My Take On The Suzuki Swift
Jan 8th, 2006 by Alvin Chong
On The Side Note:
1) The year 2006 seems to be a promising one. It seems to promise me new hopes and light. Let’s hope this isn’t just a feeling, let’s hope this is for real.
2) Chinese New Year is around the corner and I have to start spring cleaning the house yet again. As much as I hate it, I still have to do it. Sigh.
Introduction
Hmm, the first post in this brand new year of 2006. Having the Suzuki Swift for almost 3 weeks, I’ll now have my take on it. You can call this an official review from me. Anyway, for a start, the car itself is considered a compact hatchback and you wouldn’t be expecting too much interior space out of such a car now, would you?
It has always been my dream to at least own a Japanese make and here it is, my first Japanese car, and I tell you, it’s completely Japanese CBU (Complete Build Up). It’s an imported car from Japan and is not locally assembled. This justifies the hefty price of the car. Rumours have it that the CKD (Complete Knock Down) version of the car is going to be in the local market by the fourth quarter of this year.
As said before, I chose a hatchback for my own personal reasons. You’d know why I chose the Swift by the end of this review.
The Dimensions
The car dimension itself is nothing to shout about:
Overall Length: 3,695mm
Overall Width: 1,690mm
Overall Height: 1,510mm
Wheelbase: 2,390mm
Track(Front/Rear): 1470/1480mm
For comparison, the Swift is basically shorter in both length and height if compared to the MyVi. It has a slightly shorter wheelbase as well but notice that both front and rear tracks are wider than the MyVi, hence the better stability.
Interior
Step into the car and you get a decent but classy interior. Materials used are good all round. Some parts use plastic but they are generally good quality plastic. For the price you are paying, you get a comfortably wrapped leather steering, a Clarion single CD player with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters, dual climate air conditioning, and comfortable seats. Leg and head room is just right for front passengers but gets slightly uncomfortable for the back passengers. Due to the aerodynamic design, you get less head room at the back. Nonetheless, it’s still acceptable for people with average Asian heights. The car is good for 4 full size adults. Ferrying 5 would be fine, but with 3 smaller sized adults at the back.
The interior of the Swift.
The sporty meter cluster.
The meter cluster shows the normal information a driver needs, with a big, hard to miss, speedometer in the center. It also houses the digital trip computer, which is common in modern cars nowadays.
The back seats. Not ample of space but is just right.
The back is relatively comfortable except that the sitting position might be a little bit too upright for your liking. Notice that there is a retractable hook at the back of the front passenger seat.
The multi information display.
The car also comes with a nifty multi information display which displays the time, the outside air temperature and the instantaneous fuel consumption. I personally find the instantaneous fuel consumption information useless. It would have been more useful if they would have calculated the average fuel consumption instead. You can turn the instantaneous fuel consumption computer off though, but it would be cool to leave it running.
The dash built in CD Player.
This might not be a favourite to ICE fans out there but good news, there are after market brackets to fit with after market players. As for me, I am not that fussy so I can live with the player. Nonetheless, I still prefer the Proton Waja speakers as they produce more bass.
The dual climatic aircond controller.
The gear shift has a style similar to those on luxurious cars. Sweet!!!
Exterior
The exterior is nothing short of breathtaking. I fell in love with it the first time I saw the car and I still am in love with it. The shape is somehow ripped off from the Mini which defines its European style. The headlamps and backlamps look slightly like those from the Nissan 350Z. With an aerodynamic figure of only 0.32cd, the body of the car hits the sweet spot of maintaining its beauty yet providing a quiet ride by reducing wind noise.
The front. You get fog lamps as well.
The back. You get electronic tailgates as well. Sleek feat!
The back tailgate can be opened by pushing a button beneath the handle. Very high class indeed for a car in this segment.
The side with those sweet 15†alloy rims direct from Japan.
The 15″ alloy rims are wrapped with 185/60R15 tyres. I’d personally love to see a 17″ alloy wrapped with 205/40R17 tyres. That would be sweet!
Performance
Coupled with a M15A 1.5L 16V DOHC Variable Valve Timing (VVT) engine, this small innocent hatchback performs in a mile manner when being driven normally. It however performs like a beast when being pushed. Do not be deceived by its small engine capacity as the 1490cc engine churns out a whalloping 102HP@6000rpm and 133Nm@4000rpm and it does a century sprint in 10.7 seconds.
