ZC33S, 970kg Hot hatch
Discussion
Before getting my under chassis braces fitted I gave them a couple of coats of stonechip for added protection.
From top to bottom they are front lower tie bar, front subframe brace, Cusco mid rear brace (already sprayed in zinc primer) and the rear axle brace.
The SUMMIT S-wave braces come in a rather jazzy powder coat metallic orange and are forged Aluminium so very light. But for the sake of protection now decidedly less jazzy.
From top to bottom they are front lower tie bar, front subframe brace, Cusco mid rear brace (already sprayed in zinc primer) and the rear axle brace.
The SUMMIT S-wave braces come in a rather jazzy powder coat metallic orange and are forged Aluminium so very light. But for the sake of protection now decidedly less jazzy.
Promatic stonechip aerosol, I am not sure how it ranks against its peers but it is what my motor factors had. Once mounted I will give them a good dosing with Lanogaurd aswell.
Doing a rarb with it a good shout. My Cusco rarb has very thin blue paint which has surface corrosion on it now
Doing a rarb with it a good shout. My Cusco rarb has very thin blue paint which has surface corrosion on it now
I was supposed to be getting the braces and suspension fitted yesterday but had to call it off due to the weather, as my car has winter tyres the wife needed it instead.
There has been eight inches of snow around here this week. We went for a lovely meal on Wednesday. Whilst we were eating the wind really picked and snow had drifted across from the fields in several places. Not to much of a problem taking some care until we arrived at two vans coming the opposite way stuck in a drift. Much pushing and back and forthing was to no avail. Thankfully a friendly farmer arrived and pulled the vans through. I made it through the drift by staying in the ruts left by the tractor. Half a mile down the road and another drift. My car got beached this time. The chef from the restaurant was following us in her Focus st, and luckily had a shovel. So a bit of digging and shunting back and forth and the Swift pulled through. You could feel the diff helping out keeping drive going to both wheels most of the time. The Focus followed and also got stuck but we eventually got it free aswell.
I wish I got some pictures to document this little escapade but unfortunately it was flipping freezing and blowing a blizzard so it slipped my mind!
There has been eight inches of snow around here this week. We went for a lovely meal on Wednesday. Whilst we were eating the wind really picked and snow had drifted across from the fields in several places. Not to much of a problem taking some care until we arrived at two vans coming the opposite way stuck in a drift. Much pushing and back and forthing was to no avail. Thankfully a friendly farmer arrived and pulled the vans through. I made it through the drift by staying in the ruts left by the tractor. Half a mile down the road and another drift. My car got beached this time. The chef from the restaurant was following us in her Focus st, and luckily had a shovel. So a bit of digging and shunting back and forth and the Swift pulled through. You could feel the diff helping out keeping drive going to both wheels most of the time. The Focus followed and also got stuck but we eventually got it free aswell.
I wish I got some pictures to document this little escapade but unfortunately it was flipping freezing and blowing a blizzard so it slipped my mind!
xu5 said:
I thought I would share my Suzuki Swift Sport, the ZC33S, which I bought new at the very start of 2020.
In 2019 it became clear that my MX5 1.5 ND was not going to be a long term practical solution for me and my wife as she could not comfortably drive the MX5 as her legs were too short(!). I got a little Aygo (which I fitted with a Bilstein B12 kit) to tide me over as there was nothing that took my fancy really to replace the MX5. Being a fan of lightweight sporty hatches I was looking at finding a low mileage Swift Sport ZC32S, the 1.6 na one. At this point the ZC33S 1.4 turbo came back onto my radar.
When the ZC33S was announced I remember being a bit put off by the news it would be turbocharged. Some of the initial reviews it received seemed to be on a bit of a downer compared to the previous model. None the less any light weight car will prick my interest so I took a test drive. I liked it and so did the wife, hooray!
