Suzuki Swift Sport ZC32S

[Patrick1964]

I’ve been deliberating for weeks over whether I should buy a Fiesta ST or a Swift Sport. I lined up a coupe of ST’s to look at last weekend, but received a message at 9pm on the Friday to say my “first choice” car had sold, and when I called the seller of the second option on Saturday morning they had decided to keep the car!
I scoured the interweb on Sunday whilst waiting for the F1 to sort itself out and spotted this

Phone calls were exchanged, it’s a bit further away than I’d hoped as I’m in North Wales but the advert mentioned free delivery, so on Monday I left a holding deposit and after considering the options I elected to go and pick it up yesterday. The supplying dealer (Baden Powell in Shorpe) paid my rail fare and filled the car up in lieu of delivery to me, thus denying PH of the “fuel station on the way home” pic and the whole experience so far has been very positive.
The car is on 65000 miles, came Suzuki Approved with full main dealer history, all invoices, no advisories on any MOT throughout its history and is just about as clean and tidy as a second hand car can be.
I’m 6ft 3in, but quickly found a driving position which is very good. My first journey was almost all motorway, so not the car’s ideal environment but we got home safe and sound.
First impressions are good. I think this is going to be fun, although I think it needs to go on a Hunter alignment as it steers slightly to the left. I may buy a set of camber bolts too…..

[Silenoz]

That looks amazing, love the colour!

What did it replace?

[Patrick1964]

Silenoz said:

That looks amazing, love the colour!

What did it replace?

I sold this the weekend before. The Swift doesn’t directly replace it, as the 987 was a “weekends and holidays” car and the Swift will share daily driver duties with my Freelander 2.

I didn’t want to use the 987 as a daily as it sort of took the “special occasion” away. The Swift should be fun, reliable, cheap to run and I don’t need to worry about it in the same way as I did with the Porsche.

[The Bearded Tit]

They're great little cars. I love the 6-speed box too. A few people I know said they're a little loud on the motorway, but the beauty of these 3-door models is you have so much space around the rear arches to fit sound deadening, you can make these cars really civilised.

[Patrick1964]

The Bearded Tit said:

They're great little cars. I love the 6-speed box too. A few people I know said they're a little loud on the motorway, but the beauty of these 3-door models is you have so much space around the rear arches to fit sound deadening, you can make these cars really civilised.

I don’t plan to use it for long journeys - we have quieter options for those journeys. The plan for this is my 25 miles each way commute on B and A roads. I reckon it’ll be great for that.

[andrewc2102]

So much less asbo than an ST and all the better for it in my opinion.

I remember EVO reviewing one of these when it launched and it always stuck with me as they said it was one one the best damped cars for UK roads they'd ever tested

Pretty high praise, enjoy your new car.

[andrewc2102]

So much less asbo than an ST and all the better for it in my opinion.

I remember EVO reviewing one of these when it launched and it always stuck with me as they said it was one one the best damped cars for UK roads they'd ever tested

Pretty high praise, enjoy your new car.

[Nickbrapp]

Funny enough I did the opposite of you, test drove and had my Heart set on a swift, loved how it drove but then I tried a ST, the turbo set it apart for me and that’s what I ended up with

[LittleBigPlanet]

andrewc2102 said:

So much less asbo than an ST and all the better for it in my opinion.

I remember EVO reviewing one of these when it launched and it always stuck with me as they said it was one one the best damped cars for UK roads they'd ever tested

Pretty high praise, enjoy your new car.

Having owned a '12 SSS for 5-6 years, and recently selling, I have to say that the damping was perfection. Such a lovely car to push through the bends, it just seemed to find grip no matter what. Miss mine!

[Patrick1964]

Nickbrapp said:

Funny enough I did the opposite of you, test drove and had my Heart set on a swift, loved how it drove but then I tried a ST, the turbo set it apart for me and that’s what I ended up with

I think either would have been fine for me, but the Swift sort of fell into my lap.

[Patrick1964]

I’ve had the Swift for a couple of weeks now. After living with it my impressions are still good. It drives really well, as others have said if you want to go quickly you have to work it a bit - under 5k it can keep up with the other traffic, but over this is where it comes alive.
A couple of jobs have been done.

I always find it pays to get the alignment checked with an older car. This wasn’t too bad, just slightly drifting to the left. All better now.
Next job on the list
Suzuki wheel bolts are notoriously bad for corrosion, so a small eBay order saw a distinct improvement

Last but not least
Back to the driving for now

[Ste372]

Always have a soft spot for Suzuki's after a few years in Ignis sports. Depending on what you want from the car I'd recommend the simota induction kit to unleash a nice bit of induction roar