Suzuki Swift Review & Prices

Suzuki has been taking notes from Porsche over the past few years. Not in the sense that it’s started building rear-engined supercars, but more in the way the new Swift Hybrid hasn’t changed a great deal compared to its predecessor. It’s just been tweaked and updated to improve upon what was already there, resulting in a refreshingly simple small car.

You can think of the Swift as the Custard Cream of the small car world. It’s not the most exciting, and there are certainly more adventurous options out there, but the Custard Cream is a solid and reliable choice, and it’s not as expensive as those posh chocolate-covered biscuits.

To look at, the Suzuki Swift is clearly an evolution of the old car. The overall shape is very similar, but it looks like it’s been given some lip filler thanks to the more pronounced grille, and the bonnet has a more rounded shape than before.

Inside, the dashboard is pretty simple and logically laid out. It feels on the cheap side, a Renault Clio has much more plush-feeling materials, but the Swift feels like it’s built to last. It also gets a freestanding touchscreen and simple dials in front of the driver, as well as physical switches for the climate controls which are easy to use on the move.

For a small car, the Swift feels pretty roomy inside. Four adults will be able to get comfortable, although five will be a squeeze thanks to the narrow middle seat. The boot isn’t exactly cavernous either at 265 litres, but it’s still slightly bigger than an MG3's and there’s enough space for a decent-sized supermarket shop.

Powering the Swift is a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine. It may say hybrid on the boot, but in day-to-day life you’ll find it hard to tell. It’s a 48-volt mild hybrid system which means it can’t drive on electric power alone - it’s essentially a more advanced start-stop system which improves efficiency.

Still, it does a great job of both lowering emissions and saving fuel, only emitting 99g/km of CO2, and 60mpg is easily doable. It’s not a fast car - 0-60mph takes a rather pedestrian 12.5 seconds thanks to an 82hp output - but it still feels pretty, well, swift from behind the wheel. A five-speed manual gearbox comes as standard, with a CVT automatic also available as an option.

This hatchback is sweet to drive. It’s not as much fun as a Mini, nor is it as refined as a Volkswagen Polo, but the low weight and crisp steering means it’s an enjoyable car to fling through corners. Refinement is a weak point for the Swift though, because it lets in quite a lot of wind and road noise at speed and the suspension isn’t the most comfortable around town.

The Suzuki Swift is a simple and honest small car, which is a breath of fresh air in this age of ever more complex hatchbacks. It may not be the most refined, and the interior does feel built down to a price, but it’s very cheap to run, affordable to buy and generously equipped.

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The Swift isn’t as cheap as it used to be, but it still represents pretty good value for money. It’s a bit more expensive than a Renault Clio, and you can have a range-topping Dacia Sandero for around £2,000 less.

It makes up for this small price hike by being very generously equipped as standard. All cars get adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and heated seats. To get all this kit on a Clio you’ll have to pay an extra £2,500 over the Swift.

For an extra £1,000 you can step up to the Ultra, which gets you 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic air conditioning, power-folding mirrors and height-adjustable seatbelts. The CVT automatic gearbox will set you back an additional £1,250 on either model.

The Swift is good fun on a twisty road and it’s easy to drive in town, but motorway refinement is lacking

In town

If you’re looking at the Suzuki Swift, chances are you spend a lot of time driving in town. Thankfully, this is an easy car to slot through city streets. You have great all-round visibility thanks to the large windows, and it has a tight turning circle to make hasty U-turns a breeze.

All cars come with a reversing camera and rear parking sensors to keep car park bumps to a minimum, and to make reversing out of a space easier you also get rear cross-traffic alert which will warn you of approaching cars.

You get a five-speed manual gearbox as standard, and it’s pretty easy to use. The clutch and gear shift are both light and smooth, although you may want to consider the automatic version if you spend a lot of time in stop-start traffic.

It may have a hybrid badge on it, but the Swift’s system doesn’t actually allow you to drive using just electric power like a Toyota Yaris does. It’s just a mild hybrid setup which acts like a more advanced version of stop-start, which does help to save a bit of fuel while you wait at the lights.

The suspension is a bit firm around town, but it’s by no means uncomfortable - the Renault Clio is noticeably more jiggly at lower speeds. One thing that may annoy you though is the beeping from the speed limit warning. It’s great that it warns you if you stray over the limit, but often it can read the wrong road signs meaning it thinks the speed limit is lower than it actually is. It’s a pain to switch off as well and you have to do so every time you climb aboard.

On the motorway

The little Suzuki doesn’t feel too out of its depth on the motorway, although you do get quite a lot of wind and road noise disturbing the peace. You notice that little three-cylinder engine thrumming away as well - it could do with a sixth gear.

Still, it feels pretty sure-footed for such a light car and the suspension does an adequate job of soaking up any errant bumps or undulations. The standard-fit adaptive cruise control is nice to have as well, which both keeps you a safe distance from the car in front and steers to keep you in lane.

One thing you may notice after a long stint behind the wheel is a bit of backache. The seats are fairly flat and unsupportive which can lead to you fidgeting about to try and get comfortable. A Skoda Fabia is a better small car for long-distance cruising.

On a twisty road

Get out onto a twisty road and you’ll start to notice the benefits of the Swift’s low weight. It’s quite good fun to fling around corners as you thrash the engine to get the most out of it. The steering is neat and direct, and there’s very little body roll.

