Maruti Swift Long Term Review – 2 Months Report

June 10, 2025

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The Maruti Suzuki Swift has truly become a household name in India over the last 25 years and why not? It is one of the most fun to drive cars made by the automaker and yet it excels at many other things as well. The Swift entered the MotorBeam long term fleet when I had just sold my Honda City and hence I started using this as my daily driver.

I was looking forward to the Swift for two things. One – it is always handy driving a compact car in Mumbai. The convenience is unparalleled. Second – I had the previous generation Swift diesel as my long termer for 18 months close to 6 years back and I loved every bit of it, which is why I wanted to actually live with the new Swift and see how it is as a daily car.

Let’s get straight to the engine. The new Z-Series engine drew a lot of flak for it being a 3-cylinder unit and slower than the previous K-Series engine and that does hold true. The K-Series unit was more refined and quicker as well, but the new engine doesn’t disappoint that much. I found in-city driveability to be very good and the Swift felt peppy enough to make day-to-day drives less boring. Sure, at low RPMs the engine does vibrate a bit and our test car used to vibrate a little more than usual.

Once the revs settle, the engine feels smooth and offers clean performance. I found the performance good on highways as well and it was fun redlining the Swift whenever I got a chance. In fact, I remember our Swift having some wheelspin in 3rd gear too when pushing hard.

But what about mileage? While the claimed figure is 24.8 km/l, I got a realistic figure of 14.5 km/l in the city and close to 17.5 km/l on highways. The number can differ based on your driving style and usage. The lowest I saw on this car was around 12.5 km/l on a shoot day.

I found the Swift quite engaging to drive. It darts well into corners and the driving position is spot on too. The steering though not feedback rich is still precise enough and the suspension has a firm edge. However, what I noticed on Mumbai’s poor roads is that every bump, every undulation, even the smallest ones make their presence felt in the cabin. A long drive in the city can make you feel a little tired if the roads are bad.

I was always in the driver’s seat and loved the comfort I got over there. The touchscreen is also intuitive to use but the sound quality at high volumes is strictly average. I really missed a front centre armrest in this car. The cabin is very plasticky as well and some premium touches would be really welcome.

It was a short stint with the Swift since we had send it back to Maruti Suzuki at the end of 2 months. Overall, a pretty sorted hatchback that won’t disappoint Indian customers across demographics.