Swift Sport-like with more power ?

[s.tanaka]

Hi all,

Here is my Suzuki Swift Sport mk1 :



I bought it in August 2017, this is my first "sport car", my daily driver (40 miles per day on mountain roads), and there are tons of things I love about :

• Steering feel
• Handling
• Compact size
• Reliability
• Low buying price and cost of ownership
• Feels fast at legal speed
• Safety features

I really enjoy driving it, except in one situation : when there is a slow driver in front of me.

With the available power (125 hp), the overtaking opportunities are too limited on my road.
I guess what I am looking for would be a Swift Sport mk1 with 170+ hp

Is there something close to it on the market ?

For the moment I have found those candidates :

• Fiesta ST180, but higher price
• Civic EP3, but higher price and apparently worse steering feel
• Clio 172/182, but I am not sure about the reliability

What are your thoughts about it ? Any other cars I have not think about ?

An other option would be to keep it and breath deeply when the slow driver appears

Thanks in advance.

Steve

[Steve91]

Fiesta ST MK6 with the Mountune MP165 kit on it.

[akirk]

if you haven't got enough power to overtake then either your overtaking technique needs polishing, or the overtakes are dangerously tight... the Swift Sport is a cracking car very capable of overtakes... an overtake simply needs your car to do a certain speed above the car you are overtaking, e.g. if they are doing 50, then you need 60 - there is unlikely to be a safe overtake speed the swift can't do... if your issue is that you can't get up to the higher speed fast enougn then the distance in which you are tryng to overtake is too short...

a more powerful car will gain the extra speed faster, but may then have an issue in shedding its extra speed and be going too fast at the next hazard... My M5 is capable of he acceleration, but it is often too much, so overtakes will be just above the speed of the other car...

your swift sport is 1/3 less power and about half the weight (ie c. 50% better power to weight ratio) of my classic rr, yet I will happily overtake in that...

so don't waste money upgrading if you don't actually need to...

[Toed64]

The Swift Sport is an excellent cheap daily driver - they are fun. I tend to agree with comments above, but if you feel you need more power, maybe a Toyota Corolla TSport would suit you. In a straight line it would blitz your Swift. Very cheap (probably less than your Swift), tough, so long as you keep the oil topped up and if you fitted some shorter springs, some camber bolts and sticky tyres, it might handle as well as your Suzuki!

If you want to go faster, spend some time on track days and get some tuition: it's the cheapest way to go faster, much faster! When I first went out at Bedford Autodrome, I was astonished that a standard looking, 2 litre MX5 was troubling an M3 on all the twisty bits and he came by me without any difficulty, even though I was driving a car that should have been quicker.

I went to talk to the driver - he was a race instructor, in his own car, on his day off.

[culpz]

Clio 172's/182's are more reliable than you think. Not Suzuki reliable but, saying that, not much is really. They have a few little niggles but are usually cheap fixes. Considering good ones can be had for around £1500, they represent stunning value for a proper little old-school hot-hatch.

I'm looking at buying one in April, when my current lease is to go back, as a fun, cheap and quick car but to also save some money at the same time. I have looked at the little Swift Sport but i think i'd regret not going for the Clio. I'd give one a try and see if you're impressed with it.

[Challo]

Depends on what you class as low buying cost but what about a Mini Cooper S R53 or R56?

Quicker in standard format, compact and can easily be upgraded for more BHP.

[BenLowden]

I put 15,000 miles on my 182 Trophy and 172 Cup and the only things that went wrong were a failed rear damper (£80 for a new pair) and a set of HT leads (£25). Pretty reliable if you get a decent one that has been looked after.

[designforlife]

Corolla T sport if you want something quicker but still cheap and reliable. EP3 type R would also fit the bill but see how you get on with the steering feel.

[Zetec-S]

How about a (140hp) Fiesta Zetec-S? Cheaper to buy and run than an ST, and mountune do a 165bhp upgrade

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Kev_Mk3]

I wouldn't touch a ford fiesta unless its a mk6 ST I tried and couldn't get on with them at all - The mk6 ST is wonderful though.

The ep3 is a glorious car to drive and few little tweeks is rewarding but parts are expensive and cars are going up in price.

Clio would be the one for me, cheap to fix and work on. Lots around and wont break the bank. TBH the above with the overtaking I agree with. Swifts are wonderful things and upset a lot of faster things, Rent 4 Ring know this hence they have a fleet they rent out and can do the ring in 8:30!

[mattwade24]

Clio 172/182 would be my choice. Having owned 4 of them, I can say they are much more realiable than many think. The main thing to check is the cambelt, as this is a relativly expensive job.. apart from that, theyre cheap, easy, fun little cars!

