New Suzuki Swift RS variant launched
Charming yet unpretentious, we always have a soft spot for the diminutive Suzuki Swift, a car that is ostensibly free of flash yet delightfully entertaining to make each journey highly enjoyable.
Its relatively plain styling ensures that its appearance remain largely inoffensive but as a result, it is also not much of a head turner. For the enthusiast buyer who cares for looks as much as performance, that’s a bit of a waste considering the immense driving fun which the Swift offers.
Body kit packages sell in Malaysia; we suspect that accountants at UMW Toyota and Edaran Tan Chong laugh quite loudly to the bank with the high take up rates of their TRD and Impul kits respectively. This is particularly true amongst young buyers shopping for their first cars in the B-segment, a key demographic which Suzuki pitches the Swift at.
In the words of Suzuki Malaysia Automobile’s Managing Director Keiichi Suzuki, the company seeks to ‘appeal to youthful drivers wishing to reflect their vibrant personality in their car’s appearance’ and on that basis comes the newly-launched Suzuki Swift RS, effectively a PDI-enhanced Swift 1.4 GLX offered at a RM6,000 price premium.
Powered by the same 1.4-litre engine mated with a simple 4-speed automatic transmission as per existing variants, the Swift RS carries over the full equipment package already offered in the Swift GLX, namely multi-info display, tilt & telescopic steering, keyless entry, start/stop button, and dual frontal airbags.
Visually, the new Swift RS is easily distinguished from the regular GLX model with 3M rooftop stickers creating a black and red gradient appearance, side body decals, ‘gun-metallic’ paint on its carryover 16-inch alloy wheels, all-round bodykit, rear spoiler, and LED daytime running lights.
Inside, the Swift RS gets striking black and red leather seats complemented by red stripe trims on the door cards. The centre stack receives a 2-DIN touchscreen audio system built in with Bluetooth connectivity, smart phone mirroring function, and perhaps most usefully, a reverse camera.
Pricing of the new Swift RS starts at RM79,388 on-the-road without insurance in Peninsula Malaysia, with Sabah and Sarawak buyers needing to pay RM85,124 and RM85,140 respectively under the same terms. The car is covered by a 3-year / 100,000km warranty, although, interestingly, the rooftop stickers are only covered for two years.
