Maruti Swift long term review, 10,000km report

Daily commuter, highway cruiser, support car on shoots, track-day toy, drag-race machine – our long-term Maruti Swift has played all these roles over the past 10 months and 10,000km. And it isn’t surprising that it’s been commendably good at all of it.

Despite being so multi-faceted, the majority of the running was done within city confines, as that’s one of the Swift’s fortes. The compact dimensions, the light steering and clutch, the peppy engine, the slick gearbox and, of course, the impressive fuel efficiency are what drew everyone from our team to the Swift, and as such, it had become a vital cog.

Be it city traffic or open roads, the Swift always felt effortless to drive.

Admirably, despite being a sensible and practical hatchback, the Swift remains fun to drive, and it tends to egg you on to drive harder, darting in and out of gaps in traffic, which makes even the most mundane of commutes entertaining.

New three-cylinder Z-Series engine is smooth, tractable and impresses with its efficiency.

A part of it is down to its dynamics, but the engine does deserve credit, too. While it was initially slagged off, given it is down a cylinder and down on power compared to the outgoing K-Series engine, we quickly realised that this is one of the best small, naturally aspirated petrol engines around. It’s smooth at idle, feels tractable at low speeds, and has a strong midrange, all of which contribute to the experience. It may not be as silky or have the punch at the top end like the K-Series, but this Z-Series engine provides a good balance between efficiency and performance, and I also like the way it sounds.

Aside from commuting and support car duties, it also saw action on the racetrack.

Inside the cabin, there’s nothing flashy, but it’s got everything you need, and then some. I really like how practical it is, with large door bins, two cup holders and multiple charging provisions. The touchscreen, too, performed near flawlessly in our time, with only some minor glitches. Even the space at the rear proved ample for adults on a family outing, though some did feel that the backrest was a tad too upright. It had even become a regular support car for shoots, comfortably accommodating our camera crew and their gear.   

Plenty of cubbies and charging provisions, along with large door bins, make it a practical cabin.

During our tenure, we even pitted it against the Tata Altroz Racer in a drag race during our track day, and to everyone’s surprise, the Swift beat out the Tata. Despite having a significant output disadvantage, the fact that the Swift is light weight and easy to launch hard meant that it took an early lead and held its place until the finish. Not only that, the Swift even managed to post a quicker lap time around the CoASTT circuit in Coimbatore – at the hands of Narain Karthikeyan – than the Altroz Racer. Narain was particularly impressed by the Swift’s chassis and the good grip levels. You’ve got to handit to Maruti, as this new Swift, despite being a commuter on the spec sheet, is still capable of some proper old-school fun.

6-speaker audio system’s quality leaves much to be desired, especially compared to rivals.

Apart from the shortcomings my colleagues mentioned in previous reports, like the evident cost-cutting in places, poor reverse camera quality and the lack of a centre armrest, I also have some things to complain about. First, the audio system isn’t up to the mark, especially when compared to rivals. In a car where you’re largely spending time in traffic, a good sound system is a must for me. Playing with the equaliser settings did improve things, but it still didn’t make a massive difference. What also could have been better are the LED headlights. They look nice and have a good throw, but the spread isn’t very wide, so on a winding road or when weather conditions are adverse, the illumination can feel lacking.

LED headlights have decent throw, but the spread isn’t wide, which becomes evident around bends.

Other than some small niggles, this has been one bulletproof Maruti. The Swift’s absence will be felt, given just how useful it was, but it stings a little less knowing that it’s being replaced by its own sedan sibling, the Dzire. Think more space, more features and more practicality than the Swift, and perhaps, more adventures, too.