2016 Swift vs 2017 Swift: What has changed

If there is one car in the market that is very popular, it is the Swift. People from all age groups and financial backgrounds have some sort of connect with the Swift. This is something that the company has realized and since they already have a premium hatchback in the form of the Baleno, they decided to go the sportier way with the Swift. The all-new 2017 Swift was revealed just day before yesterday in Japan and it is expected to go on sale in India later next year. Here is how the new one compares to the older one:

Exterior looks:

While the old Swift was a decent looking product, the new one manages to look a lot more upmarket and sporty. The new design has been inspired by other brands, Audi and Jaguar to name a few. While the overall profile continues to look similar, the new vehicle looks much nicer than the outgoing version.

A major change is that the rear door handle has now shifted to the window housing, as opposed to it being on the door. This gives the car a cleaner look, in our opinion. New tail lamps, bumper and grill are also on offer.

While the global model got LED DRLs in the fog lamp housing, our version missed out on it. The new Swift however gets LED DRLs in the headlamp, something we are sure will make it to the Indian version too (the Dzire has been spied with it). While the 16″ alloys on the Japan spec car look cool, India will most likely continue with 15″ ones instead.

Dimensions:

The new Swift is based on the same platform that underpins the Baleno, which means a lot of weight shedding has taken place. This new car weights upto 120 kgs lesser that the outgoing model. In overall length, the car is 10mm shorter, however the wheelbase has grown by 20 mm, thus giving more room inside the car. The Indian version will also be very light. 

Inside:

There has been a massive change on the inside between the current version and the all-new one. For starters, there is an all-new dashboard which houses a 7″ touch screen system (with Apple car play). While the current generation didn’t get a touch screen system in India, we’re likely to get the touch-screen infotainment system in the new car.

There are circular dials for the climate control and there is a digital display on it which shows the temperature. The car gets a new flat bottom steering wheel which looks cool and a newly designed instrument cluster. This is similar to the one that is found on the Baleno and it certainly adds to the appeal on the inside.

On the features front, the new Swift gets a push button start/stop system, rear parking camera and rear parking sensors. These we expect on the Indian version as well. What is new in terms of safety is that the Japanese model comes with 6 airbags, ABS, EBD, lane departure warning and dual camera brake support. In terms of safety features, we expect only dual airbags and ABS with EBD to come on the Indian spec version.

Under the hood:

The current Swift comes with the option of a 1.2 liter petrol and a 1.3 liter diesel engine. The same engine options are expected on the newer model, however the petrol could be re-tuned to make 90 Bhp and 118 Nm as opposed to the 83 Bhp and 115 Nm that the current one makes.

People in Japan will however have a large range of engine options on offer. The 1.2 liter petrol can be had in manual or with a CVT in Japan, both of which we think will make it to the Indian version. There is also a mild hybrid version which is on offer in Japan and there maybe a possibility that the company could bring it to the Indian market too. The hybrid version comes with an electric motor mated to the petrol engine which generates 3 Bhp and 50 Nm.

In addition to this, the Japanese market will get the option of the 1.0 liter turbo petrol engine which produces 101 Bhp and 150 Nm. This one will only be mated to a 6-speed autobox with paddleshifters though. While we would really like this particular engine to come and give the Polo GT TSi a good run for its money, we highly doubt that the Swift will get this engine, at least initially. So, expect the 1.2 liter K-Series petrol and 1.3 Multijet diesel to be the two engines on offer for India.