Top British Super Minis for Sale

The Suzuki Swift Late 04 to 08

With the advent of the new BMW Mini and Suzuki Swift, the British roads have come alive with character gain. We just love the Suzuki Swift. With today's economy British car buyers are being far more careful about which car they buy! And quite rightly so.

We would urge all readers to remember that all new car prices are falling rapidly and this means that new car depreciation is at an all time high. When buying top end cars you stand to loose the most in the short term ( car depreciation over years one, two and three) while when buying mid priced cars is far safer in terns of limiting the depreciation you will suffer over the initial 3 to 5 years! There are weaknesses in your car insurance policies and that s why your car dealer will try to sell you their own gap insurance. Thanks to the internet new car buyers are now able to shop online for GAP insurance and that is were Click4Gap.co.uk really do help car buyers! We are the definitive online gap insurance company.

Suzuki Swift 2005-present

The Suzuki Swift was a remake of the Suzuki Cultus, a "supermini", manufactured worldwide in three different generations & four body styles. The 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan, 5-door hatchback and the 2-door convertible all use the same Suzuki G engine. The G engine is an inline 3 cylinder aluminium motor producing around 47 bhp and can be turbo charged!

The IV generation Swift was first shown at the Paris Auto Salon in September 2004 to compete in the European B segment with the Peugeot 206, Opel Corsa & the Fiat Punto. This new generation, Suzuki re-designed as less of a low price alternative & more of a sporty supermini. The Swift's design & driving characteristics then focused more on the European market with its chassis refined through a road-testing program across Europe. As a result, the Generation IV Swift has received four stars out of five rating in the EuroNCAP crash tests.

Available as a 92 bhp 1300, and a 102 bhp 1500 petrol engine, the new Swift is Suzuki's most worthy offering to European motoring. Currently the Swift is being produced in Hungary and India as well as Japan and China. The Swift was classed as an instant success throughout Europe far exceeding the forecast sales Suzuki expected.

In 2005, we saw the re-launch of this funky little car, with its 1300 engine (now increased in cc from the old 1000 cc) and sporting a very decent JDT 4-cylinder diesel injection engine built by Fiat.

Styling
The Swift is a modest vehicle. It has a simple hard-plastic cabin where everything fits together accurately & correctly. On the outer the panel gaps are tight & the surfacing gives a finished impression. Albeit it has beefy wheel arches, a wrap-over head & tail-lights & wide stance, but ultimately it is handsome car. The front has a hint of Fiesta about it, while the rear is hinting Clio, the side window line is of a Mini, with the glass tapering towards the rear.

Engine
It comes with a choice of two petrol engines: the 1.3 litre produces 92bhp; the 1.5 litre 102bhp. Both are 16-valve units, with just 10bhp to separate them, performance & economy are very similar. 0-60mph is performed in 11 & 10secs respectively, & the combined economy figures are 46.3mpg and 43.5mpg. Despite good economy from the petrol engines, it is also provided with a diesel option. The 1.3 litre turbo diesel, the same unit as fitted to the Fiat Panda & Vauxhall Corsa, produces 69bhp, with 125 lb ft of power, 0-60 in 14.2secs. Combined fuel economy of 61.4mpg makes it ideal. Further engine developments mean that the diesel cars produced since April 2008 emit only 119g/km of CO2, down from 124g/km, entitling owners to a reduced annual road tax of just £35 (band B).

Driving
All petrol versions have 80+bhp, & the five-speed boxes are more than adequate. The Sport makes great use of its 125bhp. The petrol engines are raucous when pushed hard, & sometimes drone a bit at speed. The diesel however is smooth.
The Swift Sport is not a straight line performer, but an experienced driver can increase the speed by utilising its excellent chassis. There's very little body roll, & the steering offers more feedback as the speed increases. What this means is that the steering is light & moveable when you are driving the Swift though town.

The Sport also performs in just under the nine seconds in a 0-62mph dash before topping out at 124mph. The engine loves to rev & sounds sporty, which has a lot to do with the car's short gearing which leaves the car working hard at higher speeds. The Swift has scored four out five in the EuroNCAP crash test program, slightly behind the class leaders such as the Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio & Mini.