The stiff suspension does make the Swift feel a bit fidgety over broken surfaces, and any overtaking manoeuvres need to be very well planned thanks to the lack of power. An MG3 has a lot more punch when you put your foot down.

The Swift is surprisingly spacious for passengers, but a small boot lets the side down

Getting comfortable up front in the Suzuki Swift is a breeze, with plenty of adjustment in both the seats and steering wheel making it easy to find your ideal driving position. It’s just a shame that there’s no lumbar adjustment, and the seats themselves aren’t the most supportive either.

Interior storage is also best-described as adequate. You get a good-sized glove box, and the door bins have a dedicated bottle holder which can swallow up a 1.0-litre flask. That’s about your lot though other than a couple of cupholders, which are quite large but don’t have any way of holding smaller bottles and cups securely.

There are plenty of options for charging your devices though. In front of the gearstick is a tray containing a 12-volt socket, a USB-C port and two full-size USBs.

Space in the back seats

For a small hatchback the Suzuki Swift has a decent amount of rear seat space. The boxy exterior design yields good headroom, and there won’t be much of a struggle for legroom either. It’s more comfortable in the back than a Renault Clio, if not quite as roomy as a Skoda Fabia.

Carrying three can be a struggle though thanks to a narrow middle seat, and the rear passengers aren’t treated to many features. There are no charging points, no central armrest and the door bins are just barely big enough for a medium-sized bottle.

That’ll be less important if you’re carrying a baby in the back though, and fitting a rear-facing child seat isn’t too much of a chore. Once you’ve threaded it through the slightly narrow door openings it’s easy to find the ISOFIX anchor points, and you don’t have to pull the front seats forward too much either.

Boot space

The Swift’s boot is a tale of two halves. On the one hand it’s quite small compared to the alternatives, but on the other it’s a handy square shape which is easy to load - despite the slightly high load lip which you have to lift stiff over.

At 265 litres, it’s 53 litres smaller than the Renault Clio’s boot, and it trails behind the Skoda Fabia by a whopping 115 litres. Still, it’s slightly bigger than the MG3’s load area. If you want maximum space for this sort of money, the seven-seat Dacia Jogger has a whopping 700 litres of it with the third row folded forward.

Fold down the back seats and the Swift offers 589 litres of space, although loading heavy things to the front could be difficult courtesy of a massive ridge in the floor. There’s nowhere clever to store the parcel shelf either, with no real storage underneath the floor.

In terms of features you get a shopping bag hook and a light, and that’s about your lot. There’s no 12-volt socket back here, nor are there any clever places you can put things to stop them rolling around.

The Swift is generously equipped and it’s well-screwed together, but the materials feel cheap and the cabin design is a bit old-hat

The Swift’s cabin won’t set anyone’s pulse racing, but it’s logically laid out and easy to get to grips with. A Peugeot 208 has a much more exciting interior design though, and the materials feel a lot more plush than the cheap and scratchy plastics used in the Suzuki.

It does feel suitably solid though, with a rugged simplicity which inspires confidence that it’ll hold up to the test of time. The contrasting light trim and silver accents also lift things slightly.

The infotainment system is a bit hit and miss. It’s a big improvement over the previous generation's, however it’s still not as slick or easy to use as the screen you get in a Volkswagen Polo.

All cars have a 9.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, meaning you rarely have to navigate the car’s slightly confusing menu system. The screen isn’t the most responsive either, and it can take a minute or two to wake up and pair to your phone when you get in.

Thankfully, the climate controls are housed separately to the screen with physical switches which are really easy to use on the move, something that can’t be said for the Peugeot 208. You also get simple dials behind the wheel which are easy to read with a screen in between for your driving information.

Choosing which engine you want in your Swift is easy, because there’s just one. It’s a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol with a 48-volt mild hybrid system to boost efficiency, the only choice you get is between a five-speed manual or CVT automatic gearbox.

It may not be fast - 0-60mph takes a rather pedestrian 12.9 seconds, but at least it’s very frugal. Suzuki claims this car will return up to 64mpg, and a few weeks with the car in mixed driving conditions saw us achieve 60mpg at a minimum.

This is also one of the only small hatchbacks on the market which comes with the option of all-wheel drive, although this does dent the fuel economy a bit. You’ll lose around 7mpg by going for this model, and it’s not really worth it unless you need to venture off the beaten track from time to time.

The Swift emits just 99g/km of CO2 thanks to a combination of the fuel-sipping engine and light weight, meaning it sits in a pretty low tax bracket for vehicle excise duty. It’ll cost you £175 for the first year, and it falls into a reasonably low Benefit in Kind tax bracket as well, setting you back £887 per year as a company car.

The Suzuki Swift scored a pretty lacklustre three out of five stars in its latest Euro NCAP safety tests. It was mostly marked down because of a lack of driver monitoring systems - it doesn’t have a rear seat occupant detection system and it only senses driver fatigue, not distraction.

It scored pretty well for the actual occupant protection, so it’ll do a good job of keeping you safe if the worst should happen. The Swift also comes as standard with plenty of safety assists such as adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, rear cross traffic alert and a reversing camera.

This latest Swift hasn't been around for long, so it’s a bit early to draw any conclusions on reliability. Rest assured though that the previous car was a very dependable workhorse, and Suzuki has a good reputation for building reliable cars.

You also get a three-year warranty as standard, which can be extended up to seven years if you keep your car serviced on time with Suzuki’s dealer network. This is great peace of mind, however Toyota offers up to ten years of warranty coverage.