Suzuki has always been known for manufacturing reliable and robust engines and here is one of them. When driven normally, it roars with a subtle hint of its capabilities but push it beyond 4000rpm and you have a monster on the loose with the sweet engine note starting to penetrate the cabin, which sounds sweeter than the radio music.
As for the suspension system, you get the normal MacPherson strut for the front and you get a torsion beam and coil spring for the rear. You also get an Electronic Power steering (EPS) which is sharp in feel to aid you in maneuvering the car. After a long time using it, you get so used to it that you find the conventional power steering heavy. The result of all these is that you get a ride which is extremely firm when you tackle a corner or even on a straight stretch of road.
You would be attacking corners at higher speeds than you would on other cars. I’d forgive you for that as you wouldn’t even know unless you look at the meters. However, the back suspension is still a tad bit too soft for my liking. It gives me an unstable feeling. The suspension is also a tad bit too loud for my liking when it’s doing its work. A little more bushing would make the driving experience better.
You also get ventilated discs for the front brakes and you get leading and trailing drums for the rear brakes. It’s funny why they didn’t bother fitting the car with an all wheel disc brake system but I guess they must have their own reasons.
Safety
You’d think a car of this size would not have adequate safety features built into it but you’re wrong. For one, it comes standard with Dual SRS airbags and it even comes with a front seat belt pretensioner system. It comes with ABS (Antilock Braking System), EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and BA (Brake Assist) as well to aid in emergency braking. Not to forget, the car also comes with the pedestrian impact protection to minimise pedestrian injuries in an accident.
Miscellaneous
You have a choice of 6 colours to choose from. At the time of buying this car, there were only 2 colour choices, namely pearl red and pearl blue, available to me and I chose the pearl blue as it’s a striking colour and it looks great under the sun. There are other colours like black, white, orange and azure grey for selection with white being the limited edition. The whites would be the last to come out of the port, last I heard.
You will also hear some rattles from the door panels as you go through rough or bumpy roads. This minor issue can be resolved with some noise insulation mat added to the door panel. Another thing to note is that the roof of the car is not really insulated so it might get a little bit loud when it rains.
Conclusion
All in all, I think this car is a great value for money and you get lots of driving pleasure from it. To add to it, it’s a chick magnet and is sporty for youngsters like me. This car is good if you are not fussy about space and are willing to compromise space for driving pleasure.
Although it’s not a perfect car, but for that price, I have no complaints. Nonetheless, I still hope to resolve some of my dislikes about the car in the near future.
I bought this car for a hefty RM 86,000++ OTR inclusive of insurance. I know it’s expensive and some might say it doesn’t justify the car’s downside at that price but hey, we have to thank our excise duty and import tax for that, no? I believe this car would have been sold at a mere RM 70,000++ had it not been for the taxes and duties. So, for a Japanese CBU at this price, it justifies the car’s downside, well at least for me.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now and this is Alvin, signing off. See you later!
hi buddy,
so satisfied with ur new car ar?
well, i m the lucky one who has u bringing me out with ur car for twice..
u r also lucky that I never read and give comment on ppl’s blog…u r the only one..besides, i never read somethng as early as 5 am in da morning
now is 5 am..just to let u know. :)–>
Nice writeup! I really wanna get the white… what do you think
s0uljah: Sweet! You can actually find the white? Where are you from BTW? It’s a good car to drive. Drives well and drives like a larger car except for some minor dislikes here and there which I feel Suzuki should address.
the new swifts is a cracking car although have experienced several problems that have caused the car to be off the road for a considerable amount of time - not helped out by the pefetic joke of the dealership quality in my area, who could could find a wheel even if it had just gone over them
hi alvin.. i’ve been a reader for ure blog (both blog…on swift n ure personal blog) for quite some time. u cool dude..hehe. back to my question last time..about my decision to get a new swift now or after i finished my loan. so..the details is listed below:
current car - wira SE 2004
loan balance - RM 19k (27 months remaining)
market value of wira - RM 23k
if you don’t mind alvin…i would like to hear ure opinion. thanks
khalishrooney: Honestly, if you asked me, I would be a little bit bias. Judging from your financial term, you can either sell off the Wira and get an extra 4k or so for part of your financing for a new Swift, or, finish up the financing and get a Swift or any other cars after that.
