Suzuki Swace Review & Prices

The Suzuki Swace may give you a sense of deja vu - it's familiar, but something's off that you can't quite put your finger on. The reason? The Swace is effectively a Toyota Corolla Touring Sports that's been given a nose job and some light botox.

The Swace - and the Suzuki Across, which is a rebadged Toyota RAV4 - exist thanks to a partnership Suzuki has with Toyota. Suzuki gets some box-fresh ready-made hybrid cars to expand its product lineup and reduce its average emissions, and Toyota gets Suzuki's expertise in designing small cars for the developing world. Everyone's a winner.

Despite being a badge job, the Swace has some appeal of its own. For starters, the basic package is extremely compelling - the Corolla Touring Sports is not only good to drive and extremely efficient, but it has a big boot and is incredibly reliable. Those qualities all filter through to the Swace.

But why would you bother with the Suzuki? Well, you might prefer the looks. Or, at the time you're ready to change your car, there might be a better deal available on the Swace than on the equivalent Corolla - in terms of cash price, the Swace is a couple of grand cheaper than the Corolla. For many, it'll be that they like their local Suzuki dealer - compared to the more corporate Toyota offering, Suzuki dealers are often smaller, family-run and friendly, which could suit you down to the ground.

While Suzuki raided Toyota’s substantial larder to create the Swace, it didn’t take everything. For starters, it’s only available as an estate, whereas the Corolla can also be had as a hatchback and a saloon. The Suzuki also only gets one engine option rather than the wider choice Toyota offers, which is a shame.

The Swace comes fitted only with Toyota’s 1.8-litre petrol hybrid system. This combines a petrol engine with an electric motor for a total of 140hp. Unlike a plug-in hybrid, this self-charging system can't run on electric power for more than a mile or two at a time - but leave it to its own devices, allowing the engine to fire up when it wants to, and fuel economy is excellent - over 50mpg is easily achievable.

The Swace has a CVT, or continuously variable transmission, which does somewhat limit driver interaction. Instead of discrete gears, you get one constantly shifting ratio, which is great for efficiency but doesn't feel particularly natural to drive. It's not totally devoid of character, though, as it corners very tidily and handles bumps in the road well.

Surprise, surprise, the Suzuki Swace’s cabin is a lot like that of its Toyota…well, you get the drift by now. It’s not as elegant to look at as Volkswagen Golf Estate’s interior, but it feels like it’s been built with long-lasting solidity more than fashion in mind.

Space is a mixed bag - there's more legroom than more of the competition, including the Golf - but it's pipped by the Skoda Octavia Estate. Headroom is more limited, and adults over six feet might find they need to slouch.

It's a similar story in the boot, which is large and practical but not up there with the very biggest. On the upside, you can store the parcel shelf under the false boot floor and a mountain bike fits easily once you fold the seats.

There are two trim levels available, Motion and Ultra, both of which are well kitted-out. Motion models come with 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights with automatic full beam, an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus lane-keep assist and a pre-collision safety system.

To this, Ultra adds front and rear parking sensors, wireless smartphone charging, bi-LED projector headlights, a blind spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert and a parking-assist system. Both cars also have radar-guided cruise control, lane-departure warning, road sign assist, automatic door locking and tyre-pressure monitoring.

If this all sounds good, check out the latest Suzuki Swace deals, or find a deal on a used Suzuki Swace here. Check out our used Suzuki deals too, and remember that when the time comes to change your car you can sell your car online through Carwow's network of trusted dealers.

When Suzuki first launched the Swace, it was identically priced to the equivalent Toyota Corolla Sports estate model. Now, the Suzuki is quite a bit cheaper as prices of the Corolla have moved up.

The result is that at time of writing, a Swace works out more than £2000 cheaper than a similarly equipped Corolla estate, which is a big saving in anyone’s book. Even a top-spec Swace Ultra is cheaper than the entry-level Corolla Icon.

It also means the Suzuki is very keenly priced against rivals such as the Ford Focus Estate and Volkswagen Golf Estate, and even the class-defining Skoda Octavia wagon.

