I have a friend who has a very positive outlook towards her petite stature. She likes to refer to herself as fun-sized. Like those mini-snickers bars you find at the bottom of a candy basket. Besides the obvious reference to her physical appearance, she is quite a fun character to be around as well.
She’s bubbly, a little crazy at times (especially when there’s too much caffeine in her) and always noisy. If she were ever a car, she’ll find her spiritual brethren in the Suzuki Swift Sport (SSS). On top of sharing the same adorable looks, the fun-spirited handling that the SSS exudes is akin to her peppy personality.
That I believe is one of the core prerequisites that make a hot hatch a hot hatch. Besides the handling, a hot hatch should embody a slight edginess like the sort you get with a Jack Russell pup. The car will get you to your destination at a reasonable pace but you’ll get there with a smile on your face attacking every apex along the way. The SSS manages to keep things exciting by being responsive at the right gears and taking on corners with a slight drift in the rear.
The SSS has carved quite a reputation (both good and bad) for itself in the local motoring psyche. The good being that at just slightly over $60k, there’s nothing on the market that can offer the same kind of driving fun that the SSS delivers in spades.
She’s bubbly, a little crazy at times (especially when there’s too much caffeine in her) and always noisy. If she were ever a car, she’ll find her spiritual brethren in the Suzuki Swift Sport (SSS). On top of sharing the same adorable looks, the fun-spirited handling that the SSS exudes is akin to her peppy personality.
That I believe is one of the core prerequisites that make a hot hatch a hot hatch. Besides the handling, a hot hatch should embody a slight edginess like the sort you get with a Jack Russell pup. The car will get you to your destination at a reasonable pace but you’ll get there with a smile on your face attacking every apex along the way. The SSS manages to keep things exciting by being responsive at the right gears and taking on corners with a slight drift in the rear.
The SSS has carved quite a reputation (both good and bad) for itself in the local motoring psyche. The good being that at just slightly over $60k, there’s nothing on the market that can offer the same kind of driving fun that the SSS delivers in spades.
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What’s the bad then? Well, considering every boyracer/Ah Beng has one parked under his HDB block, you start to see why it’s been the poster car for motoring hooliganism.
From tailgating on the expressways to reckless manoeuvres in heavy traffic, the SSS has been a victim of irresponsible hatchback ownership. Which in turn raises insurance premiums for every SSS owner.
Then again, I can sympathise with the boyracer/Ah Beng crowd on the issue of driving like the devil’s chasing you.
The SSS preys on those with little self-control because it brings out the naughtiness of the closet hooligan in you if you let it. The easy revving heart that beats within coupled with the smooth five speed manual just begs to be driven hard.
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Exterior
The SSS manages a tricky feat of design by keeping everything we loved about the old MINI Cooper without being an exact copy of the MINI’s design. Like the MINI, the SSS features short overhangs on both ends. The wheels are also pushed to the furthest corners to provide maximum stability while the short wheelbase offers quick direction changes for your right-left-right adventures.
The front fascia is flanked by a pair of oversized elongated headlamps that gives it a distinctive look. A front skirting complete with a pair of fog lights, large air intake and horizontal lift suppressing fins belies the car’s sporty nature. To set the SSS apart from the normal Swift, the headlamp enclosure has a black background unlike the chrome ones on the normal Swift.
Beyond the front fascia, a MINI-like hood leads to rather steeply sloped A-pillars and windscreen that is reminiscent of the old MINI. A floating roof with a discrete roof spoiler and a hatchback tailgate sum up the rear. Lower down you find the iconic SSS lift suppressing rear bumper with the chrome tailpipes peeking right through the honeycomb structure.
Interior
Step into the interior and you find that the SSS does little to hide its sporty intentions. A mix of red and black gives the cabin a racy appearance.
Red stitching line both the transmission shroud and the steering wheel. A pair of sports seats with the red insert dominate the front cabin area. Once settled in the driving seat, there’s little to complain about the driving position. Steering wheel is close enough for quick flicks around corners although the standard gear knob feels a little too chunky and plasticky for my tastes.
The SSS manages a tricky feat of design by keeping everything we loved about the old MINI Cooper without being an exact copy of the MINI’s design. Like the MINI, the SSS features short overhangs on both ends. The wheels are also pushed to the furthest corners to provide maximum stability while the short wheelbase offers quick direction changes for your right-left-right adventures.
The front fascia is flanked by a pair of oversized elongated headlamps that gives it a distinctive look. A front skirting complete with a pair of fog lights, large air intake and horizontal lift suppressing fins belies the car’s sporty nature. To set the SSS apart from the normal Swift, the headlamp enclosure has a black background unlike the chrome ones on the normal Swift.
Beyond the front fascia, a MINI-like hood leads to rather steeply sloped A-pillars and windscreen that is reminiscent of the old MINI. A floating roof with a discrete roof spoiler and a hatchback tailgate sum up the rear. Lower down you find the iconic SSS lift suppressing rear bumper with the chrome tailpipes peeking right through the honeycomb structure.
Interior
Step into the interior and you find that the SSS does little to hide its sporty intentions. A mix of red and black gives the cabin a racy appearance.
Red stitching line both the transmission shroud and the steering wheel. A pair of sports seats with the red insert dominate the front cabin area. Once settled in the driving seat, there’s little to complain about the driving position. Steering wheel is close enough for quick flicks around corners although the standard gear knob feels a little too chunky and plasticky for my tastes.
Facing the driver you find a clearly defined instrument panel but the chrome trim surrounding the dials look a little dodgy to me. Somehow the look they give seem to cheapen an otherwise flawless interior.
