You won’t find bucket loads of performance on offer from the Swace 1.8-litre hybrid but it’s a good all-rounder with a decent level of ride comfort and enough dynamic polish to pass muster. The 1.8-litre hybrid SZ-T offers a 120bhp power output and performance of 0-100km/h reached in a relaxed 11.1s and a 180 km/h maximum speed. With low CO2 emissions and excellent overall economy, the Swace appeals to both families and fleet drivers. From the outside you’d be hard pressed to notice a great deal of difference between the Suzuki Swace and the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports.
Special mention : Frugal, low CO2, comfortable, more fun to drive than you think. It’s an estate.
Needs work : Touch screen is a bit behind, manual touch buttons could be nicer, textures are hard wearing.
| BHP 120 | Petrol / Hybrid / Auto |
| 0-100 km/h in 11.1 seconds | Road Tax €180 |
Price: €30,995.00 | Boot space 596 / 1,606 litres |
Suzuki has pitched the new Swace Estate perfectly in terms of running costs, which means it’s of interest to both home, retail and business users alike. Prices are aimed at buyers on a strict monthly budget.
The Swace is smart, well-built and offers just enough kit and doesn’t try to overachieve by throwing too much technology about where it’s not needed. Equipment levels are generous and include climate control, heated seats, a rear parking camera, a 7-inch colour digital information display and an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen.
The eight-inch screen is easily visible from its location high up on the dash, but the graphics look fussy and dated. Even the physical controls around the screen – normally a good thing – are small, fiddly buttons, which take a conscious glance at to work properly. The menu layouts aren’t particularly intuitive, so making use of your smartphone connectivity and individual features is easiest. Built-in navigation isn’t available but again it’s just as easy to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
The system’s main menu has shortcuts to the audio functions, phone connectivity and a hybrid-system monitor. This shows real-time data of how energy is flowing to and between the petrol engine, electric motor and battery. The screen responds reasonably quickly to touches, but loading times are a little slow.
The heating functions for the front seats and steering wheel are joined by climate control, radar cruise control and a rear parking camera, while the steering wheel adjusts for both reach and rake to help you find the most comfortable driving position. The rear seats also fold completely flat in a 60:40 configuration which adds to the car’s flexibility, and is a particular bonus when ferrying around kids and bulky items of luggage.
Standard safety kit for the Swace is equally impressive and includes radar cruise control, Road Sign Assist, a lane departure warning, a vehicle sway warning and lane centering and steering assist functions. It takes a lot from its Toyota Corolla counterpart save for the Suzuki’s redesigned front bumper, brand badging and LED headlights. It comes with16-inch alloys from the entry-level Corolla, with no option to upgrade to bigger wheels.
It features silver roof rails, body-coloured door handles and rear privacy glass. Super White paint comes as standard with other options including silver, blue, black, brown and bronze in a range of pearlescent, mica or metallic finishes.
The Swace is comfortable, practical and is liked as it’s an alternative to the norm. The driver and passengers shouldn’t want for any extra space in the cabin, with decent levels of head and legroom. Three adults are able to sit in relative comfort across the rear bench.
The Swace has a 596-litre boot with a wide, practical opening, although it loses out to the Skoda Octavia’s 640-litre load space. The Ford Focus Estate provides 575 litres, with the Hyundai i30 Tourer at 602 litres and the Kia Ceed Sportswagon closest to the Octavia with 625 litres of luggage space.
The hybrid set-up of the Swace means that its braked trailer towing ability is limited to 750kg, whereas rivals from Ford, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia are all rated at either 1 tonne or over.