Skip advert
Advertisement
In-depth reviews

Suzuki Swift review – a lively, tech-laden supermini - Interior and tech

The regular Swift and the Swift Sport share many attributes, but the hot hatch fails to live up to expectations

Evo rating
Price
from £11,999
  • Comfortable, feels light, the regular model and the Sport are both surprisingly quick
  • Not a car that enjoys being driven too hard (a real problem for the Sport), the Sport’s steering is off-putting

Interior and tech

The fresh, bright and colourful interiors of modern European cars make the predominantly black inside of the Swift seem sombre and dull. It’s far from a bad place to spend time and it’s put together very well, with decent materials, but there’s no sense of fun. It’s just very practical.

Advertisement - Article continues below

There may well be a selection of high-tech driver assistance systems (lane keep assist, collision warning, radar cruise control, etc.), but the infotainment screen is far from cutting-edge. The graphics look as though they’ve been borrowed from an early noughties PlayStation game, the touchscreen is often slow to react and the buttons are a little small to operate while driving. However, although slightly baffling to begin with, the menus and functionality is very easy to get used to and the sort of tasks you perform regularly – switching between satnav and the radio, changing stations – are easy to do quickly. The only exception to this is the lack of a physical volume knob. Instead there’s a touch slider on the dash or a rocker switch on the steering wheel, and neither is as easy, quick or intuitive to use as a rotary dial.

The Sport is very similar inside to the regular Swift. There’s a splash of red on the dash and the dials and the seats are a little more supportive, but nothing drastic. The cute, but ultimately useless, G-force readout and power and torque dials that look like little turbochargers on the Swift’s on-board computer are not limited to just the Sport; amazingly the regular car gets them, too.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

The new Mercedes-AMG G63 has arrived, and it still has a V8
Mercedes-AMG G63
News

The new Mercedes-AMG G63 has arrived, and it still has a V8

Some of Affalterbach’s range-toppers are swapping eight cylinders for four, but the AMG G-class retains its V8 for 2024
26 Mar 2024
The new Toyota GR Yaris costs £44,250 – too much for a hot supermini?
Toyota GR Yaris Gen 2 – front
News

The new Toyota GR Yaris costs £44,250 – too much for a hot supermini?

Our early impressions of the Gen 2 GR Yaris suggest that it’s an improvement in every area that counts, but can it be worth £18k more than an i20 N?
27 Mar 2024
Land Rover Defender OCTA: twin-turbo V8 and McLaren-style suspension tech for hot off-roader
Land Rover Defender OCTA – front
News

Land Rover Defender OCTA: twin-turbo V8 and McLaren-style suspension tech for hot off-roader

The OCTA promises to be the fastest, toughest and most capable Defender yet when it launches later this year
26 Mar 2024