Undoubtedly one of the more pleasant cars on our fleet for the purpose of enjoying the thrill of driving, the plucky Suzuki Swift Sport has made quite an impression on the CAR team – especially as it fared quite well in a comparative test against its direct rival, Chevrolet’s Sonic RS, in a recent issue of CAR magazine (read the test here).
With its free-revving 1,6-litre normally aspirated motor and neutral handling characteristics, exploiting short straights and tight corners of the odd mountain pass has taken up much of the Swift Sport’s time at CAR. It’s quite addictive to flick the six-speed manual gearbox between ratios, thanks to a clutch that lends itself to an enthusiastic drive by way of a meaty action that’s easy to modulate.
Despite the Swift’s sporty disposition, it hasn’t really affected CT 61 HR’s performance at the filling station. To date, its thirstiest pump-to-pump return was 9,14 L/100 km, while the average has been hovering around 7 L/100 km.
While the Swift was on a short term test I didn’t notice anything untoward with the ride quality, but over the last two months the Sport’s ride has seemed a bit crashy at low speed, and despite the strong quality of the cabin’s plastics, certain road imperfections make the cabin panels resonate a bit too much for my liking.
AFTER 4 MONTHS
7 863 km
7,37 L/100 km
We like: Fuel economy, enjoyable driving experience
We don’t like: harsh damping at low speed