Current:Home > StocksEurope's new Suzuki Swift hatchback is ludicrously efficient-InfoLens
Europe's new Suzuki Swift hatchback is ludicrously efficient
View Date:2024-12-23 10:59:30
If you’re looking at this little hatchback and wondering what decade you woke up in, you’re not alone. A hatchback, with a manual transmission, that’s mainly intended for fuel economy but might also be a little fun when pushed? Modest power, even more modest acceleration? It all sounds like a formula for a 1980s hatchback — those little lumps sometimes unfairly deemed “penalty boxes” but often capable of serving up a big heaping side dish of fun (sometimes unintentionally). But a closer look reveals… it’s a hybrid! And it’s brand new. This is the Suzuki Swift Hybrid, freshly redone for Europe. And of course you can’t have one.
After all, Suzuki doesn’t even sell cars here anymore. If it did, we’d all have Jimnys. Well, maybe a few of us would (in this alternate universe) give an unusually efficient Swift a shot. After all, the last Swift (which was not a hybrid) offered a very honest formula of cheap, cheerful fun. It was very lightweight, and expressly sporty.
The Swift Hybrid is not expressly sporty, but it is very light. Suzuki pegs the curb weight at a bantam 2,092 pounds. That certainly helps with its impressive fuel economy — 64.2 mpg on the optimistic European test cycle, courtesy of a 1.2-liter inline-three that proves out to just 81 horsepower and 83 lb-ft of torque. (On the EPA test cycle, it’d be very roughly 20 percent less than this — a still-impressive 56 mpg.) The hybrid hardware is mild, a 12-volt system offering 44 lb-ft of twist from a starter-generator unit and a 10 aH battery. Suzuki says the hardware adds just 15 pounds to the vehicle, but how much it adds to the Swift Hybrid’s overall efficiency is left unsaid.
The fourth-generation Swift debuted in Tokyo late last year, and it’s a fresh little number overall with a prominent grille, angular headlights, and a no-frills overall shape that doesn’t stray far from the decades-old economy hatch formula. It’s handsome, overall, and should be a good canvas for the inevitable hotter versions that have defined our interest (from afar) in the little Swift. It’s certainly grown up a lot from the mainly miserable little vehicle that, decades ago, was sold here as the Swift, Chevrolet Metro, and later as a Geo Metro.
veryGood! (59)
Related
- As CFP rankings punish SEC teams, do we smell bias against this proud and mighty league?
- CIA Director William Burns secretly met with Chinese counterpart in Beijing last month
- Love Is Blind's Micah Apologizes For Controversial Behavior on the Show
- Meet the startup growing mushroom caskets and urns to enrich life after death
- Engines on 1.4 million Honda vehicles might fail, so US regulators open an investigation
- Russia claims to repel invasion from Ukraine as 9-year-old girl, 2 others killed in latest attack on Kyiv
- Allison Holker Pens Tribute to Her and Stephen tWitch Boss' Brave Son Maddox on 7th Birthday
- Jennifer Aniston Responds to Claims That Friends Is Offensive
- 3 Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib win $42M judgement against defense contractor
- Tom Brady Shares Glimpse Inside Beach Day With His 3 Kids and NFL BFFs
Ranking
- Blake Shelton Announces New Singing Competition Show After Leaving The Voice
- Gwyneth Paltrow Trial: Daughter Apple Martin Says Mom Was Shaken Up After Ski Crash
- Why does North Korea want a spy satellite so badly, and what went wrong with its attempt to launch one?
- Blinken says no Russia-Ukraine peace possible until Kyiv can defend itself and Putin pulls his troops out
- Diamond Sports Group can emerge out of bankruptcy after having reorganization plan approved
- Doja Cat Claps Back Over Plastic Surgery Confessions
- 13 family members die after reportedly eating toxic porridge in Namibia
- Annemarie Wiley Filming for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 13
Recommendation
-
Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter to perform at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
-
Chloe Bailey Shares How She Handles Criticism Over Sultry Posts
-
Lounge Underwear 60% Off Sale: If You Have Big Boobs, These Are the 32 Size-Inclusive Styles You Need
-
Why does North Korea want a spy satellite so badly, and what went wrong with its attempt to launch one?
-
'SNL' stars jokingly declare support for Trump, Dana Carvey plays Elon Musk
-
Canada will be the first country to print warning labels on each cigarette: Poison in every puff
-
Young Ontario couple killed by landlord over tenancy dispute, police say
-
Jeremy Renner Shares How 10-Year-Old Daughter Ava Has Healed Him After Accident