The SSS comes with a decent factory sound system that pumps out the tunes well enough for most drivers. Only the most demanding audio aficionados would rip out the sound system for a Clarion or Alpine head unit. If you do that, the convenient steering wheel mounted controls will be nullified Just below the audio system you find a simple analog climate control panel with three dials for adjusting the interior climate comfort.
Overall the interior is simple and functional and suits the SSS’s character to a tee.
The Drive
If you’re wondering about the blatantly positive note I’ve been taking throughout this article, let me take a moment to assuage your curiosity. When I’m not out gallivanting in showroom test cars, I get around in my own ride. A Suzuki Swift 1.5-litre manual. The car handles great and is every bit a pocket rocket as critiques claim it to be.
God knows I love the nimbleness of my little Swift but something at the back of my mind always makes it known that however hard my XiaoHong (little red – a cute name that I retained from the previous owner) tries, it’s not the SSS. I always felt like the SSS is my little Swift injected with 10% of a Jack Russell Terrier’s DNA.
The SSS comes with a decent factory sound system that pumps out the tunes well enough for most drivers. Only the most demanding audio aficionados would rip out the sound system for a Clarion or Alpine head unit. If you do that, the convenient steering wheel mounted controls will be nullified Just below the audio system you find a simple analog climate control panel with three dials for adjusting the interior climate comfort.
Overall the interior is simple and functional and suits the SSS’s character to a tee.
The Drive
If you’re wondering about the blatantly positive note I’ve been taking throughout this article, let me take a moment to assuage your curiosity. When I’m not out gallivanting in showroom test cars, I get around in my own ride. A Suzuki Swift 1.5-litre manual. The car handles great and is every bit a pocket rocket as critiques claim it to be.
God knows I love the nimbleness of my little Swift but something at the back of my mind always makes it known that however hard my XiaoHong (little red – a cute name that I retained from the previous owner) tries, it’s not the SSS. I always felt like the SSS is my little Swift injected with 10% of a Jack Russell Terrier’s DNA.
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Where the 1.5-litre Swift engine feels slightly lazy, the SSS is always revving to go. Launch the SSS at the lights and it instantly takes off without the lethargy felt in a 1.5-litre. The car feels like it’s always ready to plunge into the next corner to attack an apex and always eager to headbutt the horizon.
Tossing the car into a sweeping turn at 60 km/h in third and I immediately noticed that the car wasn’t understeering. In fact, it wasn’t oversteering either. It kept its pace with increasing speed without any indication of letting go. Besides a little drift near the apex, the car kept its neutrality throughout. That kind of performance in a hot hatch that costs just over $60k is hard to beat. The brakes felt firm under heavy braking and instillls enough confidence to take the next corner at greater speed without fear of inadequate stopping power.
Despite being a performance oriented model, the car manages not to be too uncomfortable for the occasional passengers you might carry. Although to be honest, you’ll never want to have more than one passenger in the car if you want to fully experience the car’s performance. On the roads, the car’s damping manages to be more than forgiving on the highways. On smaller roads, the car’s petite size tends to magnify road undulations a little but is never uncomfortable.
Tossing the car into a sweeping turn at 60 km/h in third and I immediately noticed that the car wasn’t understeering. In fact, it wasn’t oversteering either. It kept its pace with increasing speed without any indication of letting go. Besides a little drift near the apex, the car kept its neutrality throughout. That kind of performance in a hot hatch that costs just over $60k is hard to beat. The brakes felt firm under heavy braking and instillls enough confidence to take the next corner at greater speed without fear of inadequate stopping power.
Despite being a performance oriented model, the car manages not to be too uncomfortable for the occasional passengers you might carry. Although to be honest, you’ll never want to have more than one passenger in the car if you want to fully experience the car’s performance. On the roads, the car’s damping manages to be more than forgiving on the highways. On smaller roads, the car’s petite size tends to magnify road undulations a little but is never uncomfortable.
Conclusion
Suzuki should really give themselves a good pat on the back for this one (if they haven’t done it a million times already). They’ve managed to transfer most if not all of the exciting performance from their Junior World Rally Championship experiences directly to the SSS.
No matter what some careless juvenile might say on the SSS blog entry, the Suzuki Swift Sport (and not Susuki Sweet Pork as read by a diction-challenged reader on the blog) is a winner in most of our boyracer hearts.
It might not possess dollops of horsepower to contend with the big boys, but it still manages to make the short sprints around our little island more fun and enjoyable than say a GTR can. Having driven both, a GTR feels more like a GPMG in a Close Quarters Battle. On our local roads, it feels unwieldy, awkward and it rarely gets a chance to fully whinny up its 470bhp raging ponies.
I have no idea how Suzuki is ever going to top the cult-like popularity that the SSS has garnered around the world. But that doesn’t mean we’re not kept on the edge of our seats wondering what its replacement will be like.
Suzuki should really give themselves a good pat on the back for this one (if they haven’t done it a million times already). They’ve managed to transfer most if not all of the exciting performance from their Junior World Rally Championship experiences directly to the SSS.
No matter what some careless juvenile might say on the SSS blog entry, the Suzuki Swift Sport (and not Susuki Sweet Pork as read by a diction-challenged reader on the blog) is a winner in most of our boyracer hearts.
It might not possess dollops of horsepower to contend with the big boys, but it still manages to make the short sprints around our little island more fun and enjoyable than say a GTR can. Having driven both, a GTR feels more like a GPMG in a Close Quarters Battle. On our local roads, it feels unwieldy, awkward and it rarely gets a chance to fully whinny up its 470bhp raging ponies.
I have no idea how Suzuki is ever going to top the cult-like popularity that the SSS has garnered around the world. But that doesn’t mean we’re not kept on the edge of our seats wondering what its replacement will be like.
