Once upon a time Suzuki was praised for the value its Swift Sport offered; for £14k a prospective buyer would get everything they really needed from a junior hot hatch, the most difficult decision being which colour to have. Then the turbocharged car came; again, fit to burst with standard equipment, but a very different proposition at £18,000. See the comments on the first drive for proof of that, with the emergence of the Up GTI throwing another nicely assembled spanner in the works.
Now the prices have been announced for the hybrid Suzuki Swift Sport, and the news is not good again. Despite now boasting a higher specification, the price has risen pretty substantially as well, to £21,570. Which, however you cut it is more than a Fiesta ST-2, more than an MX-5, more than a Mini Cooper S. To much, in other words.
That said, the overwhelming majority don't just buy their cars outright nowadays, and the Swift Sport Hybrid is being offered at launch with 0% PCP offer. With a £3,365 deposit and 8,000-mile annual limit, there are 48 payments of £249. The final payment then would then be £6,253, though deposit, mileage and payments are adjustable.
Even so, and even allowing for the additional complexity and cost of a hybrid, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the Swift Sport Hybrid is asking quite a lot for not too much in return. But then it always looks this way with new stuff (the Honda CR-Z of a decade ago being a case in point, is costing more than a Clio 200) where it requires early adopters to embrace the technology and make it viable going forward. Suzuki will be hoping that the winds of change are gusting more vigorously in 2020 than they were for Honda in 2010.
ORIGINAL STORY, AS REPORTED 17/03/2020:
Good old unpredictable Suzuki. Having been one of the last to accept forced induction for hot hatches, its joyous M16-engined Swift Sport lasting until 2017, it's now one of the first to implement hybrid technology in the same model. Yep, the Boosterjet Swift Sport was on sale for just a couple of years, now to be replaced by this new Swift Sport Hybrid.
Using an evolution of the 1.4-litre 'K14C' turbocharged engine (now it's K14D), the Hybrid incorporates a 48V battery, Integrated Starter Generator and a converter to allow that new battery to power the 12V components in the car as well as the generator. The ISG, similarly to other systems, acts as a starter motor as well as providing torque. Suzuki says the new model "represents an automotive advancement aimed at uplifting the driver through evolution and innovation."
Perhaps the most interesting facet of this new Sport's technology is the fact that the hybrid extras only weigh another 15kg; that said, the quoted kerb weight of 1,025kg is 50kg more than the original 975 stated when the non-hybrid turbo Sport was launched. Even allowing for a smidge more torque at lower revs (173lb ft at 2,000rpm now, against 162lb ft from 2,500rpm before), the extra weight and lower peak power (of 129hp) means this Hybrid is slower than it was: 0-62mph now takes 9.1 seconds, against 8.1, and the top speed remains at 130mph.
Of course, the main benefit lies not in speed but in efficiency. Suzuki claims a six per cent improvement over the previous Swift Sport, or enough CO2 saved in an average year to fill 21 Olympic swimming pools. It says here. In more relatable stats, this Sport Hybrid is rated at 127g/km and 50.1 mpg on WLTP, as opposed to 135g/km and 47.0 for the outgoing Sport. Hardly transformative, but then it is pretty mild hybrid tech.
Otherwise, the Hybrid is as you were for the Swift Sport chassis-wise and cosmetically, with only a boot badge to mark it out. It's set to replace the old car when it goes on sale to customers in April, with prices and specs coming nearer the time and plans to sell around 1,500 a year in the UK. Might be just the right time to pounce on a non-Hybrid Sport, then, with lightly used cars having taken a healthy hit on that £18k launch price; or go one better still, and buy one of the 1.6s...
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