New Swift is a bigger car

NEW SWIFT: It looks like the old car, but it's longer.

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It looks very like the current model, but the new Suzuki Swift, due in Japan and Europe later this year, is a bigger car, writes DAVE MOORE.

From the corner of your eye, you easily dismiss the all-new Swift as being identical to the old model, but the car is longer, wider, taller and has a longer wheel base as well as wider track front and back, and yet it will sport a smaller engine than the current car.

Suzuki held the world premiere line-off ceremony last week for mass production of the new car at its Magyar Suzuki Corporation production facility at Esztergom, in Hungary.

The all-new Swift is positioned as the company's latest world strategic model and embodies improvements in styling, impact safety, driving performance, handling, improved fuel consumption and significantly lower emissions.

Extensive use of higher strength steel makes the new bodyshell lighter and stiffer than before, as well as offering refinement in underbody design. This latest body design has also helped improve impact safety for pedestrians as well as occupants.

Increased track and larger diameter wheels with lower profile tyres allow for better handling than the already pretty sharp outgoing Swift that first went on sale in 2005.

The interior design now has a more dynamic feel, featuring black as its keynote colour, with accents of silver throughout the car.

A new 1.2-litre petrol engine incorporating Dual VVT (Variable intake and exhaust valve timing) is utilised, which produces 70 kilowatts at 6000rpm, slightly more than the outgoing 1.3-litre unit. Torque is also improved to 118 Newton metres at 4800rpm.

Fuel consumption on the combined cycle is now 5L/100km for the manual transmission model, an improvement of 1L/100km over the previous 1.3-litre unit.

Emissions are much lower as well; the new 1.2-litre engine with manual transmission produces just 116g/km on the combined cycle; representing a 24g/km or 17 per cent improvement over the 1.3. An optional automatic transmission will be available for the petrol engine from launch.

A 1.3-litre diesel engine rated at Euro 5 will also become available for some markets. This engine emits 109g/km (down from 119g/km) and has a combined fuel consumption rating of 4.2L/100km.

- © Fairfax NZ News