I really rate it, for a start it is really lightweight compared to its peers at 970kg. So for reference it is a fairly spacious, well equipped 5 door supermini with a strong rigid shell with extra welds and width over the base models that is lighter than a VW Up GTI, lighter than Clio 172 Cup, an MX5, even lighter than the stripped out Fiat 500 Biposto and a third of a ton lighter than the Fiesta ST or Polo GTI and only 50kg heavier than an ickle 106 GTI!
It's book figure of 140hp and 170 lb/ft is regarded as being very pessimistic, standard examples typically have 150-155 hp. Indeed I remember thinking on my test drive that it felt as fast as my old 172 Cup.
My overall goal with this car is to have a fun daily that fits my definition of a hot hatch. Soon after I got it I changed a couple of things to more my taste. Firstly the exhaust, as standard it makes almost no noise. I went for a HKS Spec-L system which gives a nice sound without any obnoxious volume and saves 6kg. At the same time I fitted a Cusco rear anti roll bar. As standard the Swift handles itself with great composure, it rolls a bit but is well damped which I like, personally I wanted it to feel just that little bit more "alert". The RARB has made turn in a bit sharper and helped quell power understeer.
I am not a huge fan of the standard 17" diamond cut wheels, which unfortunately looked very similar to a neighbours Renault Kadjir wheels. Making use of fabled "over night parts available from Japan" some of which can turn up in as little as 6 weeks
I got some 16" ADVAN RZ's shipped over from Japan. Combined with my chosen tyres these save a useful 14kg. The 17's are now been fitted with winter tyres.
I guess I am basically trying to recreate a modern take on the classic hot hatches of the 80's and 90's, the 205 gti and 106 Rallye being old time favourites of mine. To give the Swift a bit more of the edge is was after I had a torque biasing diff form CTC and powerflex lower engine mount fitted.
The diff is pretty awesome giving an extra layer of feedback and obviously more traction and the engine mount makes the whole drivetrain feel more solid.
I picked up a CTC intercooler as I will probably get an ecu remap next year. The intercooler seemed like a good idea to me as the standard cooler can struggle to keep intake temps down once boost pressure and rev limit are raised. A remap with these supporting mods should put it at 180bhp and 220 lb/ft which will likely be as far as I go. I am not particularly interested in chasing big power. Even with 180bhp it would have 189 bhp/ton, not bad for a supermini.
Further plans include a bit of under chassis bracing on order from Summit and Cusco and when that arrives I want to get it undersealed.
A shortened final drive has recently taken my interest. To be honest this would really be a bit of an unnecessary "luxury" as the 6 sp gear box is already fairly well judged and the turbo torque means in gear acceleration is not lacking but I may find the lure too strong!
The ZC33S seem to have fallen off the radar somewhat, undeservedly so in my opinion. They seem like such a good, very capable platform. Obviously the Japanese are very fond of them and I take quite a lot of inspiration from what they show is capable with them. In my youth I was a big fan of French cars but in recent years have become quite interested in Japanese cars. The MX5 ND, GR Yaris and ZC33S being examples of modern cars that do appeal to me.
Anyway I thought I would put my ZC33S out there.
What size / fitment of alloys did you go for? I never knew they done 16” in these?In 2019 it became clear that my MX5 1.5 ND was not going to be a long term practical solution for me and my wife as she could not comfortably drive the MX5 as her legs were too short(!). I got a little Aygo (which I fitted with a Bilstein B12 kit) to tide me over as there was nothing that took my fancy really to replace the MX5. Being a fan of lightweight sporty hatches I was looking at finding a low mileage Swift Sport ZC32S, the 1.6 na one. At this point the ZC33S 1.4 turbo came back onto my radar.
When the ZC33S was announced I remember being a bit put off by the news it would be turbocharged. Some of the initial reviews it received seemed to be on a bit of a downer compared to the previous model. None the less any light weight car will prick my interest so I took a test drive. I liked it and so did the wife, hooray!
