Could the Swift Sport come to India?
The Swift Sport is the swift-er version of the humble Maruti-Suzuki Swift that comes with a peppy 121bhp engine overseas. Internationally, the Swift Sport has earned a lot of praise for being a fun and enthusiastic ride at an affordable price. The car ticks all the right boxes for someone who wants a little more than the usual hatchback. And although it has been in the market for what seems like an eternity, Maruti has not got it to India yet. However, things might be changing. The recently unveiled Maruti Suzuki Fronx features the 1-litre Boosterjet turbo-petrol engine. This engine has now been localised to keep costs in check and it is very likely that Maruti Suzuki will put this turbo-petrol under the hood of a few other cars in India. The Swift Sport could be one of them!
What is the Swift Sport?
From launch, the first generation Swift Sport offered up nothing less than good, affordable, obtainable fun. The Swift Sport as the name suggests is the sportier version of the Swift.
Visually, it certainly looks sportier. It gets changes to the grille and the bumper up front, to make the face look more aggressive. At the rear, the bumper is more pronounced, it gets twin tailpipes as well and gets new wheels. This styling is complemented with a more powerful engine too. Maruti offers the Swift Sport in international markets with a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol Boosterjet to produce 121bhp and 230Nm of torque. The transmission duties are handled by a 6-speed manual gearbox. The car is based on the Heartect platform, just like the Swift in India. Monroe front struts and rear shock absorbers are used for making a suspension system that adds to the driving performance. Meanwhile, the stabilizer is designed for better axle support rigidity, and Teflon mounts are adopted to reduce friction. The coil springs have been tuned to deliver more sporty handling as well.
Maruti offers optional Dual Sensor Brake Support (DSBS) and standard Radar Brake Support (RBS). The international-spec Swift Sport also gets several ADAS features such as collision mitigation braking, lane departure warning, lane departure prevention, weaving alert, and high beam assist.
The interior has been designed to match the performance as well. A D-shaped steering wheel, gleaming stainless steel pedals, and semi-bucket seats are offered with red stitching to hint at its sporty intentions. An exclusive instrument cluster stands out with two separate colour arrangements: a red dial face of the tachometer and a dark silver face of the speedometer.
The Swift Sport for India?
We have no official confirmation on any of this yet and are merely speculating, but it is possible that Maruti Suzuki could launch the Swift Sport in India with the 1-litre Boosterjet engine. In terms of styling, it should get the more aggressive styling of the Swift Sport sold internationally. It could also inherit certain interior tweaks like the sportier steering wheel and updated cluster. And to give it more poke, it would have the 1-litre Boosterjet that puts out 100bhp and 147Nm, which is 10bhp and 34Nm more than the 1.2 nat-asp petrol that the Swift gets at the moment. Additionally, Maruti Suzuki could also tweak the chassis setup with stiffer suspension and roll bars, along with a different steering setup to make it a more nimble handler.
Is India launch on the horizon?
We can’t say for sure, but we want it to happen! Maruti would likely position the Swift Sport as a competitor to the i20 N-line – an alternative in this enthusiast hatch market that was once the mainstay of the Polo. A test mule of what was possibly a Swift Sport was spotted last year and was widely reported. It said ‘Sport’ on the back and looked a lot like the car sold internationally. More evidence that this might be a possibility. With the localised engine, the Swift Sport should not cost an outlandish sum of money and could make it a viable car for an India launch!
