The New Suzuki Swift 1.4 - Photos and Initial Opinion

Here we have a few photographs of the All New Suzuki Swift 1.4. A car that is new to Malaysia and old to most places around the world. I have no idea why it has taken Suzuki Malaysia eons to launch the car over here in Bolehland. It may be due to the fact that CKD stocks of the previous generation Swift were not exhausted. It may be some unseen force of economics that may have come into play. It may be something as simple as Suzuki Japan forgetting that Malaysia exists. But lets move on from the conspiracy theories and enjoy the fact that this well-engineered supermini has finally made it to our shores.

At first glance it looks exactly like the older car. Then you notice it is only slightly larger. It's bum is definitely bigger and has a Peugeot 308esque type of look to it. It does look a little more grown up and a little bit more contemporary without losing its original design cues. The interior is better than before. It looks to be better built and it also seems to have better material quaility too. It looks more mature on the inside too. 

The Swift 1.4 that we are now getting is fully brought in from Thailand. No, it is not imported from Japan and this first batch of cars was brought in to get the ball rolling. From a taxation point of view the car is slightly cheaper than if it were brought in from Japan. This is why it costs RM78K instead of RM82K+ when they first brought in the previous generation model from Japan - but that was a 1.5liter and not knowing what type of arcane pricing system that MITI sets out for imported cars, we may never know if it is cheaper or not in the first place.  According to sources, Suzuki Malaysia will be bringing in about 900 to 1,000 or so units before local assembly begins. 

So what has impressed yours truly about this finally available new Suzuki Swift? Aside from the fact that it is slightly more grown up in all aspects, it now comes with something called rear disc brakes. The previous 1.5liter Swift made do with rear drum brakes. So you are getting better equipment with this new, albeit smaller engined Swift - It also has a proper stop-start button for its keyless go system, no need to turn the fob where the key was supposed to go like before. 

Now the older car made about 100bhp. This new one makes 95. The old one has more torque too but this new one has slightly less mass to move around with. It weighs a good 30kgs less and in theory only loses out  ever so slightly. I suppose this is the price to pay for more refinement and better fuel economy. Don't complain too much as the Swift 1.4  isn't meant to burn rubber (but it has some tuning potential and the potential to look like a Swift Sport - which is good enough for some). Suzuki does not have any other larger engine for the base Swift as this is the largest engine sold worldwide. So if you want more poke in a Swift, wait for the upcoming Swift Sport. Which according to sources will arrive here eventually.