Overview
SUZUKI’S generation five Swift Hybrid GLX is the lowest cost, top-of-the-range, five-door electrified hatchback in the light car segment.
Priced at $29,490 driveaway, it bests the MG3 Essence + Hybrid by $1500 and Toyota’s Yaris ZR Hybrid by $5100 – and that counts for a lot with buyers in this part of the market as a hundred bucks can swing a deal either way.
The little Suzuki is not a high-tech device, its MHEV system basically attaches an integrated starter generator to the 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, adding a 12-volt lithium battery for minor gains in performance and economy – and more importantly, NVES compliance.
Total output is just 61kW and 112Nm with the integrated starter generator contributing 2.3kW and 60Nm and engine restart or assist functions (in some situations).
A lead-acid battery is fitted for the car’s 12-volt electrics, the starter/generator capable of recharging both it and the traction battery via the engine or by regenerative braking.
Weighing just 957kg the variant on test has an official fuel consumption number of 4.0 litres per 100km and operates on 95 RON premium unleaded petrol stored in a 37-litre tank. A more fuel efficient manual base model variant is also available.
In terms of standard kit, the Swift scores LED headlights and daytime running lights, heated door mirrors, keyless entry and ignition, fabric upholstery, a 9.0-inch touchscreen media system with standard sat nav, wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and DAB+ digital radio.
There is also a digital speedometer and a swag of standard safety spec’ including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, traffic sign recognition, a reverse camera, rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert.
Six airbags are fitted (dual front, front side and full-length curtain).
Other GLX inclusions are 16-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a leather steering wheel, heated front seats, driver’s seat height adjustment, USB-A and -C ports, folding door mirrors, wireless phone charging, paddle shifters, single-zone climate control, and a rear HVAC duct.
Suzuki Australia offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty on its cars and service intervals are every 12 months/15,000km. Buyers get up to five years of roadside assistance included at no cost if the car is brand maintained.
Driving Impressions
For the money, the Swift Hybrid GLX offers buyers a more practical alternative to a fully electric runabout that will likely cost more to purchase, be less convenient and not be out of a Japanese factory with attendant strong reliability credentials earned over decades.
There’s no denying the practical and economic advantages of a car like this as they make perfect sense when only two people, sometimes two extra, use the car mostly commuting.
We found the little Suzuki easy to park providing plenty of door opening room in ever shrinking shopping centre carparks. We also found it easy to get into and out of thanks to the relatively large door apertures and high roofline.
It has adequate storage options in the cabin and a reasonable boot for shopping and suchlike readily expandable with folded rear pews that morph the Swift into something of a van.
Other appreciated practicalities included a quick link with Apple CarPlay, efficient climate control, hard buttons to turn off the pesky ADAS tech, and a swag of other “conventional” controls that don’t require menu scrolling or searching to find.
The drive feel and feedback is good offering responsive well-weighted steering with quick reflexes and flickability to avoid bad potholes (and kids on e-bikes).
Other dynamics are similarly nimble as you’d expect from a car such as this which is light and fun to drive.
Though the front discs and rear drum brakes are strong they are out of the ark and don’t offer one pedal driving facility. The Yokohama “enviro” tyres seem adequate for the job at hand even in the wet.
Though paddle shift gives a sporty feel the Swift Hybrid GLX isn’t the quickest hatch by any stretch but can be pedalled hard(ish) utilising the CVT to keep the triple on the boil up towards engine redline at 6000rpm where the full 61kW lives.
But it’s definitely not what you’d call sporty, rather “energetic” seems a more appropriate description of the way it drives.
The engine warbles away when you work it but is fairly quiet once the desired velocity is attained. Adequate roll-on acceleration is available should the need arise and we were absolutely able to clock the claimed 4.0L /100km combined fuel economy without trying too hard.
Some intrusive ADAS is evident but rather than rifling through numerous screen menus, the GLX has hard buttons to turn of what isn’t required or wanted such as the despised Lane Keeping Assist that will spear you into a pothole given the chance.
We like the style of it, the two-tone colour scheme with black roof, the wide haunches, the squat rear and feline face… All good and there’s a familiarity we haven’t felt in a cheap car for quite some time, that distinctive budget Japanese feel, look, and smell.
As the owners of an ancient little Toyota Echo three-door 1.3 runabout which we love for many reasons, we can see the day when something like the Suzuki Swift Hybrid might make a good replacement… for all the same practical reasons we love the Echo.