Maruti has launched the all-new Swift. We took a drive to find out how much better it is than the outgoing model.
A fleeting glance and you will not find the difference in styling between the two. But the fact is that this is a grounds-up new generation version of the popular small car. The new Swift is considerably bigger than its predecessor - it gains 90mm in length and wheelbase is a good 40mm longer, the width of the car is increased by 5mm though height remains the same.
This grown up new model thus has more cabin space and the Swift now feels bigger inside, with more knee room for the rear passengers. This is aided, in part, by the indents in the back of the front seats. However, even with the increase in rear passenger room, the new Swift does not appear very spacious. The Swift's interior styling, which is heavily borrowed from its Kizashi sibling, is now plusher. The new instruments look superb and the steering-mounted controls feel good to operate. Yet material quality hasn't been improved substantially and the tiny boot space continues to disappoint. The new Swift is much sportier to drive and the 1.2 K-series petrol gets variable valve timing (VVT) to bump up power to 86bhp. The engine, which was a gem earlier, is simply brilliant now. It loves to be revved and refinement levels are a lot better than before. The addition of VVT has now rid the engine of the slightly weak bottom end. The torque curve is now much flatter and the power delivery more linear. The engine revs cleanly and is vibe-free all the way to the red line, sounding nice near the limit. Maruti says VVT on the 1.2 K-series engine has improved fuel efficiency by four percent and the Indian driving cycle economy figure is an impressive 18.6kpl.
The 1.3 diesel Multi-jet engine remains largely unchanged but the carmaker's effort to make the cabin a quieter place is evident. The motor, which is still mated to a fixed geometry turbo and develops the same 74bhp, feels more refined than before. There is a bit of lag initially but once past that, it makes good progress. Surprisingly, the diesel has lost its strong mid-range and we found ourselves downshifting more often than we did before. Maruti says that the engines have been tuned more for efficiency, which has compromised their flexible nature to some extent but not so much that it would bother most Swift owners.
The car also rides and handles better. Turn-in is sharp, there's grip to spare and body roll is progressive enough. The ride quality is much improved in terms of bump absorption over big road undulations and the car feels less fidgety at highway speeds as well. Suzuki has also reworked the steering and the new Swift gets a new variable-gear ratio design and low-play joints. The steering now feels a lot more positive around the centre position and a quicker ratio allows for sharper directional changes. However, it still lacks consistency. It is quick enough but becomes very light and disconnected for a moment after turn-in before it weights up.
Overall, the new Swift (ex-showroom, estimated Rs. 4.8 lakh to Rs. 6 lakh) is lighter, longer and more spacious than the previous model, delivering better performance, driver dynamics and improved fuel economy. Suzuki has ironed out the old Swifts weaknesses and carried over its good traits. There couldn't have been a more practical method to ensure that the new Swift carry on where the older model left – heading its class.
