The new Suzuki Swift; It looks uncannily like the Swift that is currently sold in India, even though the platform and every panel are new. Buyers liked the previous Swift, goes the reasoning, so by giving them more of the same in an updated form they will surely return for a new one. This incremental evolution might work for a Mini whose style is central to the brand, but for the Swift it seems amazingly cautious. That said, it's a good-looking car with its blade-like roof, blacked-in windscreen pillars and stubby tail (which means a meagre boot). Always was, actually.
The headlights and rear lights are longer and curvier, the tailgate doesn't open down as far (to increase structural stiffness), and the dimensions have grown fractionally: 90mm longer, 5mm wider, 10mm in tracks, 50mm in the wheelbase although rear knee room is still tight.
Suspension is still struts up front, torsion-beam rear, but the components are new and the rear anti-roll bar has gone. Despite that, rear roll stiffness rises by 25 per cent because the beam is now made from two layers of steel. Angling the mounting bushes has increased resistance to lateral movement by 50 per cent. The New Swift is also 20Kg lighter than the model it replaces.
You can feel the changes as soon as you drive the new Swift, because its steering is now mechanically very positive around the centre. The ratio is quicker here than on lock, too, but the glutinous feel of the electric power assistance spoils the effect. Still, the Swift points tidily around bends, grips well, feels planted and rides with smoothness and no rattles.
The turbodiesel engine remains a Fiat-designed 1.3 of 74bhp, now more refined thanks to reduced body resonances, but in place of the old 1.3 petrol unit is an all-new 1.2 with an extra 2bhp, making an impressive 93 despite the lack of a turbo. I drove the 1.2, and it's a smooth, willing engine with a crisp response and ready revvability.
And the cabin? All-new again; it looks plusher, but the fascia and door surfaces are still hard and the previous bold simplicity has been ousted by a more conventional design. This is very much a case of evolution rather than revolution, then, but the Swift remains a likeable alternative to the obvious.
Autocar UK