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Suzuki Swift, a small, fuel-friendly car
Because of its size, it will be easy to drive through busy city streets and find parking. INTERNET PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Verdict: Other small cars such as the Platz might beat the Swift with four stars for better engine performance and good handling, better reliability, and resale value but the Suzuki Swift wins three star points for good handling, safety, and comfort standards.
Sub compact or super-mini cars continue to grow in number in Uganda. Fuel economy, low maintenance cost and ease of parking are some of the crucial factors attracting a number of people to these cars. Suzuki in particular has been and is still a good supplier of this kind of cars.
The 1.3-litre Suzuki Swift is a serious alternative for other small Toyota cars such as the Vitz, and the Toyota IST. It offers good performance, handling, comfort and design features as well as reliability and resale value.
Performance
According to Paul Kaganzi, a mechanical engineer, the Suzuki Swift has a very fuel efficient small engine with good performance due to the technology of fuel injection it uses. The fuel injection system atomizes the fuel by pumping it under high pressure through a nozzle into the engine. He says the Swift also uses the older single point injection – ‘SPI’ system which delivers the fuel under high pressure through a single nozzle at the centre of the intake manifold.
“The SPI system is cheaper and easier to maintain. Therefore, these innovations improve fuel economy and engine performance of these engines hence fuel friendliness,” he says.
Handling
Kaganzi says the Swift drives reasonably well despite its small size. Its hatchback shape gives it good grounding and road holding in tight maneuvering experiences. Like some other small cars, the swift is not a high performance car and therefore under-performs in that regard. It is a more or less car for city traffic and occasional highway driving.
It handles well on the highway when driven at below 100km per hour. Caution should be exercised when driving through bends and on uneven road surfaces. Good ground clearance assures the drivers of access to our uneven upcountry roads.
Styling, comfort and safety
Suzuki Swift looks impressive with its rally style hatchback design. It has cascading futuristic curves while maintaining a practical look that reassures performance. It might, however, disappoint because of the insufficient boot space for those who want to travel with lots of luggage.
The interior is more spacious and comfortable as its name suggests. In German, it means a seat, place, room and position depending on the context. Safety features on the swift include the seat belts with inertia reeling systems and driver airbags and anti-lock brakes. This is good for the day-to-day running. However, this car does not offer the assurance of safety cells built in to absorb high impact collisions or rollover situations.
Reliability and resale value
The swift is a strong and reliable car. Built by reputable manufacturers, and will serve well as long as they are properly maintained. The technical condition of a used Swift should be examined before purchase. Swifts’ spareparts situation was difficult in the past because the non-service body, engine and suspension parts were not available but information from Suzuki dealers is that these parts are now easy to find.