[egor110]

mattwade24 said:

Clio 172/182 would be my choice. Having owned 4 of them, I can say they are much more realiable than many think. The main thing to check is the cambelt, as this is a relativly expensive job.. apart from that, theyre cheap, easy, fun little cars!

Add clutch to that , if the clutch is tired and needs replacing that can sting a bit .

[CABC]

great car.
you don't need more power for o/takes, that's just ego bluster from many on here. Safe overtakes not available to you are probably around 25% of the ones you see compared to a car with say 50% more power.
Enjoying for a while longer. It's a classic n/a experience that you won't easily have again.

[egor110]

You would if you got a Clio 172/182

[scarble]

egor110 said:

Add clutch to that , if the clutch is tired and needs replacing that can sting a bit .

Clutch on mine has been fine for about 5 years.
Timing belts must be done on time and is ~£500 or a bit cheaper on a 172 Cup without aircon.
But timing belts are not a reliability issue, just a service item.
By and large it's a very reliable car and pretty simple and easy to work on.
They wear out, but they don't tend to catastrophically fail.
Worst problem I had with mine was exhaust mounts lasting 10 minutes, 200% worthwhile using the proper Renault ones not pattern.

Also there is a cracking 3rd party factors/breakers called Renparts who I am in no way affiliated with but they give fantastic service and good prices.

[egor110]

I'm aware of that I had a 172 cup but have no doubt if you get one with a tired clutch it's not a cheap job as the subframe needs dropping.

[gareth h]

akirk said:

if you haven't got enough power to overtake then either your overtaking technique needs polishing, or the overtakes are dangerously tight... the Swift Sport is a cracking car very capable of overtakes... an overtake simply needs your car to do a certain speed above the car you are overtaking, e.g. if they are doing 50, then you need 60 - there is unlikely to be a safe overtake speed the swift can't do... if your issue is that you can't get up to the higher speed fast enougn then the distance in which you are tryng to overtake is too short...

a more powerful car will gain the extra speed faster, but may then have an issue in shedding its extra speed and be going too fast at the next hazard... My M5 is capable of he acceleration, but it is often too much, so overtakes will be just above the speed of the other car...

your swift sport is 1/3 less power and about half the weight (ie c. 50% better power to weight ratio) of my classic rr, yet I will happily overtake in that...

so don't waste money upgrading if you don't actually need to...

Ay? So low powered car will overtake as well as a more powerful car? Don't think so, Lots of times I would not consider an overtake in my wife's mini but would in my Exige!

[akirk]

gareth h said:

akirk said:

if you haven't got enough power to overtake then either your overtaking technique needs polishing, or the overtakes are dangerously tight... the Swift Sport is a cracking car very capable of overtakes... an overtake simply needs your car to do a certain speed above the car you are overtaking, e.g. if they are doing 50, then you need 60 - there is unlikely to be a safe overtake speed the swift can't do... if your issue is that you can't get up to the higher speed fast enougn then the distance in which you are tryng to overtake is too short...

a more powerful car will gain the extra speed faster, but may then have an issue in shedding its extra speed and be going too fast at the next hazard... My M5 is capable of he acceleration, but it is often too much, so overtakes will be just above the speed of the other car...

your swift sport is 1/3 less power and about half the weight (ie c. 50% better power to weight ratio) of my classic rr, yet I will happily overtake in that...

so don't waste money upgrading if you don't actually need to...

Ay? So low powered car will overtake as well as a more powerful car? Don't think so, Lots of times I would not consider an overtake in my wife's mini but would in my Exige!

If you are overtaking properly - yes...
if the extra power is the difference between a safe overtake / not safe overtake then it is too risky an overtake...
after all - suzuki swift / mini / exige - will all drive along at 50mph waiting to overtake...
equally they will all drive along at 60mph as you overtake
so the only difference is the time differential in the acceleration - and realistically the difference is not huge - certainly not enough to change an unsafe overtake into a safe overtake...

[CABC]

there's another component to the fast accelerating overtake, which is the need to (possibly) brake afterwards. that's more compromised if you've quickly accelerated to a much higher speed than the 'target'. I observe that a lot of fast car overtakes are actually quite risky and not planned well at all.

For sure, a good overtaker will benefit from more power, just not as much as some reckon.

[gareth h]

akirk said:

If you are overtaking properly - yes...
if the extra power is the difference between a safe overtake / not safe overtake then it is too risky an overtake...
after all - suzuki swift / mini / exige - will all drive along at 50mph waiting to overtake...
equally they will all drive along at 60mph as you overtake
so the only difference is the time differential in the acceleration - and realistically the difference is not huge - certainly not enough to change an unsafe overtake into a safe overtake...

Sorry, don't really agree, in a low powered car you might accelerate from 50-60mph when the overtake is lined up, in a higher powered car it might be 50-70mph leaving you "exposed" for a much shorter period, or at an extreme on a 1 litre motorcycle 50-90mph.