The Suzuki Swace is much the same as a Toyota Corolla to drive, which is to say very capable and, well, a bit dull

In town

Suzuki is a company that has made a virtue out of practicality and the Swace fits right in with this ethos.

Around town, it demands nothing from the driver other than the bare minimum of effort to steer, stop and make the car move. If that sounds like faint praise, it is, but it also means the Suzuki is really rather easy and relaxing to use in the urban environment.

The hybrid system lets you drive for short distances on battery power, and the engine comes into play quickly and quietly when needed.

Performance is okay but won’t impress any car fanatic friends. Then again, the CVT (continuously variable transmission) automatic gearbox that’s standard in the Swace just gets on with its job of making seamless progress.

It’s the same story with the ride as the Swace mops up most bumps without you paying much attention to them, and the engine only makes itself known when you press hard on the accelerator.

A decent turning circle adds to the Swace’s city credentials, and vision is good in all directions. Plus, a reversing camera is included with both trim levels of Swace.

On the motorway

Much like the way the Swace gets around town, Suzuki has stuck with a car that covers motorway miles with little disturbance to the driver.

Wind and road noise are pleasingly distant whispers at 70mph, and the engine only becomes vocal when you try to accelerate quickly and the automatic gearbox makes it spin harder than feels good for it, or your ears.

Once up to speed, though, the Swace cruises along quietly and very efficiently. It’s stable and the suspension makes a good effort at absorbing bumps and lumps before they have any impact on the car’s occupants.

On a twisty road

If you’re hoping for the Swace to be anything like the Suzuki Swift Sport, be prepared for disappointment. On the other hand, if you reckon the Swace will be just like the Corolla, you are bang on the money.

The Swace is never going to set your pulse racing on a twisty road, but it grips steadfastly to make it safe and easy to get from here to there. If you want to do this with a smile, buy a Ford Focus.

What does hold the Swace back on country lanes more than anything is the engine and gearbox combo. They just don’t deliver much in the way of performance for overtaking slower traffic, and the racket the engine makes when you ask for strong acceleration soon has you backing off to get back to the quiet life.

The Suzuki Swace has all of the important bases covered for comfort, space and carrying capacity, but there are roomier estates available

Getting comfortable in the driver’s seat of the Suzuki Swace is a simple affair for almost anyone.

You get height adjustment for the driver’s chair as standard, and it moves back and forth more than enough on its runners for drivers of all statures to make themselves at home.

The Swace’s backrest adjusts by pulling the lever up and letting the upper part of the seat spring into place. It’s quick and easy to use, if not the most accurate system. Powered lumbar adjustment is standard on both trims of Swace.

Adjustment for the steering wheel sees it move for height and depth, so it completes an impressive array of movement for the driver to hone the seating position.

With all of that sorted, the view out of the Suzuki is very good in all directions, including over the driver’s left shoulder for reversing or swapping lanes.

To help with parking, all Swaces come with a reversing camera, and the upper Ultra trim also has front and rear parking sensors included.

The door bins in the Suzuki are quite small and narrow, but it makes up for this shortcoming with a large glovebox.

There are also cupholders moulded into the transmission tunnel behind the gear lever. Further back, there’s also a cubby with lift-up lid that doubles as an armrest.

A small tray in front of the gear stick is ideal for holding your phone, especially as this is where there’s an USB charge point.

Space in the back seats

Suzuki, or Toyota really, has nailed rear seat space as the Swace offers almost as much legroom as a Skoda Octavia. That is very impressive and means adults fit in there without a hitch.

Head room in the back seats is not quite as generous as the Skoda’s, but that's only really a complaint for the very tall.

You can fit three adults across the Swace’s back bench, helped by the small hump in the floor that helps offer decent space for feet. A trio of kids will be more than happy back here, and there are ISOFIX child seat mounts in the two outer rear seats. The rear doors don't open especially wide, however, making installation more of a pain than it could be.

The centre armrest folds down to provide two cupholders, while the door pockets are a reasonable size. There’s also a map pocket in the passenger seat back.

