2022 Suzuki Swift Sport Automatic Review
Price & Equipment:8.5
Interior & Practicality:7
Performance & Economy:9
Ride & Handling:9
Service & Warranty:8
What we like:
  • Cracker of an engine - grunty and efficient
  • Fun and capable handling
  • Full of character, which is rare in 2022
What we don't like:
  • Sensitive auto braking system
  • Misses out on some key features that rivals feature
  • Rivals are more powerful
8.3DiscoverAuto Rating

In Australia, Suzuki is known for its light, small and fun cars and the Swift is a staple of the small car – an icon for P-platers and young people alike. They’re also cheap to buy, cheap to run and endlessly reliable. So with the release of the Suzuki Swift Sport in 2006, it was an instant success with young people flocking to them like kids do to TikTok these days. But has the Swift Sport lost any of its desirability in its current form? We tested the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport to find out.

There are a few hot hatches on the market at the moment. There is the feisty Ford Fiesta ST and the hardcore Hyundai i20 N – both are capable and fun hot hatches with larger engines than the Swift. So how does the Swift Sport stack up against them? Let’s see.

Price & Equipment: 8.5/10

Starting at $28,990 plus on road costs the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport is only $200 more than the Swift GLX Turbo which is the model under it. The model we have here is the automatic variant of the Swift Sport which is priced at $30,990 plus on-road costs (around $34,000 drive away depending on location).

The Swift Sport is equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights with LED daytime running lights, front fog lights, keyless entry with push button start, heated and electric-folding exterior mirrors, intermittent wipers, a leather steering wheel, single-zone climate control, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, a six-speaker audio system and manual cloth sports front seats.

Safety tech available in the Swift Sport includes six airbags, high and low speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with forward collision alert, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, auto high beam, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, driver fatigue detection and adaptive cruise control.

There are a few things missing that we think should be standard on the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport: a digital speedo, heated seats, satellite navigation, front parking sensors, lane trace assist, automatic wipers and digital radio.

The only standard colour on the Suzuki Swift Sport is ‘Pure White’ while ‘Super Black’, ‘Speedy Blue’, ‘Mineral Grey’, ‘Burning Red’ and our test car’s ‘Champion Yellow’ paintwork all come at an extra $595 charge. ‘Flame Orange’ is also available and includes a black roof for $1,095.

The Ford Fiesta ST will set buyers back $33,490 plus on-road costs ($4,500 more than the Swift) and the Hyundai i20 N will cost $33,990 plus on-road costs ($5,000 more than the Suzuki). Both these cars have over the Suzuki: alarm systems, digital driver’s displays (with digital speedometers), launch control, satellite navigation, larger 18-inch wheels, auto wipers, auto-folding mirrors, digital radio, premium sound systems, a limited-slip differential, tyre pressure monitoring and speed sign recognition. But, funnily enough, the Swift Sport features adaptive cruise control over both rivals.

We do think the 2022 Suzuki Swift sport does represent good value when compared to its rivals. Yes, they do have more equipment, but a hot hatch under $30,000 is great value in our opinion.

Performance & Economy: 9/10

The sole engine available in the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport is a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder known as the ‘BoosterJet’. It also powers other Suzuki models such as the S-Cross and the Vitara, but in the Swift Sport, it feels like a proper little performance engine. It produces 103kW of power (at 5,500rpm) and 230Nm of torque (between 2,500rpm and 3,000pm) and power is sent to the front wheels via either a standard six-speed manual transmission or an optional six-speed torque converter automatic that was fitted to our test car.

The engine powering the Swift Sport is a little firecracker. There is an abundance of power throughout the rev range and due to the lack of weight (990kg kerb weight), it absolutely flies. There is little lag when accelerating and it always feels ready to perform well. Watching the revs rise on the red rev counter is great and the Swift Sport even emits quite a raspy exhaust noise. We love the BoosterJet engine and wish Suzuki put it in more models – Jimny turbo, anybody?

The six-speed automatic transmission fitted to our test car is smooth and trouble free. There are steering wheel mounted paddle shifters if the mood takes you and they are responsive and make grabbing the right gear in the moment very easy. The auto isn’t as intuitive as a dual-clutch transmission and it’s really just a standard automatic, but it’s fine in normal driving. The standard manual transmission in the Swift Sport is also excellent though and definitely preferable to the auto as it’s more engaging.

The claimed average fuel consumption of the Suzuki Swift Sport fitted with the automatic transmission is 6.1L/100km and our week spent with mostly urban driving saw an average figure of 8.0L/100km, which we were rather impressed with. In comparison the Ford Fiesta ST has an average figure of 6.3L/100km and the Hyundai i20 N 6.9L/100km.