This nippy little car has driver, passenger, front side & curtain airbags, along with drivers pedals which detach in a collision to avoid injury to your legs, ABS, brakeforce distribution, brake assist and stability control!

What this all means is that the Suzuki Swift offers its driver sharp and swift response while driving, with quick nd accurate steering. This really is a nimble little car which has loads of grip on the corners.

The smaller 1300 engine provide good performance and manages to push out 91bhp, while the 1500 is brassy & provides more pace than many more expensive rivals and tops out at 100bhp. The Sport version uses a 123bhp 1.6 & certainly feels very quick indeed, but you really have to ask yourself if the additional pep is needed as the reality is that the 1500 will be a fast enough motor for the British public at large. There is a fantastic piece of kit in terms of the refined 1.3 diesel engine that is surprisingly nimble for a diesel car & this little motor will return an excellent mpg for high annual mileage drivers.

The Swift Inside
Inside it is perhaps just a little disappointing, as it’s handsome on the outside, and personally I was expecting a little more from the interior. The dash is clear & well laid out, the trio of dials speedo; rev counter & fuel/temperature combo, especially with an 'Illumi Cancel' button which prevents the dash lighting from dimming. This function is particularly useful during dusk where the headlights were on, but the daylight would have made the dials hard to read. The red black-trimmed sports seats although nice looking & comfortable may not give the lower back support needed. It has a small, 213-litre boot, however, it is easy to load & it’s spacious enough to put bits around the cabin. A large storage area in front of the gear stick is joined by two cup holders& a third slot for the rear passenger’s cup between the front seats. Any of these can be used to contain the movable ashtray. The three-door versions access to the rear seats is compromised & the legroom is limited. However, there is realistic room for four, there is more flexibility in the shape of rear seats that split fold 60 40 & they fold forward behind the front seats to increase load space. The main issue is noise as this is a light car, there isn't much sound deadening.

The level of equipment are good throughout the range, starting with the entry level 1.3 litre in GL trim, with power steering, single-disc CD player, remote central locking, & deadlocks. For about £900 more, a secondhand GLX offers alloy wheels, attractive piano-black trim & air-conditioning.

The Suzuki Swift Model Range
Considering the power & equipment that it offers, the Swift s list price undercuts many rivals. In its Sport guise, the Suzuki Swift is an excellent vehicle, providing fun, power & price.
A range-topping 1.6 litre Sport joined the lineup in 2007, showing 125bhp & a 0-60mph time of 8.9sec. The Sport certainly looks as it sounds; standing on 17in wheels & has sports seats, stainless-steel pedals & an up rated chassis. The Sport model also features a deeper front bumper with a unique lower grille, a redesigned rear bumper with twin exhausts, a rear spoiler and a set of 17-inch alloys with low profile tyres. The standard Swift Sport comes with a level of kit which punches well above its £11,499 price tag. Highlights include keyless entry, electric/heated door mirrors, climate control, a MP3-compatible CD player with controls on the steering wheel and a trip computer. At £11,495 the Swift Sport is good value, especially when considering the Mini Cooper costs around £2,000 more.

Shop Around
As a Gap Insurance provider we can also recommend that you shop around for a low mileage used model, say around a 2 year old as this will give you tremendous value for money! Stay away from the pre 04/05 models as they are basically very unimpressive in any way, unless your after a cheap car that can do many miles on very little fuel. Also be prepared for excessive road noise, poor interior styling and outdated looks with the models build before the launch of the new body shape in 2005.

While the petrol versions are available as both three & five-door models, the diesel is supplied only as a five-door. Specification and trim levels are also slightly different between the two engines. The petrol is available as a GL, GLX and Sport, but the diesel comes in a DDiS specification. With demand running high ever since its launch and a limited supply available, secondhand Swifts hold their value well, albeit not cheap, they certainly are distinctive.

If you are thinking of buying a new petrol, diesel, diesel turbo, battery, duel fuel, petrol hybrid or even diesel hybrid fuel cell vehicle then you should carefully consider the merits of buying GAP insurance to protect yourself from the losses new car owners experience due to depreciation. For a free no obligation quote click on our main menu quote button or phone us on 0844 357 8300 (Maximum call charge from a BT landline is 5p a minute. Calls from other networks may vary) quote for gap insurance.

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