Budget fun - Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S
Discussion
They use a timing chain and belts for the alternator and a/c compressor. The belts don't look that easy to get to, probably similar to many other wheel drive cars..
Otherwise the engine bay looks relatively good for access, and I think the usual service items are all easy to get to.
If you're coming from a 2l Clio, then a Swift Sport will be an improvement!
Otherwise the engine bay looks relatively good for access, and I think the usual service items are all easy to get to.
If you're coming from a 2l Clio, then a Swift Sport will be an improvement!
Cambs_Stuart said:
How hard are these to work on? Any access issues around the engine/belts?
I got a garage to do the belts whilst it was in for an aircon regas. They only need doing every 80k or so and don't look difficult to get to, no more so than any other transverse fwd car, there's plenty of room in the engine bay and there's nothing particularly complex about the car itself. Should be easy enough for anyone half way competent.Thanks for all the positive comments, they really are a great little package, and I urge anyone thinking about trying one to do so!
I had mentioned earlier on a 5 door would have suited me better, although the 3 door does look better. Anyway todays was the acid test as the family V70 is in for a service.
So can you transport 2 small children (3 years old and 3 weeks old) in the back of a 3 door?
Well yes you can!
Its unlikely to usurp the Volvo as the primary family car, and it's safe to say the travel system would not fit in the boot, but its good to know it can stand in to do the job when required. Isofix in the rear is easily accessible and everyone had enough legroom, even if there was an adult passenger in the front with the bulky seat for the newborn behind them, no knees touching the dash etc. Having the longer door of a 3 door actually made it easier to get the 15kg toddler seat in and out of the car.
So it can stay for now, things might change as the little ones get bigger but with that the seats they sit in become less bulky, and they become more capable of climbing in unassisted.
I had mentioned earlier on a 5 door would have suited me better, although the 3 door does look better. Anyway todays was the acid test as the family V70 is in for a service.
So can you transport 2 small children (3 years old and 3 weeks old) in the back of a 3 door?
Well yes you can!
Its unlikely to usurp the Volvo as the primary family car, and it's safe to say the travel system would not fit in the boot, but its good to know it can stand in to do the job when required. Isofix in the rear is easily accessible and everyone had enough legroom, even if there was an adult passenger in the front with the bulky seat for the newborn behind them, no knees touching the dash etc. Having the longer door of a 3 door actually made it easier to get the 15kg toddler seat in and out of the car.
So it can stay for now, things might change as the little ones get bigger but with that the seats they sit in become less bulky, and they become more capable of climbing in unassisted.
Small update, the previous owner had a dog and the car on very hot days wouldn't smell the best, not terrible just a slight odour. The seats, headlining and plastics had all been steam cleaned when I bought it so I thought I needed to delve deeper.
I removed the rear carpet, sprayed with APC, scrubbed it and then jet washed it and left it to dry in the sun. Also the spare wheel well, where there was lots of grit,mixed in with some sort of sticky congealed mess, presumably a soft drink. I also removed the rear seats and found an accumulation of dog hairs, sand, dropped sweets and all the other usual detritus you might expect to find down the back of a seat of a 10 year old car. I vacced it all out and wiped down with warm water and more APC.
Quite satisfying but also quite disgusting, glad its done though!
After all that I put it back together, vacced the car again and then used an Odour Bomb. It's an aerosol that has a locking trigger, you put it in position in the car, press the button and run away closing all door and windows. Then return a few hours later and air out.
These two things combined seem to have some the trick and it smells much more pleasant now.
Next problem is the exhaust, which seems to have developed a blow, even though the car has barely turned a wheel in the last few weeks since I've been on pat leave!
I removed the rear carpet, sprayed with APC, scrubbed it and then jet washed it and left it to dry in the sun. Also the spare wheel well, where there was lots of grit,mixed in with some sort of sticky congealed mess, presumably a soft drink. I also removed the rear seats and found an accumulation of dog hairs, sand, dropped sweets and all the other usual detritus you might expect to find down the back of a seat of a 10 year old car. I vacced it all out and wiped down with warm water and more APC.
Quite satisfying but also quite disgusting, glad its done though!
After all that I put it back together, vacced the car again and then used an Odour Bomb. It's an aerosol that has a locking trigger, you put it in position in the car, press the button and run away closing all door and windows. Then return a few hours later and air out.
These two things combined seem to have some the trick and it smells much more pleasant now.
Next problem is the exhaust, which seems to have developed a blow, even though the car has barely turned a wheel in the last few weeks since I've been on pat leave!
Stuart70 said:
Daft question, I am sure, but what does the odour bomb smell of - I life in fear of the resulting smell being like passing a soap shop on the high street! (Or worse still a magic tree from the £10 valet crew!!)
Does it genuinely just leave a neutral smell?
It leaves the smell of general cleaning products, albeit a 'fresh' kind of smell (if that makes any sense!) I certainly wouldn't describe it as "neutral".Does it genuinely just leave a neutral smell?
I've used this particular product many times and I actually like the smell that's left behind, but I would understand if others didn't.
