Just a few weeks ago, I had an interesting experience trying out two trim levels of a car for a few days each, back to back. And it seems I’ve turned this into a thing, because now I had two (actually, the two) trim levels of the Suzuki Swift for an evaluation. I started my time with the GLS manual, and then switched to the RSC automatic. Both in Hybrid form, they now represent the new offerings from Suzuki in a segment that they understand very, very well.
The Swift is an important model for Suzuki, and probably one of the first that comes to your mind when you think of the brand. Having sold over 9 million units worldwide, it has been many people’s first car, where they learned to drive, or a car they had many generations of around their household. So it makes sense that Suzuki would have a history of playing it safe when moving from one shape to the next, focussing more on evolution of a winning formula rather than a total revolution.
On the exterior, Suzuki has barely changed the dimensions, something that goes against the usual “bigger is better” formula we see too often recently. The lines have been modernised all-around, however – there is a new clamshell bonnet, more prominent lines on the sides and more interesting front and rear light assemblies. The two-tone paint is now more pronounced, especially because the C-pillar element is no longer just an excuse to hide the rear door handles. It made sense on the previous generation, as it was then that the three-door option was culled, but now we’ve moved to the Acceptance stage, and so it became an actual design element.
There are not many visual differences between the two trim levels. The GLS comes with 15 inch steel wheels and hubcaps, whereas the RSC Two Tone I had ups the wheels to 16 inch alloys and the paint to, well, Two Tone. The alloy wheels elevate the look of the car and make it better to drive, but more on that later.
The rear door handles being in this new location make it easier for smaller kids to find their way into the back. The side lines of the glasshouse droop a bit, so if you’re taller you have to be careful when getting in there. However, once in, space is enough for two adults back there, and the boot is also quite usable despite its high loading lip.
Keeping on the theme of small changes, this is also what you’ll see as you jump inside both cars. The interior has familiar elements to previous generations, and materials are simple but on par with the segment, with an intuitive layout and good build quality. It is spacious enough for a city car, visibility is very good and ergonomics are a masterclass.
The higher trim level doesn’t focus on party tricks, and instead goes for features that will make the Swift easier to live with: a leather wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats (with height adjustment for the driver), privacy rear glass, climate control, USB-C charging ports and a better sound system. For the feature fiends like myself, it is clear the RSC manages to separate itself from the GLS with these.
The technology suite on offer has been updated, but not to a point where it is leading the segment. It feels old school at this point, being light on goodies and laggy some times. But it gets the fundamentals just right: you can see relevant driving statistics, play around with your media and even navigation. Not that I got to use most of that other than when testing: for most of the time, it was simpler and quicker to rely on the wireless phone projection, something missing in cars many times the price of the Swift. The democratisation of tech is an equaliser in the industry and shows that sometimes it’s just better to let the phone do the heavy lifting. The rearview camera has terrible dynamic range but who cares, you’re using it to reverse, not to shoot a movie, and it gets the former done in a heartbeat because of its wide view and fast sampling rate.
If you’re wondering if I got lucky to have both Swifts as hybrids, it was not by chance – the 4th-gen Swift is only available as a hybrid in New Zealand! But it is an interesting kind of hybrid: it is not “a textbook hybrid” as the wheels are never powered by electric power alone, and it treads a different mild-hybrid route by using a 12V assembly instead of the usual 48V. This means it drives very conventional regardless of the gearbox choice, with the biggest change being how it coasts to a stop with the revised stop-and-start system – as you roll to a standstill, the manual car will kill the engine even before you completely stop if in Neutral, with the auto waiting just a bit longer. Foot on the clutch on the former, or off the brake on the latter and you’re good to go, with no jerkiness or starter noise – much improved.
The internal combustion engine dropped one cylinder between generations, and with that comes that three popper engine sound we all love at this point. It is immensely more rewarding to interact with in the Manual, as the CVT auto is very rubber-bandy. Under load, the raspy note inundates the cabin and you will find yourself doing that all the time without ever breaking the speed limit. Too bad it will only rev to 6K RPM (three cylinders love to vibrate themselves apart), because this has always been one of the facets that made the Swift such a fun little car.
On the topic of gearboxes, both are good, not great. This is potentially the friendliest Manual I remember driving – the low inertia of the engine means the clutch can rev it up no problem, making it almost impossible to stall. Even Matthew, our resident manual newbie, managed to get inside and drive it for our review without embarrassing himself (too much). And the same applies to the shifter itself: its actuation is vague, so while it’s easy to just throw in a gear, you lose some engagement in return.
As for the CVT, it gets the job done, and is comfortable most of the time. It was stubborn to go in and out of manual mode through the paddles, but what really ground my (continuously variable) gears was the hesitancy and jerkiness when going from battery regeneration to coasting. It didn’t happen all the time, but this is a thing CVTs had figured out quite some time ago.
Both cars offer adaptive cruise control, and on the Manual it only works from third gear onwards and will disengage before the car stalls. And stalling is something it really doesn’t like doing. Dave, Matt and myself got to drive it, in different levels of familiarity and rush, and not a single time did the manual Swift failed to proceed because of our lack of clutch control.
Much the same as when I tried out another Suzuki, the Jimny, the third pedal adds another layer of engagement to the Swift. The adage of “driving a slow car slightly fast” definitely does apply here. The Swift is greatly benefitted by its feather weight, as it allows Suzuki to do chassis control with softer springs and shocks. Yes, it is floppy and has a lot of roll, but this makes it fun while also making it comfortable everywhere else. It is never crashy, behaves gracefully on motorway speeds and will not shy away from corners. I got some hints of oversteer towards the limit more than once, something that instantly reminded me I once wanted to build one as a track car.
Something else to be taken into consideration are the tyres. From one trim level to the other, they change not only wheel size, but also tyre width and compound. The 10mm wider Yokohamas of the RSC do a better job at keeping the front end of the Swift planted than the efficiency-friendly Ecopias equipped to the GLS. And it’s not like this came at the expense of real world efficiency, at least not during my drives. Over 650km combined with the two cars, I clocked the exact same consumption figures of 4.7L/100km. However, in the Manual’s defense, I probably drove it harder more often, but it was asking for it, your Honour.
The short gears require you to shift often, and it’s so easy to do so. The small power envelope lets you use more of the powertrain without getting yourself in trouble, and its small dimensions make it easy to judge your placement on the roads and lanes.
The 4th gen of the Swift is another one of those cases where a brand knows they have something good on their hands, and making small improvements here and there will keep the product relevant, affordable and attractive. Being a driver instructor’s favourite, I cannot think of a better vehicle to learn the basics of car control that also doubles as a great starter car that disappears around you while offering pretty much everything you need.
Thanks, Suzuki, from the opportunity, and thanks to you for reading this far!
