In an attempt to keep competition at bay, Maruti Suzuki have made the Swift more practical. However, in achieving the objective has this popular hatchback lost its core attribute of being a peppy and fun-to-drive car?
Yes, the wait is over and we bring you the first impression of Maruti Suzuki’s popular oddball, the Swift, in a brand-new avatar.
It looks the same at first dekko. It’s only when you look more closely that you notice that the headlights have grown in size, that the front grille and air-intakes have also become larger and now carry a new ‘U’ design philosophy. The same theme is also visible at the rear of the car as the boot gets a nice sliced edge design. The outer rear-view mirrors now feature turn indicators. The radio antenna looks more sporty and has moved from the front to the back of the roof.
The new Swift still comes with petrol and diesel engine options and the diesel now also comes in a new top-end ZDi variant. Like the petrol top-of-the-line ZXi, the ZDi features large 15-inch tyres with good looking alloy wheels. However, the lower versions still sport 14-inch regular OEM wheels. The top-end models also sport a rear screen defogger, premium fabric upholstery, a meter console with multi-information display such as fuel range, etc, automatic climate control, ABS, EBD and dual SRS airbags along with driver seat height adjustment, rear wiper and washers.
As you step inside the car, you notice that the interior has also been given a complete makeover. A new chunkier steering wheel with illuminated audio controls looks great. The multi-layered dashboard gets a nice honeycomb pattern with wrap-around silver accents that flow to the door panels. There is a handy retractable cup holder on the passenger side. The waterfall centre console holds a new music system which comes with six speakers, USB and AUX inputs and also a speed-based volume control. All four doors now get storage pockets. The cabin has a more premium feel, but some of the plastic material still has scope for improvement.
The length of the new Swift has increased by 90 millimetres, its wheelbase by 40 mm and is also a little wider than its predecessor. Thankfully, this means 20 mm of additional rear knee-room. The petrol version is lighter by 30 kg and the diesel one by 15 kg owing to the light material used across the car such as high-strength steel, a smaller ABS unit and a polymer fuel tank, all of which endow the car with a good power-to-weight ratio.
The 1.2-litre K-series petrol motor now gets VVT (variable valve timing), which, according to the figures publicised by Maruti, improves the car’s fuel economy by four per cent to 18.6 km per litre and the torque goes up marginally to 114 Nm at 4,000 RPM. The peak power now is 87 PS at 6,000 RPM. While the diesel DDiS 1.3-litre engine still produces 190 Nm at 2,000 RPM, the peak power is reduced by one PS to 75 PS at 4,000 RPM. Maruti claim a efficiency of 22.9 km per litre.
The focus in both the engines is on the mid-range, with the result that the new Swift is great for city driving, but now does not feel as peppy as the outgoing model. Even the steering wheel does not offer a great feedback. However, the rigid monocoque frame keeps the car stable and the new MRF tyres offer better grip. The best part is that the engines have become much more refined and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels have been reduced by three decibels.
Maruti have hiked the price of the new Swift because it now offers more technology, more space and more refinement. It would now cost between Rs 4.38 lakh and Rs 5.63 lakh ex-showroom Pune for the petrol variants and Rs 5.21 lakh-Rs 6.44 lakh ex-showroom Pune for the diesel ones.
This is a promising product, albeit more expensive than its competitors. I am not sure if buyers will be easily inclined to pay more, especially since there are several other good products in the market that come with a lighter price tag.
Story: Sarmad Kadiri
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
