23 Oct 06
First impressions of the hottish Swift Sport are very good. The alloys are a respectable 17" in diameter, there are two exhausts at the back, and the bumpers and side skirts are pumped up enough to distinguish the Sport from lesser Swifts.
The looks are part Mini, part Citroen C2, and the Swift manages to carry off both without being too estate-agentish on one hand or too hoodie-friendly on the other. It's a world away from Suzuki's hottish Ignis Sport, which tried but failed to lose its shopping-trolley looks by adding a box full of sporty bits. This is a much more coherent, purposeful-looking package: a Swift on steroids.
Second impressions are even better. The 1.6-litre engine may not win any horsepower competitions, with just 125bhp and 109lb-ft of torque, but work it hard and it'll reward you with a sub-9sec 0-62mph time and a 124mph top speed.
It's well specced too, with automatic climate control, electric windows and mirrors, front foglights and an MP3-capable CD player coming as standard.
