The 2018 Maruti Swift is based on the Heartect platform that it shares with the Maruti Baleno and the Dzire compact sedan. However, Maruti has not altered its styling too much, and it is still recognisable as a Swift - a much improved version of the popular hatchback.
The car has grown a bit in size - not lengthwise, but in terms of wheelbase, shoulder-room and interior space. And Maruti has loaded it with plenty of features. It gets all the goodies that its siblings the Dzire and Baleno also get, such as a 7-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic climate control, automatic headlamps, power-folding mirrors, keyless entry and ignition etc.
What’s interesting is the styling. It looks quite distinct, with the single-aperture grille, smiley-face bumper and projector LED headlamps. The side profile looks distinctly like the Swift has always been - with a more pronounced floating roof effect thanks to blacked out pillars.
The car looks like a two-door variant, because the handles for the rear door have been fitted into the C-pillar, so as to give it a seamless shoulderline. The C-shaped tail-lamps are squared off and bulge out of the body, giving it slightly more heft at the rear.
The engine choices are the same - the familiar 1.2-litre K-Series petrol motor that puts out 87PS of power and 114 Nm of torque and the 1.3-litre multijet diesel engine putting out 74PS of power and 190 Nm of torque. Both these engines come with a choice of a 5-speed manual transmission or a 5-speed automated manual transmission (AMT).
We took both engine variants out for a drive in Lonavala, and as we had said in this Swift first-drive impressions piece, the cars have all the makings of another best-seller for Maruti. Watch the video to see how the Maruti Suzuki Swift feels to drive now.
(The Quint was invited by Maruti Suzuki India to test drive the all-new 2018 Swift in Lonavala, Maharashtra)
Cameraperson: Abhay Sharma
Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
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