The Ford Fiesta has a larger 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine that produces 147kW/320Nm (44kW/90Nm more than the Swift) and the Hyundai i20 N has a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 150kW/275Nm (47kW/45Nm more than the Swift). So why does it score 9/10 when it is down on power when compared to its rivals? Well, due to the lack of weight, the Swift Sport actually feels just as peppy and fast in the real world when compared to more powerful Ford and Hyundai.

Ride & Handling: 9/10

Handling is where the Sport model of the Swift range really comes into its own. The lack of weight, short wheel base and sport suspension means the Swift Sport handles like a little go-kart. There is very rarely any traction loss and you won’t believe what speeds you can corner in the Swift with it still maintaining a poised and flat stance. There is also the fun factor of throwing the Swift into corners and it responding rather well. We particularly like the meaty steering as well, which adds confidence when driving sportily.

The ride characteristics of the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport are also very good. There are no adjustable dampers or anything like that, just a conventional spring and damper setup, and the ride is firm enough to warrant calling it ‘sporty’ but not uncomfortable in any sense of the word. Daily driving the Swift Sport isn’t too jarring or uncomfortable.

The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision alert in the Swift Sport can be sensitive as we found that even coming to a slow stop at traffic lights behind another car occasionally set it off. You are able to turn these features off but it is counterintuitive to have them but then not use them. The lane departure warning system does do a good job of notifying you when you are crossing out of the lane – though it doesn’t actually keep you in the lane.

Interior & Practicality: 7/10

The dash of the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport is rather conventional and simple in design especially when compared to rivals, but we don’t think this is a bad thing. Everything in the cabin is exactly where you would expect it to be and while the materials aren’t anything to write home about, they are what you would expect for this price point. The Sport’s seats make the cabin feel more sporty, and they’re also quite comfortable as well.

The storage situation in the Swift Sport is somewhat mediocre though – there are some storage solutions but not as many as you get in the Fiesta ST or i20 N. There is a glove box big enough for the owner’s manual, two cup holders in front of the gear knob with a small storage tray ahead of them and door bins with capacity for small bottles. There is no centre console in the Swift, unfortunately, which means no covered storage inside.

The 7.0-inch touchscreen that sits in the Swift Sport’s dash is rather easy to navigate and while the screen quality isn’t amazing the colours are bright and things are easy to distinguish while driving. The Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are easy to connect, the inbuilt navigation is easy to set and the radio is easy to find. We do wish there was a physical volume knob, rather than the sliding scale on the side of the screen and the sound system could do with some more punch.

Opening the rear doors and stepping into the rear of the Swift is easy enough as the ride height isn’t too low but once you are sitting in the rear you will notice the lack of space. The front seats, being bucket sports seats, do take up quite a bit of space.

There is also a key lack of rear amenities in the rear – for example, there are small rear door bins, but it misses out on a centre armrest, cup holders, charging ports and map pockets.

The boot of the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport offers 265-litres of cargo with the rear seats in place and 918L with the rear seats folded down. Compare this to the 292L/1,092L of the Ford Fiesta ST and the 310L/1,123L of the i20 N and you will note the Swift Sport comes up slightly shortchanged, though this is because both the Fiesta and i20 are longer cars. The Swift’s boot has no other features either, and there’s no spare wheel.

Service & Warranty: 8/10

The 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport comes with the brand’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is the same that is offered by both Ford and Hyundai. The Suzuki also comes with five years of roadside assistance – Hyundai offers 12 months of roadside assistance but this is topped up by a further 12 months at every scheduled service by a Hyundai dealer for up to five years. Ford has the same system but is covered up to seven years in total.

Owners will need to service their Swift Sports every 12 months or 10,000km, which is the same interval that the Hyundai i20 N has but the Ford Fiesta ST only needs servicing every 12 months or 15,000km. The cost of servicing the Swift over five years or 50,000km is $1,475 (an average service cost of $295) while the i20 N will cost $1,545 over the same period and the Fiesta ST will cost $1,495 over five years or 75,000km.

2022 Suzuki Swift Sport DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.3/10

We don’t often come across cars like the 2022 Suzuki Swift Sport. Cars that are fun and don’t take themselves too seriously are always welcomed in the revolving door of the DiscoverAuto garage as it’s a nice break from the serious family cars and the endless supply of SUVs. We like how the Swift Sport goes back to basics in the way of being rather minimalist and concentrates on the driving experience. It’s also extremely fun to drive, relatively affordable to drive and it’s full of character.

Of course, it’s not perfect – it’s small inside, it misses out on bits of equipment that cars should have and it’s not cheap to service either. Would we save the money over the Fiesta ST or i20 N and buy a Swift Sport? Having driven all three cars, we would consider them all because they’re all pocket rockets and while they’re all excellent, you’re certainly not losing out on fun by choosing the Swift. As fun as a Fiesta ST or an i20 N? That’s high praise indeed.

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