I really rate it, for a start it is really lightweight compared to its peers at 970kg. So for reference it is a fairly spacious, well equipped 5 door supermini with a strong rigid shell with extra welds and width over the base models that is lighter than a VW Up GTI, lighter than Clio 172 Cup, an MX5, even lighter than the stripped out Fiat 500 Biposto and a third of a ton lighter than the Fiesta ST or Polo GTI and only 50kg heavier than an ickle 106 GTI!
It's book figure of 140hp and 170 lb/ft is regarded as being very pessimistic, standard examples typically have 150-155 hp. Indeed I remember thinking on my test drive that it felt as fast as my old 172 Cup.
My overall goal with this car is to have a fun daily that fits my definition of a hot hatch. Soon after I got it I changed a couple of things to more my taste. Firstly the exhaust, as standard it makes almost no noise. I went for a HKS Spec-L system which gives a nice sound without any obnoxious volume and saves 6kg. At the same time I fitted a Cusco rear anti roll bar. As standard the Swift handles itself with great composure, it rolls a bit but is well damped which I like, personally I wanted it to feel just that little bit more "alert". The RARB has made turn in a bit sharper and helped quell power understeer.
I am not a huge fan of the standard 17" diamond cut wheels, which unfortunately looked very similar to a neighbours Renault Kadjir wheels. Making use of fabled "over night parts available from Japan" some of which can turn up in as little as 6 weeks
I got some 16" ADVAN RZ's shipped over from Japan. Combined with my chosen tyres these save a useful 14kg. The 17's are now been fitted with winter tyres.I guess I am basically trying to recreate a modern take on the classic hot hatches of the 80's and 90's, the 205 gti and 106 Rallye being old time favourites of mine. To give the Swift a bit more of the edge is was after I had a torque biasing diff form CTC and powerflex lower engine mount fitted.
The diff is pretty awesome giving an extra layer of feedback and obviously more traction and the engine mount makes the whole drivetrain feel more solid.
I picked up a CTC intercooler as I will probably get an ecu remap next year. The intercooler seemed like a good idea to me as the standard cooler can struggle to keep intake temps down once boost pressure and rev limit are raised. A remap with these supporting mods should put it at 180bhp and 220 lb/ft which will likely be as far as I go. I am not particularly interested in chasing big power. Even with 180bhp it would have 189 bhp/ton, not bad for a supermini.
Further plans include a bit of under chassis bracing on order from Summit and Cusco and when that arrives I want to get it undersealed.
A shortened final drive has recently taken my interest. To be honest this would really be a bit of an unnecessary "luxury" as the 6 sp gear box is already fairly well judged and the turbo torque means in gear acceleration is not lacking but I may find the lure too strong!
The ZC33S seem to have fallen off the radar somewhat, undeservedly so in my opinion. They seem like such a good, very capable platform. Obviously the Japanese are very fond of them and I take quite a lot of inspiration from what they show is capable with them. In my youth I was a big fan of French cars but in recent years have become quite interested in Japanese cars. The MX5 ND, GR Yaris and ZC33S being examples of modern cars that do appeal to me.
Anyway I thought I would put my ZC33S out there.
Just wanted to say your car looks amazing. I love a little japanese car in white. A really great considered choice of Mods, I have a ZC32 sport which I love but I saw a yellow ZC33s over christmas and my head was somewhat turned. I can see a test drive coming up in the next few months.
Was your 16" wheel choice made mainly to reduce mass, or something else?
Was your 16" wheel choice made mainly to reduce mass, or something else?
AllenF said:
Just wanted to say your car looks amazing. I love a little japanese car in white. A really great considered choice of Mods, I have a ZC32 sport which I love but I saw a yellow ZC33s over christmas and my head was somewhat turned. I can see a test drive coming up in the next few months.
Was your 16" wheel choice made mainly to reduce mass, or something else?
