Shed of the Week | Suzuki Swift Sport
Another Shed debutant, as the first - and some might say the best - Swift Sport drops below that magic threhold
Relatively happy times in the Shed household just now. They've bought a carpet.
Not a new carpet. A carpet. It's their first. Up to now Shed has always resisted the cosy allure of shag pile. Mrs Shed's eating habits are such that, for really fast and efficient room cleaning, vacuum finishes a long way behind water pumped in at very high pressure.
However, advancing years and the increasing porosity of the brick flooring have brought a change of heart. With a strict promise from Mrs Shed that she will only eat standing up in the utility room from now on, Shed has agreed to the installation of a knockoff Axminster remnant in the lounge. Now he will grudgingly admit that he is enjoying the feeling of warm fibrous tufts between his toes, rather than the usual squelch of a mushy pea or the irritating grind of a sesame seed bun crumb.
Mainly, though, he's enjoying the novelty of something new and different. He gets a similar jolt of joy whenever a new car pops up on his Shed of the Week radar, like this Suzuki Swift Sport.
The Sport was launched in 2005 as a rorted-up version of the gen-two (2004-10) Swift. Grossly overpaid footballist Christiano Ronaldo pretended he liked it in this German telly ad, but the car actually didn't need any grubby selling tactics. It sold itself through positive road tests, which quickly revealed that Suzuki had neatly leveraged its move into WRC by creating a properly sorted supermini. With 123hp from the zingy 7,000rpm 1.6 VVT motor, uprated clutch, sharpened gearchange, steering and throttle, 0-60 in the eights, stiffer Monroe dampers and springs, 17in alloys, beancan zorsts, bumper-car body kit and a tough contrast-stiched interior, it was the sort of thing ordinary punters might have made for themselves if it hadn't turned up in the showroom.
Obviously the Sport was a good bit down on power against something like a Renaultsport Clio 197, and the combination of low gearing (4,000rpm/70mph) and a long trek up the tacho for peak power (6,800rpm) meant that it wouldn't be your first choice for long motorway drones, but on smaller roads the 1105kg Sport did a more than passable impersonation of a 106 GTI, albeit without the real or imagined flimsiness of the French motor.
Subsequent models have progressively lost the up-and-at-'em Jack Russell charm of that first Sport. Gentrification and currency fluctuations have hiked the prices too, so a clean-looking example of what some consider to be the seminal Sport for just £1,200 has plenty of appeal.
Our one seems to have a small tear on the driver's seat bolster, but that's the only flaw that Shed can see. There's no mention of any service history, and the MOT isn't that long, but there's nothing on the MOT record to suggest any serious problems either now or in the past. It failed last November on an illuminated engine management light, but that was rectified. Some front suspension wear was noted as an advisory, along with a worn rear tyre. Oddly, the car doesn't seem to have done any mileage since that test pass, which would certainly warrant a polite inquiry if you're thinking of taking the plunge.
If you do reawaken this little Suzuki from its slumbers, what foibles might you encounter? Well, they are a bit famous for developing squeaks and rattles, which seems to be almost a rite of passage for many firmly-suspended small cars. Windows, exhaust heat shields, suspension components and in particular the dash are known for making their presence felt. Fixing the dash may well require a complete stripdown and reassembly with new clips. Rattling windows might be nothing more than a loose bolt, but again it's a time-consumer to sort. If you're slightly deaf or you drive everywhere at 6,000rpm and above then none of this will be an issue.
The M16A 1.6 engine runs its cams by chain rather than belt, which is potentially good, but Swift transmissions and clutches aren't up there with the best in terms of reliability or ease of use. The Sport box's input shaft is a weak point and can cost upwards of £700 to put right. The handbrake mechanism isn't that clever either and can uncalibrate itself. Even after the factory recall they never worked that well. Paintwork can seem a bit thin and small bumps can be very expensive to repair if you want to restore panels (especially the big wraparound bumpers) to pristine condition. The front tyres will wear away quite quickly, and some owners recommend posh petrol for smooth running.
All that apart, the Swift Sport is a game little chappie that will make you smile when you walk up to it in the mornings. At £1,200, this one looks like real value to Shed. He paid more than that for his new carpet - and according to the last line of the ad, this car comes with its own front passenger. Anything has to be an improvement on the one he's got at the moment.
Search for a Suzuki Sport Swift here
2 months in
Mrs Shed "Where have the rear seats gone?"
PS Another funny piece from Tony. Can you still buy that book you did?
Fella said all he'd modded was removing spare wheel and air con.
.. Interior is a little ‘cheap’ but you get that will all budget Jap cars
Sadly a job change meaning a quite long motorway drive meant the little SSS had to go. I used it for a couple of months but the noise was just too harsh.
I’d certainly have another as a shopping car/ school run car
The swift sport mk1 and mk2 are so underrated (yes i have a mk2) sick of hearing not fast enough not enough power etc. I say it on many swift threads they are a hoot.
My 66 plate is my daily and used from thrashing around the back lanes to 300 mile trips to sisters (the 6th gear in mk2 helps).
still have fond memories of the day i picked mine up
2 months in
Mrs Shed "Where have the rear seats gone?"
4 months. "The exhaust seems to be really noisy?"
Great cars and cheap to run too.
I bought my 1.5 as a bit of a shed with 50k miles on highly suspecting it hadn’t had an oil change for a long time. I took it to over 90k with no problems. Never used a drop of oil and sounded sweet.
As it turned out, it was bloody brilliant. It ate up the miles, five hours passed in no time and of course when we got off the motorways it was a joy. It reminded me of my MX-5, where even journeys that should be a chore are still somehow fun.
It's not perfect - the driving position is too upright, the gear lever is in an awkward place for me and it's crying out for the clicky precision of a Honda or Mazda gearbox. It's also surprisingly thirsty and does have a few creaks and rattles as in the article, but all of that falls away when you're chucking the thing about.
To be honest, that journey has had me thinking of how I can get that driving buzz back in my life.
I really like these, there’s something very cool about them. An uncle had one of the early ones way back in white which he bought from a family member. That was a really reliable little thing.
- Massive fun to drive, even though my commute to work was a 60-mile A-road round trip
- If you're tall, they're really only a 2-seater because the (comfy) sports seats are so huge
- Be prepared for 27 mpg if you "extend it throughout its operating range"
- Dull colour choices (Mk1s like this were red, black, silver only - white came along later then the Mk2s got blue, yellow etc): this is why most seem to have a stripe kit, whether OEM accessory or otherwise
As has been hinted at in other posts, they are noisy but in a good way (never put the radio on in mine), do not need more power but could use a 6-speed (came later), have a tolerable ride and handle well.
For the money this is a grade A Shed.
However I'd have one of these in a heartbeat, and at that price it's a no brainer. Cheap as anything to run including decent tyres, I've always used 'posh peteol' too, and easy to self service. Apart from the above points handbrake cables are known to stretch but again cheap to replace and easy to do.
Paint is thin, panels do show car park battles and rattles do occur. New headunit recommended as are the speakers (possibly) otherwise don't be tempted to modify it and enjoy it as is.
You'll leave nothing standing as they're too slow - you can fun with diesels coming off roundabouts who try and shove you aside - but b roads are great fun. Great city cars to boot. Oh, speaking of boots there isn't one (or a spare wheel either). Big shops are a challenge.
To think you can buy a tidy unmolested example for this little is astonishing.
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