A few people have asked on here about these and other similar small hatches. Had one of these as a rental car for a week in Queensland last week, and I have to say I was reasonably impressed with it. Only a 1.3 litre, but it went fairly well with three adults and all their stuff on board, handled fine through some extremely twisty bits (going up to the Atherton tablelands from Cairns via Kuranda and back down via the Gillies).
Ride was good, not harsh at all despite what some would have you believe on here. Got 6.5 l/100 km which I thought was perfectly satisfactory given the load and the type of driving. I would definitely consider one of these if I was in the market for a small hatch type thing
slarty45,
Nov 22, 3:24pm
I bought a new manual one last week with 8 km on clock. Came with a full tank but topped it up at 233 km = 5.45 L/100. Ride is good and would notice if it was harsh as my back is stuffed. For $19990 (GL+ version) it is extremely good value.
kazbanz,
Nov 22, 3:27pm
peja--was it on the factory steel wheels ? I find the ride gets firmer feeling as you go up just one wheel size ie one tyre size " smaller" Its also a comparison thing. The difference in feel between swift,vitz etc and the next size up,axella,corolla is that they feel comparatively harsh.
skull,
Nov 22, 3:30pm
I had a Swift Sport for about 5 years and was well pleased with it, only gripe was the small boot, but there you go it's a small car.
berg,
Nov 22, 5:41pm
+1. Did damn near 170,000km with ours, all trouble free
cjohnw,
Nov 22, 7:35pm
The only problen we have had since buying the wife's new Swift has been dealing with a rude, arrogant, nasty dealer. Won't buy another car from them. But the little car has been brilliant.
darryl,
Nov 22, 9:38pm
We had one for 7 years, close to 8. Did 85000 kms in it and never had an issue with anything. It was a 1500cc 2007 model with manual gearbox. I would happily buy another if looking for a small car.
tintin27,
Nov 22, 9:52pm
I have a 2012 swift sport 6 speed manual. I love it. Heaps of fun to drive, and cheap to run even on 95.
peja,
Nov 23, 3:05am
Yup, factory steel wheels, factory everything, it was a rental, so I presume it would be a bog standard bottom of the line fleet model. White with synthetic cloth seats and rubber mats. Nice enough for what it was. I normally drive a Commodore or my partner's Vitz, so that was my basis for comparison
thegreycat,
Nov 23, 3:09am
Swift sport owner here. Good power to weight ratio, awesome handling, choice of a manual, good fuel mileage even though giving it heaps.
compchick,
Nov 23, 12:54pm
Second this, would like to take it to a track for shits 'n' giggles. :D
ford_transit,
Nov 23, 2:37pm
Drove 2009 one the other day. Had really wierd steering feel. Felt almost locked straight ahead and did not respond to camber of road at all. mechanic said 'electric steering' and 'they are all going that way' It handled great but that dead feel thing. meh
I had the same with a Hyundai Elantra. It felt like there was too much force needed to trip the threshold of power assistance, and then it was forever hard to keep the thing in a straight line always needing corrections of the steering wheel, which of course were exaggerated by the threshold.
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