Tarmac - Magazine

[PeterHBne]

Anyone seen this mag? Found it in an IGA stor today (Aussie Mag).

Has a Polo GTI v XR4 v Swift Sports over the quarter, round the track & slalom.

Polo fastest over the quarter (15.4 i think) but beaten by XR4 on the track and slowest in the slalom (no real surprise there).

They believe handling woes would be cured by 17's and even lower profie.

Worth a read.

[RhysQ]

Anyone seen this mag? Found it in an IGA stor today (Aussie Mag).

Has a Polo GTI v XR4 v Swift Sports over the quarter, round the track & slalom.

Polo fastest over the quarter (15.4 i think) but beaten by XR4 on the track and slowest in the slalom (no real surprise there).

They believe handling woes would be cured by 17's and even lower profie.

Worth a read.

will have to have a look at that one, i work just across the road from an IGA. i've only seen the MOTOR magazine sub $30K shotout on the Polo GTI, XR4, Colt Ralliart, and Swift Sport. it would have been good if they included another turbo donk in the running like the Colt Rallirt.

those XR4's are supposed the have exceptional handling abilities compared to the Polo, and yes that may be partly because they are running 17's with a 40mm profile. what track did they run on, i imagine it would have been quite a windy track cos on a straight and long corner the Polo would have dominated.

As for the Swift Sport, i'm not sure as to why they put this poor little 1.6 in with all the big kids, it doesn't even compare to the other three mentioned above.

[mitch_gti]

I actually work for Suzuki and since i have been here the Swift Sport has become a little favourite of mine.

It does have alot of character, and theres just something about a high reving N/A hatchback that does it for me. Especially when it gets the extra kick at about 4,000 rpm.
Ive driven a sport with a new intake system and bugger me it sounded like a box full of hornets - Insane.

They do handle extremely well and i have found their brakes to be much more capable than the GTI's.

At 23,990 driveaway why wouldnt you? especially now when P platers are being given a hard time about what car they drive.

The swift sport allows youngins a chance to get into a well balanced sporty hatch with a bit more spice which isnt going to cost them the earth and is very very safe (4 star euro ncap for the BASE model swift with 2 airbags with abs +ebd, sport has 6 a/bags, abs, ebd +traction & stability).

I think its great they are giving little hatchies a go in magazines and reviews.

[LoriJarrod]

Gotta agree mitch. An N/A high revver is fun to drive. I have very fond memories of my N15 2door SR20 when I lived in the US. Although it's 105kw wasn't anything to brag about, with a some easier breathing mods, it was quite a complete package.

[Sharkie]

A friend of mine, is the Queensland distributor for Suzuki. Suzuki Oz does not distribute in northern NSW and QLD. He has built a Swift Sport turbo with a kit from Japan as a toy and a technology demonstrator.

Looks quite nice and goes well. Not nearly as quick as a moddded Polo though. Due to the high compression ratio in the 1.6 boost is lowish and it makes about 135kw at the flywheel. Torque is greatly improved and I must say is a big improvement over the std car.

It has had its share of problems though, most noticably being the clutch getting fried, turbo manifold leaks and a broken driveshaft.

With all the work done to it cost well north of $40K so as I've pointed out to him a few times, you'd be better of buying a Polo GTI...

[PogoAmy]

I actually work for Suzuki and since i have been here the Swift Sport has become a little favourite of mine.

At 23,990 driveaway why wouldnt you? especially now when P platers are being given a hard time about what car they drive.

How long have you got, mitch?

I took a $10k hit just to escape the horror of the Suzuki Swift Sport I lumbered myself with after around six months of utter misery. Innumerable faults from the factory that took seemingly endless attempts to fix (in that time I was without it for 14 entire days), usually with no success. The sales part of the dealership didn't want to know about it, either. B.....ds.

By far the worst built car I have EVER had the misfortune to own. And I had a British-built Escort once...

Cheers!
PogoAmy.
xox

[LoriJarrod]

How long have you got, mitch?

I took a $10k hit just to escape the horror of the Suzuki Swift Sport I lumbered myself with after around six months of utter misery. Innumerable faults from the factory that took seemingly endless attempts to fix (in that time I was without it for 14 entire days), usually with no success. The sales part of the dealership didn't want to know about it, either. Bastards.

By far the worst built car I have EVER had the misfortune to own. And I had a British-built Escort once...

Cheers!
PogoAmy.
xox

Sounds like my experience with my Polo GTI.

Worst car I've ever owned by far. And I've had a Torana.

I guess it's all relative.

[mitch_gti]

How long have you got, mitch?

I took a $10k hit just to escape the horror of the Suzuki Swift Sport I lumbered myself with after around six months of utter misery. Innumerable faults from the factory that took seemingly endless attempts to fix (in that time I was without it for 14 entire days), usually with no success. The sales part of the dealership didn't want to know about it, either. Bastards.