With the exception of a couple of minor annoyances, the Swift is a pretty good car in terms of power and handling. Yes, it is a little bit small in terms of size. Then again, it depends on what you want. In terms of accessories, I am pretty much sure you know what you are getting based on the review.
Again, it’s your call to make. At the end of the day, it depends on your own priority and whether you can afford the car. Anyway, give it a thought. Cheers mate!
Thanks Alvin for your opinion. I really need to think about it before make any decision. Anyway..thanks again and I’m really enjoy reading your blog.
khalishrooney: No worries… Make a wise decision and I hope you enjoy your new car, if you get one.
Hi Alvin,
I’m planning to buy 2nd hand swift. yr 2005, CBU.
Really need ur opinion on MAINTENANCE n fuel consumption. really appreciate it!
Thxs
Nora:
In terms of maintenance, I will personally say it costs more or less the same as a Waja. My last major servicing cost me about Rm300++.
Fuel consumption is pretty standard for a car of its class. Let’s see, for city driving, a full tank of RM60 (RM2/litre) will get me to a distance of 310km before it hits empty. On the highway, with overtaking and some pushing on the throttle, it got me 400km distance, and that was only about 3/4 tank used.When I hit empty when I returned to city, my counter was already showing 500km.
There you go, I hope this helped.
thxs so much!got the car yesterday..so cuteeeee!
nora: I hope you enjoy the car.
Dear Alvin,
It’s have been a year since i bought my first car. As i said before, I love my car.. a year has gone.. you know what..? nothing happen to my car except for a minor annoyances scratches..
The most happiest thing in my life now when fuel price dropped to RM1.80/ltr.. It’s took less than RM50 to full my tank..
Cheers up n have a lovely Chinese New Year..
Hi Alvin,
wow…i’m impressed by all the comments…
Swift has been my dream car for years..im planning to buy one soon and its going to be my first car. do u think its worth it?
i’m also considering to buy a 2nd hand swift to reduce the cost.
If you don’t mind, can you share your opinion?
Thanks Alvin!
Nishie: I am so glad you’re enjoying your car. I hope you have many years of enjoyment to come.
Cheers and a Happy New Year to you too!
Bella: I think I have shared my fair share of opinions with many people around here. I have shared a little bit more on my old blog. Read through the comments and you will know.
http://blog.alvinchong.net/2006/01/08/my-take-on-the-suzuki-swift/
It all boils down to individual preferences and what you are looking for. Whether it is worth it or not depends very much on individuals. As you can see, many of my readers here are pretty satisfied with the car.
At the end of the day, these are some of the things you can consider. If you are looking at resale value, I’d say the Suzuki doesn’t fetch much price unless the price starts inflating again. Added by the fact that you now have the CKD version of the car, the CBU isn’t worth much anymore. You can get yourself a brand new Swift for only RM72K now. A second hand will probably cost you RM55K. So if you are planning to buy this car, you are probably looking at using the car throughout its lifetime.
If you are looking at fuel comsumption, have no doubt about it. For a 1.5L car, it’s pretty economical for the power it provides.
If you are looking for space, this is seriously not the car for you.
If you are looking for a fun car to drive, this is the car to go for!
Pros:
Easy to park.
Electric Power Steering.
Powerful (not too powerful).
Fairly nice interior.
Pretty complete accessories.
Attractive car.
Cons:
Some noises here and there.
Locally assembled central locking might fail.
Locally assembled radiator gives a loud sound at times.
Bear in mind though, the accessories for the CBU and CKD version of the car might differ somewhat. Be sure to check with your local dealers to make sure you understand the whole package you are putting your money into.
I hope that helped. If you have anymore questions, please do not hesitate to ask me. Cheers!
hi there,
i juz bought the black color suzuki swift last week. it’s juz awesome and a great car. would anyone help me to setting the audio, what should i set the level of treble,fader etc…to make the sound better? tq
prinze: Hi, thanks for dropping by. Congratulations on your purchase and I hope you enjoy your car as much as I did. By making the sound better, what do you exactly mean? It depends very much on individual preferences and for me, I normally set both treble and bass to +6 which is the maximum. At times, I feel that having the treble at +6 and the bass at +4 is optimum. It’s not too noisy when you wanna talk. I leave my fader and bal at 0. Really, it’s all about individual preferences. Cheers.