Suzuki Swift Sport heads to South Africa
Almost every market apart from India is getting the Swift Sport, a version of the Swift with more bark and bite. After Europe and Australia, South Africa has gotten hold of the Swift Sport.
To be fair, the Swift Sport was already on sale in South Africa. They are now getting the upgraded Swift Sport based on the MY2011 Swift.
The key highlights of the Swift Sport are:
- A wider track with an all-new body kit
- 17-inch alloys
- A deep front grille
- Bi-xenon headlamps
- Blacked-out A and B pillars
- Wide dual exhaust tips
- A composite-look rear diffuser
One the inside, we see:
- Heavily bolstered front sports seats
- Soft leather sports steering wheel
- Start/stop button
- Sports alloy pedals along
- Sports gear shifter
Although the new Swift Sport has more equipment than the previous model, it is 30 kg lighter resulting in better handling and better fuel efficiency.
It will be powered by a 1.6L M16A engine which is good for 135 hp with 160 Nm of torque. South Africa will not get the 7 speed CVT gearbox but a six-speed close-ratio manual transmission. The zero to 100 km/h sprint time has been reduced to 8.7 seconds, down from 8.9 seconds in the previous model. Top speed is all the way to 195 km/h.
The price for all this awesomeness - 213,900 South African rand which is approximately 14 lakh rupees.
There is only a fraction of the market buying a petrol car, and there is no need to do a Swift Sport diesel as the demand is already peaking for the MJD variants and the factory is unable to produce enough cars.
Maruti Suzuki could consider offering the 1.4-liter K Series engine on the Swift that has the best mix of fuel economy and performance to the petrol customer looking for a bit more thrill.
[Source: SuzukiAuto.co.za]