By far the worst built car I have EVER had the misfortune to own. And I had a British-built Escort once...

Cheers!
PogoAmy.
xox

What on earth was wrong with it?

Im also not surprised that the sales team didnt want to know about the problems, theres not terribly much they can do.
You wouldnt go to the suzuki service department and ask the mechanic to sell you a new swift. Just as you wouldnt expect a salesman to fix a problem with your car.
Although maybe the salesperson could have approached the service manager and tried to push him to try a little harder.

I remember i was once in the lounge room in a ford service dept waiting for my Fiesta's 3,000 km service to be completed. There was a lovely elderly couple sitting next to me who were waiting for their brand new falcon to have its 3,000 km service (check up).. the service manager came out and said their car was ready and sorry it took longer than usual but they had to replace the diff. hahahaha should have seen the couples faces when they were told that !!!!


Also forgot to mention my friend has a 182 clio.

He has had the following go wrong with his car when it was brand new
-driving down the road and his rear bumper FELL OFF
-Driving down the road and his exhaust FELL OFF and was dragging on the road
-cat converter died
-computer died, needed a new one from france, was without the car for about 3 weeks.
-bits and pieces inside falling off and apart

If suzuki had your car for 14 days to fix it then thats not bad

[PeterHBne]

This is the mag - not one I've seen before but from a qucik flick through, looked good...

http://www.tarmac-mag.com.au/home.php

[shaneth]

Yep i picked one up as well, thanks for the heads up. tis a good read.

[RhysQ]

At 23,990 driveaway why wouldnt you? especially now when P platers are being given a hard time about what car they drive.

because for only an extra $1,000 i would much rather an XR4!

[VW GTI]

At 23,990 driveaway why wouldnt you? especially now when P platers are being given a hard time about what car they drive.

What car did you get?

I'd rather pay an extra $3k for Polo GTI, if not that then an extra $2k for Punto or $1k for XR4.

[PogoAmy]

What on earth was wrong with it?

These are just the problems that come to mind immediately...

- Suspension made a godawful crunch sound over bumps, speedhumps etc. After four attempts at fixing they managed to get it down to a squeak.
- Almost everything inside rattled. Not just slight creaks over bumps, constant ratlles even on relatively smooth roads.
- Car was just dead twice. Battery recharge was fine, but nothing was left on that should have drained the battery.
- Wheel alignment would not hold.
- Stereo often just didn't work. Had to turn engine off and restart.
- Horrendous squeal from gearbox which they claimed could not be attended to.

> Im also not surprised that the sales team didnt want to know about the problems, theres not terribly much they can do.

I wanted out of the thing and just asked for a reasonable buyback figure - not a refund. They offered $10k under what I paid for a car that had done 2000kms (after all, I hardly got to dirve the thing as it was either away or not working). The general contempt with which they treated me - not calling back when saying they would and suchlike - is part of why I'm so riled up now. I'm not one of these people who flies into a frenzy first...

If suzuki had your car for 14 days to fix it then thats not bad

Sorry mitch, but 14 days out of what was three months (I gave up after that and just rarely drove, it was that depressing) without a BRAND NEW CAR - which by definition should, oh, say, work - is COMPLETELY unacceptable.

I've put it down to (ludicrously) bad experience and ensured nobody I know ever goes near a Suzuki again.

Cheers!
PogoAmy.

[Sharkie]

My friend doesn't like me saying it, but Suzuki's are widely accepted as being the poorest quality Japanese cars you can buy.... (sorry mitch)

In fact some Korean cars are better regarded .......

I do have 2 x Suzuki bikes and they have no issues at all ....... (not regarded as the best quaility either though, in fact same perception applies.)

Better off buying a VW..... (any VW except maybe a Chinese built one ...)

[RhysQ]

mitch, we can all see in your avatar that you have a pic of a suzi swift behind you on the wall...now i don't know if you are employed to sell these or you just have a soft spot from working there (otherwise known as STOCKHOLM SYNDROME ), so therefore, don't blame you for backing it up.

but looking at value for money (along with brand recognition/reputation) i think they are just too high in the price, especially when, as sam said, the gti polo is only $3K more, the punto $2K more, and of course the far superior N/A of the XR4 for only $1K more.

i can not comment on the reliability of the suzi but i have a couple of mates in XR4's and they have not had a hint of a problem, and are a lot of fun to drive (with sufficient power to boot).

i think suzi would benefit from a price drop in the sport to get the attention, get some people in them, build up a bit of a rep, and then bring out a cracker of an update model in the near future. prospective customers would relate to a good experience in the predecessor, pass the good word on to others, and buy up.

just my two PSI !!

p.s. sorry for blabbering on.