Yes, reduced mass and something more pleasing to my eye were the priorities for my wheel choice. I am not that keen on Diamond cut finishes and prefer a wheel that has a bit of a motorsport look to it. I was considering 17's as well but the Advan's came up and as they are among the lightest you can get and quite rare in Europe I went for them.Was your 16" wheel choice made mainly to reduce mass, or something else?
If you go for a test drive I would say that the engine gives its best once the oil temperature has reached 90c. It would be interesting to hear your view on how the zc32 and 33 compare!
Never thought these were so light! As their dimensions increased, I assumed so did the weight.
Lovely little thing though when compared to similar metal. I'm a fan of love lighter cars for everything bar motorway runs.
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
Lovely little thing though when compared to similar metal. I'm a fan of love lighter cars for everything bar motorway runs.
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
[/quote]
Nice car OP , not sure it’s a completely direct comparison but my old Yaris GRMN was a very light hot hatch at just a bit over the ton and it had 212bhp so was pretty rapid for a Yaris ! Albeit with a supercharger, which was a lovely engine to use .
TotalControl said:
Never thought these were so light! As their dimensions increased, I assumed so did the weight.
Lovely little thing though when compared to similar metal. I'm a fan of love lighter cars for everything bar motorway runs.
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
I would say that right now my car is actually rather lightly modded, Seeing as it is still on the standard map I guess you could say it is at stage 0.5 in modern speak! I am guessing my power to weight is around 160 hp/ton. It does seem to compare well to things such as n/a Civic Type R, Blob eye WRX, Fiesta ST which all come in around 160 hp/ton aswell. With a "tune" my car should be 190 bhp/ton.Lovely little thing though when compared to similar metal. I'm a fan of love lighter cars for everything bar motorway runs.
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
Pretty much the ZC33S trump card is its lack of weight. I can not think of a mainstream car that is so light with relatively decent performance. It does also have particularly good torque to weight so coming out of bends it can gain speed well.
There are a few people out there who use them as track cars that are just about at the 900kg mark. I think one guy is at 910kg with poly carbonate side windows.
Neil1323bolts said:
What other car would you be able to compare it to given the mods added?
Nice car OP , not sure it’s a completely direct comparison but my old Yaris GRMN was a very light hot hatch at just a bit over the ton and it had 212bhp so was pretty rapid for a Yaris ! Albeit with a supercharger, which was a lovely engine to use . Ilovejapcrap said:
How's the car going OP I'm trying to talk the misses into knee I stead of a vitara.
Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Probably best to try to talk her into it when you haven't been drinking!Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Friday 17th February 20:15
My cousin has a Vitara 1.6 and I like it. The basic 1.6 is 1070kg on paper, so only slightly more than the 1045kg ZC32S Swift Sport 1.6. It's nimble, frugal and it handles our broken roads well.
gweaver said:
Ilovejapcrap said:
How's the car going OP I'm trying to talk the misses into knee I stead of a vitara.
Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Probably best to try to talk her into it when you haven't been drinking!Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Friday 17th February 20:15
My cousin has a Vitara 1.6 and I like it. The basic 1.6 is 1070kg on paper, so only slightly more than the 1045kg ZC32S Swift Sport 1.6. It's nimble, frugal and it handles our broken roads well.
The last part of asked if he had checked for any recalls on the swift, as I thought I'd read about one.
Ilovejapcrap said:
How's the car going OP I'm trying to talk the misses into knee I stead of a vitara.
Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Car is going well. I got the suspension fitted so will try and formulate a little update soon.Also have you checked as a recall camd out from suzuki in Feb this year.
Edited by Ilovejapcrap on Friday 17th February 20:15
Yeah a recall came out for a leaking non return valve on the vacuum pump. I have not contacted Suzuki about it yet but will shortly. I think it affects all 1.4 Boosterjet engines so that will include the Vitara as well, and any other models that use that engine.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff