So here is a review of my 1998 suzuki swift 1.3GLS (in it's stock form).

I apologize in advance for any mistakes in grammar .

The SF swift was introduced in Europe in 1989 and was sold until 2004. In the 15 years on the market the car went through some (mostly cosmetic) changes, the most noticeable one was for 1997-1998 when the cars body was reinforced (about 50kg heavier than previous) and the introduction of airbags (1997 driver only and 1998 forward on both sides).

For what it is the car is pretty well equipped since power front windows, power mirrors and central locking are standard. Power steering and A/C (altough rarely both fitted on same vehicle) were optional and later model had the option of having ABS.

The suspension is very city car like - soft and lots of body roll (the 1.3s did have a front anti roll bar). Springs and anti roll bars from the GTi swift are a good and cheap mod (only two brackets for the rear ARB need to be added) since body roll is reduced dramatically while maintaining the comfortable ride . It’s worth noting that the swift uses independent suspension both front and rear - you don’t see that very often on a hatchback.

On the front the car has vented discs and on the rear either 180mm or 200mm drums. The stock brakes do pretty well and can take quite some abuse. The brakes can also be upgraded with GTi ones , which means bigger front vented discs and solid rear discs but due to the size the stock 13" wheels won’t fit anymore (14" is minimum).

Until 2000 only the 8V SOHC 1.3l engine with 68HP was available. The engine has a camshaft driven distributor and single point injection. Fuel consumption starts at around 6.5l/100km. The engine is quite rev happy and it takes about 11seconds to reach 100km/h. For the last four years a 16V SOHC 1.3l with 85HP was available which had multipoint injection and an electronic distributor an two coil packs (one for two cylinders).

The interior is typical late 90s with the not so good looking steering wheel and seats (which don’t offer much support) covered in a colorful fabric (like a kids room). The rear seats can be bent over offering more boot space, the boot itself is quite unpractical since it has a high ledge which makes putting heavier items inside quite difficult.

While the mechanical part of the car is pretty good the anti corrosion protection in the opposite. These cars tend to rust badly on the undercarriage (arm mounts and sides) which makes finding a decent example quite a task. The upside is that the cars a cheap. 600€ will get you a car which requires minimal rust repair, 800€ to 1000€ for one with either power steering or A/C.

Since the body is the same as the one used for the GTi’s modifying this cars is somewhat easy. All the mayor components are interchangeable, you can even use the 1.6l from the sedan. However the aftermarket is (compared to others) small. Sure there are a lot of spring options but that’s about it. There a bit more options for the GTi (mostly exhaust). Luckily some parts can be used from other cars (vitara/sidekick pistons, honda CRX front calipers…).

In my opinion the swift makes a great first car, because it’s cheap (both to buy and maintain), it’s easy to work on, fun to drive and can be easily (if you find a donor) turned into a GTi which can still kick some *** while having a decent fuel consumption of 7.2l/100km (the GTi’s engine didn’t change much since 1989).