Wheels Australia - June 2018

116 whichcar.com.au/wheels

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NEW

ARRIVAL

Slippy, not grippy

If there’s one thing that I’ve already taken a disliking to,

it’s the gloss-black trim piece that encircles the lower half

of the Sport’s D-shaped steering wheel. I’m a big

proponent of steering wheels being round and this

flattened section feels slippery to the touch, marks up

easily with finger grease and feels completely at odds to

the far more pleasant texture of the leather that’s next to

it. A good reason to keep your hands at 9 and 3.

Three-pot entree is

finished; it’s time to

get stuck into Suzuki’s

main course

IT HAD been a swell two months behind the

wheel of the Swift GLX Turbo, but to

be brutally honest I was pretty keen on

handing it back by the time week eight came

and went. The GLX is a terrific thing, but

returning it to Suzuki meant I’d be able to hop

straight into an even more appealing Suzi –

the feisty Swift Sport.

And so as I motored down the street

toward Suzuki Australia’s headquarters, in

Melbourne’s industrial south-west, I found

myself involuntarily grinning. The third-gen

Swift Sport was a giggle-inducing joy at its

local launch at Victoria’s Broadford race track,

and I’ve been itching to spend more time in

it since. However, as I steered into Suzuki’s

driveway my smile began to fade.

There was my Swift: parked, polished and

ready for the handover. The only problem was

it was festooned with stickers.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the tasteful

application of decals on cars, and anyone who

knows me will confirm that I have a peculiar

fetish for ’80s-era door stickers that say things

like INTERCOOLER 4-VALVE DOHC TURBO in

large block letters. However the graphical, erm,

enhancements on my Swift Sport are just a

little too juvenile for my tastes.

The stripes on the lower doors and up on the

C-pillar are actually okay – I appreciate that the

former loudly proclaim this to be the SPORT,

in case the Champion Yellow paint didn’t

clue you in – but the winged eyeliner on the

headlamps and the cloven hoof bonnet decals

seem unnecessary. They’re also printed in a

faux-carbon weave, another of my pet hates.

Or maybe I’m just being a snob. I’ll let you

know if I still hate the stickers in four months.

I know, I know, I’m sounding tremendously

ungrateful, but here’s the thing: the Swift Sport

Full fat,

no flab