Suzuki Swift Sport 2024 Review

Pricing for the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport starts at $28,990 plus on-road costs for the manual, with the auto adding another $2000. This is sadly a decent hike over the $25,490 plus ORCs it launched at back in 2018.

Even so, it’s basically in a league of its own as similarly-priced light hatches like the Volkswagen Polo Life (from $29,490 plus ORCs) and Toyota Yaris SX (from $28,490) have nothing like the sporting credentials, and while the Mazda2 is a great steer, it wouldn’t see a Swift Sport for dust.

Other baby hot hatches are much more expensive – though also a lot more powerful – including the Hyundai i20 N (from $34,990) and Volkswagen Polo GTI (from $40,390).

The 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport is a fairly basic car, both mechanically and in terms of its equipment levels, which is reflected in its price.

Externally there are 17-inch alloys with Continental tyres, some neat faux carbon-fibre trim elements and hidden door handles for that quasi three-door look, but suspension is the traditional MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear.

LED headlights and a body kit round off the exterior trinkets while inside there’s keyless entry/start, climate control, sports seats and that’s about it.

The only option is colour, with premium paint adding $595 to the bill and the two-tone orange/black roof combo an extra $1095.

Suzuki Australia offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty but servicing is $2005 over the first five visits, with intervals of 12 months or 10,000km.

Despite its diminutive size, the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport fared extremely well when ANCAP assessed it back in 2017, scoring 35.13 points from a total of 37 for a five-star rating.

Admittedly, the test was less rigorous back then, but the Swift Sport’s impressive crash numbers in particular – 14.39 out of 16 in frontal offset and 15.74/16 in side impact – suggest this remains a relatively safe little car.

It’s also well equipped with active safety kit, including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, though the rear-view camera is of particularly poor resolution.

The 7.0-inch infotainment touch-screen in the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport harks from a bygone era – the boast of MP3 compatibility is a dead giveaway.

However, it also offers wired smartphone mirroring, in-built satellite navigation, Bluetooth and voice control, so while it’s not exactly cutting-edge, it has the basics.

In between the analogue dials you’ll also find a small digital display for trip and entertainment information.

A 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder offering just 103kW/230Nm might not sound particularly thrilling for a hot hatch, but the manual 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport weighs just 970kg, so you’re still looking at 0-100km/h in around 7.5sec (Suzuki doesn’t claim a precise figure).

The other advantage of a small engine in a light car is fuel efficiency and the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport’s combined-cycle claim of just 6.1L/100km is refreshingly parsimonious.

Even with a heavy foot, fuel use never gets too unruly, which is just as well for the tank is just 37 litres.

If you’re more interested in how a car responds to inputs than its outright performance, then the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport may be of interest.

It’s not particularly fast, doesn’t have that much grip and certainly doesn’t sit flat in the corners, but that’s what makes it so good.

Its behaviour will be instantly familiar to those who grew up with hot hatches of the 1980s and ’90s and even 2000s, before the whole genre got very serious with the likes of the Renault Sport Megane, Ford Focus RS and Hyundai i30 N.

While the engine doesn’t develop a huge amount of power, the switch to turbocharging for this generation of Swift Sport endows it with ample torque, which in combination with the very short gearing – you’ll need all the first three gears to hit 110km/h – means acceleration comes in short, sharp bursts.

This is no problem as the gearbox is slick and a joy to use, with every acceleration and deceleration a chance to hone your upchanges and heel-toe downchanges.

It clearly uses a small turbo as it’s all out of puff by 6000rpm – peak power is developed at 5500rpm – but the upside of this is excellent response. Even sixth gear at 60km/h generates meaningful forward movement.

The steering is sharp, accurate and well-weighted and the car’s lack of mass makes it wonderfully malleable. It’s relatively soft so there is pitch and roll but it’s well-controlled and easily managed.

The tyres are skinny at just 195mm wide but they are decent quality, so it hangs on gamely, the limiting factor often inside-wheel traction leaving tight corners.

It’s been very well tuned, happy to move around subtly even within the confines of its stability control.

Long story short, the Swift Sport is great fun.

This soft set-up pays further dividends with a very pleasant ride quality, though the Swift Sport’s cheap car origins are evident in the overbearing road noise that threatens to drown out the stereo on the wrong surface.

There is plenty of evidence of the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport’s budget origins inside with lots of hard, scratchy plastic surfaces, but there are also enough thoughtful touches that the cabin doesn’t feel bargain-basement.

The sports seats are supportive and comfortable, if set a little high, the steering wheel (rake- and reach-adjustable) is leather-wrapped and great to hold, there’s decent storage given its size and red-to-black plastic trim that appears in the centre console and dash at least shows an effort has been made.

It’s a pretty sparse environment in the rear with no USB ports, cup holders or air vents, but there is a surprising amount of space. At 180cm tall, I can sit behind my driving position with room to spare, along with ample headroom and shoulder-room – transporting four adults would be no problem whatsoever.

The space must come out of somewhere, though, and that is the boot. At 265 litres – expanding to 579L with the rear seats folded – it can definitely accommodate the weekly shopping but will struggle to handle anything more substantial.

Not everyone will appreciate the charms of the 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport, but equally those who are interested in the concept of a fun, affordable, back-to-basics hot hatch are likely to be bewitched.

It sits in a real sweet spot and would be a fantastic My First Performance Car. In a similar vein to the Mazda MX-5, it prioritises fun over raw numbers and that’s a refreshing approach in this day and age.

Hopefully, a Sport version of the new-generation Suzuki Swift will appear at some point, but that’s by no means a sure thing, so best get one while you still can.

2024 Suzuki Swift Sport at a glance:
Price: $28,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 103kW/230Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual/automatic
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 141g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)