Vision for those travelling in the back of the Swace is better than most cars of this type thanks to its relatively low window line, and it feels quite open and airy in the rear of the Suzuki.

Boot space

As an estate, the Suzuki Swace should be all about carrying loads with the maximum of ease, and it is.

It’s not the biggest estate car of this size for outright load capacity, with that accolade going to the Skoda Octavia at 640 litres, but the Swace is still very good. It offers 596 litres of space with the rear seats in use, and the load sill sits flush with the floor when the height adjustable floor is in its upper position. It outsizes the 575-litre Ford Focus Estate or the 473-litre Kia Ceed Sportswagon.

Tip the 60:40 split and fold rear seats down and you can free up to 1420 litres of room to carry luggage or anything else you want to pack in here.

There are sturdy tie-down points, and a 12-volt power socket in the boot to charge kit like a portable fridge.

Quality is the watchword inside the Suzuki Swace, though it does come at the expense of much in the way of style

Suzuki has lifted the Corolla’s cabin design wholesale for the Swace, which has pros and cons.

The cons are the look and style of the dash and cabin is, well, a bit plain. Clear and uncluttered would be a kinder way to describe it, but then so are others in this sector like the Skoda Octavia’s interior that still manage to inject a bit of pizazz and allure into their designs.

In the pros column, you’ll find superb quality where everything feels as if it will last for generations, or certainly the lifetime of use that a minicab driver would put it through.

The main dash display has blue back-lighting that is about as swish as the Swace gets, and it’s easy to read the dials in daytime or at night.

Steering wheel buttons work the menus for the various menus on offer in the main instrument binnacle.

In the centre console, you have physical buttons for the heating and ventilation, thankfully, so it’s a matter of milliseconds to adjust the temperature or fan speed as you’re driving, rather than having to fathom various infotainment menus.

Speaking of infotainment, the Swace comes with the same system as you find in the Corolla, which is a bit of step up from that found in the likes of Suzuki’s Swift or S-Cross.

The 8.0-inch colour touchscreen sits up high on the dash, so it’s easy to see at a glance. There are also shortcut buttons on either side to take you directly to the most commonly used menu pages.

As well as the shortcut keys, there are two rotary knobs for the stereo volume and to scroll through channels.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included with both trim levels of the Swace, so you can easily connect your phone and access its apps through the Suzuki’s infotainment screen.

Whichever of the two trims you pick with the Suzuki Swace, they both run on 16-inch alloy wheels and have a CVT (continuously variable transmission) automatic gearbox. As a result, both trim levels provide the same fuel economy and emissions.

The official combined figure for the Swace’s fuel consumption is 62.7mpg, and that's a figure that's genuinely achievable in the real world if you drive carefully. Even with the most leaden of feet you'd really struggle to bring fuel economy down below 50mpg.

Emissions are a very decent 102g/km, which means a low initial road tax bill and moderate company car tax, so the Swace is not going to be a bank-buster to run and own.

The Swace has not been tested by Euro NCAP, but the near-identical Toyota Corolla has and it came away with a full five-star rating, which should also be true of the Suzuki.

This is because the Swace shares the Corolla’s long list of crash protection kit that covers seven airbags, including one for the driver’s knees.

There are also ISOFIX mounts for child seats in the two outer rear seats, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, and traffic sign recognition with all models.

For those choosing the Ultra trim, you also get blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert to let you know of cars approaching that you might not see from the driver’s seat.

Suzuki and Toyota both have enviable reputations for the reliability of their cars, so the Swace is off to a very good start.

Suzuki provides its usual three-year/60,000-mile warranty with the Swace, but has also introduced what it calls a 'service-activated warranty'. This is like Toyota's ten-year coverage, in that you unlock a new year of warranty cover every time you undergo a scheduled service at a Suzuki dealer. Suzuki is a little less generous than Toyota, covering the Swace for a maximum of seven years but a Toyota-matching 100,000 miles.

There are no recalls for the Swace, so you don’t have to worry about checking in with a dealer to have any preventative work carried out on used models.