ROAD TEST: The latest models to hit the best touring roads of North East Victoria | Southern Riverina

2025 Suzuki Swift Sport Turbo

Words/photos: Chris Riley -
cars4starters.com.au

CHRIS Riley has been a journalist for 40 years. He has spent half of his career as a writer, editor and production editor in newspapers, the rest of the time driving and writing about cars both in print and online. His love affair with cars began as a teenager with the purchase of an old VW Beetle, followed by another Beetle and a string of other cars on which he has wasted too much time and money. A self-confessed geek, he is not afraid to ask the hard questions - at the risk of sounding silly. Chris runs his own automotive website cars4starters.com.au

IT is ironic that the Swift Sport Turbo is the oldest, unchanged model in the Suzuki lineup, but at the same time still manages to shine as the star of the range.

Yep. The third generation Sport dates to the 2017 Frankfurt motor show, it's still a great little performance package at a super affordable price, and proof positive of the old saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

In June 2020, Suzuki added a 48-volt mild hybrid to the car for the European market, but alas Australia never benefited from that update.

There's just the one model, priced from $32,990 driveaway.

It's available with a choice of six-speed manual or conventional six-speed auto.

An auto adds $2000, metallic paint $595 or two-tone paintwork $1095, bringing the total price to $36,085 with the works.

Given the Sport has not moved on from the previous architecture and hasn't been updated in a while, nor has it been mentioned in dispatches, there's a good chance it is living on borrowed time.

So, if you have a hankering for one, get going and get one, or you could find the Sport slipping through your fingers.

Standard equipment includes cloth trim, single-zone climate air conditioning, tilt and reach adjust steering wheel, driver seat height adjust, D-shaped three-spoke sports steering wheel, keyless entry and start, electric folding mirrors, auto lights and mirror (but not the wipers), rear park sensors, and driver info display.

Oh, and somewhere along the line they added a digital speedo.

Infotainment consists of an insect 7-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth, voice control, satnav, a reverse camera, AM/FM radio (but no DAB), wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus six-speaker unbranded audio with MP3 compatibility. MP3s . . . remember them?

A small information display located between the two instrument dials provides trip, fuel consumption, distance to empty etc.

You won't find any USB-C ports in front, just a single USB-A port and a 12-volt outlet.

The current Swift attracts a measly single star safety rating from ANCAP, but it is unlikely this rating applies to the Sport.

The original rating, issued in 2017, has long since expired.

So, it was safe back then but may not be as safe as competitors these days.

Safety encompasses six airbags, electronic stability control and advanced safety stuff such as auto emergency braking, lane departure warning, weaving alert, blind spot alert, rear cross traffic alert, high beam assist and adaptive cruise control.

Swift Sport is covered by a five-year warranty.

Service intervals are pegged at 12 months or 10,000km.

Dual exhausts, a sports body kit and roof-mounted rear wing, together with the optional two-tone paint job transform the Swift Sport Turbo into a desirable little hatch.

Sport is powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 103kW of power at 5500 revs and 230Nm of torque, the latter between 2500 and 3000 revs.

It's available with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic (subject of our test), with steering wheel mounted gear change paddles.

With a 37-litre tank, fuel consumption is a claimed 6.1L/100km whether it is the auto or manual, and it takes 95 premium unleaded.

Although described as a five-seat hatch, you'd be lucky to fit five in the Sport - let alone four.

Rear legroom is limited.

The sports seats are a snug fit, and the side bolsters make getting in and out more difficult than would normally be the case, not to mention pressing uncomfortably into my thighs.

The front seats are manual adjust and trimmed in an attractive combo of cloth, with red stitching and Sport logos.

There are two cup holders in the front between the seats, with room for larger bottles in the doors.

There is no centre console and no rear air vents, not that they’re really needed.

The dash features some coloured pieces of trim with a carbon-fibre like finish, but you'll find it's all hard plastic.

A flat-bottomed, leather trimmed sports wheel hides two, old-style analogue instrument dials that flank a central information panel.

Cycling through the panel brings up a series of graphics: clock, motion, torque and power, acceleration and braking graphs, and one for turbo boost.

There's also a digital speedo, which in a car like this is an absolute necessity.

Sport is push button start, but like other Suzukis, you need to be careful putting it into drive.

Dragging the transmission lever all the way back engages manual mode.

The result is lots of revving, until you work out what is going on, but the tranny will eventually change up when the engine red lines.

Punching the accelerator produces a surprisingly fun, surprisingly engaging response, that is both tactile and audible.

Sport is not lightning quick, but it does make all the right noises and there's enough there to get the blood pumping.

The dash from 0-100km/h takes a sharpish 7.2 seconds and overtaking can be accomplished almost at will.

Suspension is MacPherson strut front and torsion beam with coil springs rear.

Steering is excellent and the brakes are aggressive, with a ride that is firm but not harsh.

At the same time, we did manage to find the bump stops a couple of times.

The tyres generate quite a bit of noise on coarse bitumen, but that's par for the course with small cars where it's harder to disguise.

With 17-inch alloys and exey 195/45 Continentals, Sport sits securely on the road, turns in nicely and has plenty of mid-corner grip.

Push hard and it will ultimately understeer, with some lift-off oversteer under hard application of brakes.

The turning circle by the way is crap, and tight carparks can be a trial, even in a car this size.

Whether you opt for the auto or manual, fuel consumption is a claimed 6.1L/100km.

We were getting 6.9 from the tiny 37-litre tank after some 727km (and it takes premium 95 RON unleaded).

The boot looks larger than before, but of course that's because it doesn't have to fit a spare -- just a puncture repair kit.

What we like

Fun to drive
Looks better than ever
Sharp performance
Well sorted steering and handling
Uses hardly any fuel

What we don’t like

Satnav not the best
No speed camera or school zone warnings
Transmission goes straight into manual mode when you pull back
Takes premium 95 RON unleaded
Small boot (it is a small car)
No spare tyre

The bottom line

Suzuki Swift Sport Turbo is a bit old school, but that's a good thing.

A small hatch, turbocharged four cylinder engine and manual gearbox provide the essential ingredients for some affordable driving fun.

Don't let it slip through your fingers.