generation of the Swift, which has been one of Maruti
Suzuki's most popular cars -- clocking a whopping 17 lakh units in sales till
date. The first generation was out in India in 2005, and over a decade later Maruti
reincarnated the old soul - which seems to be in no hurry to achieve 'nirvana',
any time soon. In fact, in its latest avatar, it feels more youthful and peppier
than before.
Exterior Design
The first thing that attracts
you about the new Swift is its bold styling, and youthful looks. This is so
far, the best looking Swift till date. The front is all new and as we know is
based on Maruti Suzuki's latest version of its compact sedan - Dzire. But the
Swift has a sportier look, without all the chrome in the grille and is
all-black. The new headlamps have a sharper look entirely different from the
previous one and come with daytime running lights and projector lamps which are
fairly standard with most cars now. If the car is looked from the side it's got that
classic Swift styling of tapering at the back. The door handles to the backseat
are no more and can now be found on the C-pillars adjacent to the rear
passenger windows just like Chevrolet's Beat. The alloy wheels are new and
there are two variants-- the precision cut two tone alloys in the manual transmission
variants of the car and the rather simple ones that come with the
automatic-transmission versions. The two-tone alloys look smart and classy. The
tail lamps wrap around the fenders and adds great look. Unlike the earlier
generations, the new Swift does not have the variant badge mentioned at the rear.
There's just the logo of the Suzuki and the Swift branding. The new Swift is
currently available in six colours namely Lucent Orange, Midnight Blue, Fire
Red, Arctic White, Silky Silver, and Magma Grey.
Interior Design
Unsurprisingly, the Swift copies most of the
interior attributes from the Dzire, but like with the exterior, designers have
done a good job of differentiating the two by the small changes and different
interior colour. The Swift gets a black cabin as compared to the beige one on
the Dzire, which goes down well for a sporty hatchback. Other changes are on
the centre console where there is a sporty looking round centre vents and
air-con controls with silver lining. The Dzire’s wood trim is replaced by
silver trim which again add to the style and ambiance. The dashboard design is just
minimalistic but smartly done, with the touchscreen infotainment system
dominating proceedings. But, the automatic version of the Swift doesn’t come in
the top variant which is sad, so you get a get a traditional music system with
a dot matrix display that looks plain old. The touchscreen system on the top
ZDi plus variant features a screen that is clear and is easy to use and of high
quality. The same can’t be said about the rest of the cabin as the plastic
quality and fit and finish though decent is not as nice as the Hyundai Grand
i10. Other than this you also get all the basics like climate control, keyless
start stop, reverse camera with sensors, automatic headlamps, daytime running
lamps, LED headlamps and a trip computer. In terms of safety, Maruti sets a new
benchmark by giving two airbags and ABS as standard across all the range.
Performance
The Swift diesel is loaded with the same 1.3
litre 74bhp Fiat-sourced Multijet engine. Although there is no increase in
power figures, the new one being considerably lighter helps improve its overall
performance and mileage. Starting with the automated
manual transmission car first, as compared to the petrol model, you can feel
the jerkiness of the gearbox much more in the diesel, especially during full acceleration,
as you get that usual AMT pause as the hydraulic actuators find it difficult to
upshift quickly to keep up the momentum. But when you drive without any hurry
this automated manual transmission works so well on the highway and gearshifts
are comparatively smooth. You also get a creep function which is very useful in
traffic. But it takes a second or two to hook-up which is not good especially
on slopes where the car tends to roll back. The Swift feels best in the manual
mode and there is an alternate way of getting around this drawback by just
lifting off the accelerator before every shift. Coming onto the manual
transmission Swift, the performance feels much better and though there is turbo
lag below 2000rpm it doesn’t feel that much. There is a great pickup past
2000rpm and the strong midrange makes driving easy. The engine gets rough and is
noisy once past 3500rpm. The refinement at the medium engine speeds is too good
and thanks to the good sound insulation inside the cabin. The gearbox too feels
peppy to use. The ride feels calm and settled at low speeds but if you don’t
slow down enough you do feel the suspension thump over the sharp bumps. It
never makes you feel uncomfortable and it is something that you can live with. But,
as you go much faster, the Swift settles down to offer a flat and satisfactory
ride.
Price of Variants
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