Living with a Suzuki Swift: a great small car overshadowed by one deadly rival
March 03, 2025 by Jamie Edkins
Car changing is a big deal
We’ve been running the new Suzuki Swift for a few months to see if this affordable hatchback can cut the mustard against the competition.
The Suzuki Swift is something of a rarity these days. While other small cars are getting more and more complicated and trying to push upmarket with posh materials, the humble Swift has remained refreshingly simple.
You get a small, efficient petrol engine up front, a good amount of space in the middle and loads of tech as standard, all for less than £20,000 if you go for the entry-level car. It doesn’t feel luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but should that put you off? We’ve been living with the new Swift for four months to find out.
Living with a Suzuki Swift: intro
Let’s start off by taking a closer look at our Suzuki Swift. We’ve got the top-spec Ultra version, and straight off the bat can tell you that this isn’t the one you should buy.
The basic Motion model comes with so much kit as standard it’s not really worth paying the extra £1,000 to upgrade. As standard all versions of the Swift get adaptive cruise control, heated front seats, a reversing camera, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and keyless entry and start.
Going for the Ultra gets you the same 16-inch alloy wheels as the Motion but with a polished finish, which we found scratches quite easily when you clean them, automatic air conditioning and power-folding door mirrors – although there’s no option to make them automatically fold when you lock the doors.
Our car is finished in “Frontier Blue Pearl Metallic”, and it’s a £700 option. This is also the only optional extra fitted to this Swift, bringing the total cost to a hair below £21,000.
Living with a Suzuki Swift: engine and driving
Under the bonnet of the Suzuki Swift is a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine with 82hp. It’s assisted by a mild hybrid system for added efficiency, although it doesn’t do much to improve the performance.
Joining the motorway is a pretty noisy affair, and any overtakes need to be very well thought out as this non-turbocharged engine doesn’t have much mid-range punch.
It’s around town that the Swift feels most at home. The steering is light and you have great all-round visibility, although the suspension can be a bit jiggly over bumps. The standard-fit reversing camera does help, although it’s very low-definition and it gets covered in road grime really quickly.
Living with a Suzuki Swift: things we loved
We really enjoyed our time with the Suzuki Swift. There’s a lot to like about this car, and here are five cool things which stood out.
Loaded with tech
Very few cars at this price point come with this much standard equipment. Heated seats and adaptive cruise control are features you pay extra for on some BMWs, so to have them as standard on a sub-£20,000 Suzuki is really impressive.
Physical climate controls
So many modern cars bury the climate controls in a touchscreen menu – we’re looking at you, Peugeot 208. The Swift has physical buttons which are easy to use on the move. Sometimes the best solution is also the simplest.
Practicality
For such a small car the Swift is actually quite practical. The boxy body means you get good rear headroom, and back-seat passengers will even have decent legroom. The boot may not be that big, but you do still get plenty of storage cubbies in the cabin for your bits and bobs.
Fuel economy
It may not be fast, but the Suzuki Swift is really fuel-efficient. We covered more than 3,000 miles in ours over four months, and in that time it averaged 58mpg. That’s only 6mpg off the official claimed figure. By comparison, a Renault Clio will do a claimed 54mpg.
Country road fun
This is a very lightweight car, and as a result it’s great fun to drive on a country road. It feels responsive and the steering is precise, meaning it’ll put a smile on your face as you chuck it at the bends.
Living with a Suzuki Swift: annoying things
No car is perfect, and the Suzuki Swift is no exception. Here are five things which annoyed us over the last four months.
Infotainment woes
The infotainment system in this car looks like something you’d fit aftermarket 10 years ago, and it’s quite laggy and slow to use. We also found that it would take ages to pair to your phone, so long in fact you’d give up before being jumpscared a mile away from your house by My Chemical Romance at full volume.
Beep beep beep
The safety systems in the Swift love to beep at you, and one in particular really got on our nerves. The speed limit warning would regularly pick up signs for side roads, so it would think the dual carriageway you were on had a 20mph speed limit resulting in a cacophony of beeping. Turning it off is a process which requires two hands, the car to be stationary and a computer science degree.
Interior quality
We mentioned at the start that a lot of small hatchback interiors are getting posher these days – the Swift isn’t one of them. There’s not a single soft-touch plastic in the cabin, and bits of it feel flimsy. This honest simplicity is refreshing in a way, just don’t go expecting a premium feel.
The seats
On longer journeys the lack of support in the seats really becomes apparent, because you find yourself squirming around trying to get comfortable. After a few hours behind the wheel you find yourself using the seat heater to relieve your sciatica.
Fuel door release
Like a lot of Japanese cars you can’t release the fuel door from the outside, you have to pull a lever under the dashboard. This is annoying when you forget to do it, and it’s even more annoying when you pull the bonnet release by accident because they’re right next to each other.
Living with a Suzuki Swift: should you buy one?
Over the last four months our Suzuki Swift has been a great runaround. It’s economical, good to drive, packed with tech and offers decent practicality.
It would be an easy car to recommend if it weren’t for one deadly rival: The Renault Clio. That car costs around the same as the Swift, but it has a much nicer interior and feels more refined at motorway speeds. It also has a bigger boot.
Check out Mat’s review of the Renault Clio…
The Clio isn’t as well-equipped as the Swift though, you have to go for the range-topping Esprit Alpine model to get similar levels of equipment. However with Carwow savings you can get the top-spec versions of both of these cars for the same price – around £19,000.
We’ve loved living with the Suzuki Swift, and if you’re after a well-equipped small car which is great fun to drive then it should be on your shortlist. The Renault Clio is a fly in the Swift’s ointment though because it’s just that bit better for the same money.
Car change? Carwow!
Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.
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