It's definitely a fresh, clean smell but I chose the wild cherry scented one so its not neutral. It smells a bit like the California scents cherry flavour air fresheners which I quite like, bit that's personal choice. It's been over a week now since I did it and the scent has subsided but the car still smells clean inside so hopefully it's done the trick.
The car had been parked up for a month whilst on pat leave and for some reason it was 2 days before I was due back in work the exhaust started blowing, a quick look underneath showed me the joint between the centre pipe and back box had gone.
I thought it would be a simple case of a new gasket and some exhaust paste but after a bit of investigation at a local garage they found the metal donut that acts as the gasket had rotted and expanded, causing both flanges to distort so they were no longer flat against each other.
As well as being a very decent garage they also have a Powerflow franchise so I priced up a full stainless system but decided it was a bit of an indulgence to do so. They offered a repair so cut the flanges off and welded a piece onto the centre and sleeved it over the back box. A simple enough fix and the rest of the exhaust is still in good condition, maybe if it fails again I'll reconsider my options and opt for a stainless system.
Also I found a slightly different route home, traffic free as it's literally the middle of nowhere, just outside Haworth - Brontë country, and not the best of surfaces. The suspension on the Swift seems to be almost ideal for the typical sort of British B roads, and up on the Moors around here this sort of road is fairly typical.
The ride height actually looks quite high, more so I think than its contemporaries? Whilst a lower ride height would look better, being higher certainly has it's advantages on the road.
My previous MX5 with its coilovers wouldn't have been enjoyable at all to drive along a road like this, but the Suzuki lapped it up.
I thought it would be a simple case of a new gasket and some exhaust paste but after a bit of investigation at a local garage they found the metal donut that acts as the gasket had rotted and expanded, causing both flanges to distort so they were no longer flat against each other.
As well as being a very decent garage they also have a Powerflow franchise so I priced up a full stainless system but decided it was a bit of an indulgence to do so. They offered a repair so cut the flanges off and welded a piece onto the centre and sleeved it over the back box. A simple enough fix and the rest of the exhaust is still in good condition, maybe if it fails again I'll reconsider my options and opt for a stainless system.
Also I found a slightly different route home, traffic free as it's literally the middle of nowhere, just outside Haworth - Brontë country, and not the best of surfaces. The suspension on the Swift seems to be almost ideal for the typical sort of British B roads, and up on the Moors around here this sort of road is fairly typical.
The ride height actually looks quite high, more so I think than its contemporaries? Whilst a lower ride height would look better, being higher certainly has it's advantages on the road.
My previous MX5 with its coilovers wouldn't have been enjoyable at all to drive along a road like this, but the Suzuki lapped it up.
The gear linkages on these are well documented as failing and leaving you with only gears 3 &4, and ever since buying this car 6 months ago I have felt the shift has was a bit clunky and not very slick. I had changed the gearbox fluid which improved things slightly, most noticeably when cold but it still had a notchy, plasticky feel to it which saps some of the enjoyment and tactility you get from the other controls.
Its a fairly straightforward job to replace the bushes in the linkages, one is at the gearbox end and one attached to the shifter. The one in the cabin had already started to break up and had some lateral movement that shouldn't have been there. When removing it was brittle and crumbled quite easily so I was satisfied that it needed changing. The one at the gearbox end however seemed absolutely fine and didn't really need replacing but as I'd already bought them as a pair I changed it anyway.
Here they are in the packet, forgot to take pictures of them fitted
I also replaced the standard gear knob which is just plastic, with an OEM option from Suzuki that was available through dealers. It's made from aluminium and leather so feels much nicer in the hand, and looks much better too.
These two little jobs have gone a long way towards improving how it feels, it's now more positive and sure of itself when changing gears which makes the car more satisfying to drive.
Its a fairly straightforward job to replace the bushes in the linkages, one is at the gearbox end and one attached to the shifter. The one in the cabin had already started to break up and had some lateral movement that shouldn't have been there. When removing it was brittle and crumbled quite easily so I was satisfied that it needed changing. The one at the gearbox end however seemed absolutely fine and didn't really need replacing but as I'd already bought them as a pair I changed it anyway.
Here they are in the packet, forgot to take pictures of them fitted
I also replaced the standard gear knob which is just plastic, with an OEM option from Suzuki that was available through dealers. It's made from aluminium and leather so feels much nicer in the hand, and looks much better too.
These two little jobs have gone a long way towards improving how it feels, it's now more positive and sure of itself when changing gears which makes the car more satisfying to drive.
New bushes and a shiny new knob, I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere...
The knob was a lucky find on Facebook marketplace £60! Here's the part number which may help you find one. Not sure if they are still available through Suzuki or not but I think they were asking anywhere between £80-£120 at the time the ZC32S was on sale!
The knob was a lucky find on Facebook marketplace £60! Here's the part number which may help you find one. Not sure if they are still available through Suzuki or not but I think they were asking anywhere between £80-£120 at the time the ZC32S was on sale!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff