Bay Harbour: October 13, 2021

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18 Bay Harbour News Wednesday October 13 2021 Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Suzuki Swift hybrid shows promise
IT’S TAKEN some time for the
Suzuki Motor Corporation to
enter the hybrid market.
Well, that doesn’t surprise me,
Suzuki has long built smallish
cars with small capacity, fuel efficient
engines, even their largest
were relative fuel misers.
That being the case, there was
no rush for Suzuki to go one step
further into the electric/hybrid
market, anyone who owns a Suzuki
will tell you how inexpensive
they are to run.
However, a hybrid has arrived
here and it comes in the
form of the Swift, and it’s fair
to say Suzuki is treading carefully,
the Swift hybrid can only
be described as a mild hybrid
– don’t think Toyota Prius, the
hybrid system is more like you
would find on European cars
such as those from BMW and
Mercedes-Benz.
In mechanical terms, Suzuki’s
system utilises an electric motor
to assist the engine in a parallel
configuration, it is powered
by a lithium-ion battery that is
charged as the car decelerates and
brakes, there is no electric-only
mode of propulsion involved.
While cruising, the battery
helps power all of the additional
electrical systems such as safety
features, air conditioning, Bluetooth
and smartphone connectivity,
which means the engine
spends more of its energy driving
the wheels.
There are a multitude of display
graphics which indicate to the
driver how the system is operating
so that he or she can get
maximum fuel economy benefits.
The result of all of this is
Suzuki’s claimed 4.1-litre per
100km combined cycle fuel
usage average. That compares to
the standard Swift which has a
4.8l/100km figure, so there are
gains to be made there; however,
there is a little trade-off, the Swift
hybrid requires premium fuel
which is more expensive than the
standard 91 octane.
Nevertheless, if you are keen on
cutting down emissions and like
that bottom line of 4.1l then the
hybrid does have benefits, and
that figure is very achievable.
During my time with the
evaluation car the fuel usage
readout was constantly listing
around 5.2l/100km with around
4l/100km registering instantaneously
at 100km/h (engine speed
1900rpm).
Powering the Swift hybrid is a
four-cylinder engine of 1197cc.
It is a smooth, quiet engine
which cuts out at idle and restarts
automatically when acceleration
is requested – almost without
notice such is the refinement that
has gone into the mechanical
elements.
The 1.2-litre unit is rated at
61kW and 107Nm, the latter available
at just 2800rpm which means
there is available torque on offer,
SMOOTH: Design-wise, the Swift is a popular shape.
SUZUKI SWIFT HYBRID: European specification and placement of controls.
and if you add in the moderate
amount of electrical assistance
acceleration is more than satisfactory.
A standstill to 100km/h time
of 11.5sec is possible, along with a
7.7sec time to make an 80-120km/
h highway overtake.
Drive is carried through a
continuously variable automatic
transmission. By sheer nature of
its simplicity it, too, helps promote
fuel efficiency. The change in ratio
is seamless, providing an overall
feeling of smoothness. There is
also a sport mode should the driver
like the revs hunting higher.
I tried to replicate the type of
driving the Swift hybrid would
most likely be subjected to on a
daily basis – a suburb to city commute,
a trip to the supermarket,
and a weekend excursion. There
are no surprises here, the Swift in
all forms functions well in those
situations. The hybrid hasn’t lost
sight of the Swift concept, an
easy-to-drive model with as much
practicality as you can get in a
small car. See, at just 3.8m, the
Swift makes good use of its compact
proportions, it is a five-seater
at a pinch.
On the open road it is quiet and
composed when presented with a
tight corner or two. The Swift sits
somewhat low at 1.5m so there
isn’t a lot of body movement, even
though the rear suspension is a
tube beam type there is enough
• Price – Suzuki Swift hybrid
Limited, $28,500
• Dimensions – Length,
3845mm; width, 1735mm;
height, 1495mm
• Configuration – Fourcylinder,
front-wheeldrive,
1197cc, 61kW,
107Nm, continuously
variable automatic.
• Performance –
0-100km/h, 11.5sec
• Fuel usage – 4.1l/100km
suspension movement to promote
a controlled ride even when road
ripples threaten balance.
Interestingly, the hybrid is built
in Japan but is destined mostly
for the European market. That
being the case, there are a few
little quirks the traditional Suzuki
owner would need to adjust to. For
one, the indicator and wiper stalks
have been transposed, and why
European buyers like rear manual
window winders eludes me, but
that’s what you get in Swift hybrid.
Also, the hybrid model is sans sat
nav but there is Apple Car Play
and Android Auto.
As with the entire Swift
range, the hybrid gets a five-star
Australasian New Car Assessment
Program rating. That’s achieved
by an abundance of safety features
such as an advanced forward
detection system which mitigates
the chance of a collision, there are
also other clever features such as
adaptive cruise control, rear view
camera and rear cross traffic alert.
The Swift hybrid lists at $26,990
in standard form, the evaluation
car was a Limited specification
model and it adds $15100, $2000
if you want two-tone paint.
These prices compare to
$20,750 for the Swift GL ($22,990
auto) non-hybrid. I guess that
difference is a matter of equation
as to whether the fuel saving
benefits going forward, outweigh
the extra cost.
Suzuki has a fairly extensive
model line-up, I will be interested
to see how far the company takes
its hybrid technology and whether
it can be adapted to other
engine configurations.
In the interim, if you want
something just that little bit different
in your Swift purchase then
the hybrid model still represents
all those traditional Suzuki values
but with the thought you are
doing just a little bit to reduce
emissions and benefiting the
environment.
To top it off, there’s also the
benefits of the local dealership’s
tempting maintenance
programme – all in all there is
lot to consider, but judging by
my experience with Suzuki all
the ingredients add up to healthy
sales down under.
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