Say hello to…
…the facelifted Suzuki Swace a family estate car based on, and built alongside, the Toyota Corolla estate. Suzuki expects around 20% of the expected 2,000 a year sales to go to business drivers. According to Suzuki, those drivers would pick the Swace over the Corolla for a £800 price advantage and a better customer experience at the dealership.
The facelift brings with it new looks, an increase in power – up to 140hp from 122hp – and a significant jump in standard safety kit.
Suzuki offers the Swace in two trim levels:
- Motion
- Ultra
Standard equipment on the Motion includes auto high beam, road sign assist, clever cruise control, lane departure warning, lane centering function, keyless entry and start, rear parking camera, speed limiter, heated steering wheel, 7-inch digital info display, drive modes, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, front fog lights, auto headlights, powered and heated door mirrors, 8-inch infotainment screen, wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, USB C socket and 16-inch alloys.
In addition, the Ultra includes blind spot monitoring, safe exit assist, rear cross traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, uprated upholstery, wireless charging and bi-LED headlights.
Is The Suzuki Swace Suitable For My Fleet
Suzuki may not be a big player in the fleet space, but that doesn’t stop the Swace being a suitable for company car operators and drivers. For those looking for a car with a near 600-litre boot and who need to cover high mileages without worrying about where to charge up, the petrol hybrid Suzuki is a sensible choice. What’s more, it’s very well equipped and will be completely reliable.
Leasing A Suzuki Swace
Lower volume resulting in better residual values (on top of a more competitive list price) mean the Suzuki Swace costs less to lease than the equivalent Toyota Corolla Sports Tourer (the car on which it’s based). Intelligent Car Leasing is offering the Swace for £366 a month on a 3+36 contract over 20,000 miles a year. That’s around £50 a month less than the Corolla.
If you’re covering 20,000 miles a year the Swace has running costs of around £61 a month according to Gensen Reports.
Driving A Suzuki Swace
An argument can be made that the Suzuki Swace is the most sensible car you can buy today – given its value, space inside and equipment levels. However, that theme can also be extended to the driving experience.
If you’re looking for a fun and involving drive, the Swace is not the car for you. Instead the driving experience is comfortable and easy.
That’s not to say the Swace doesn’t handle well, it’s just that the focus is clearly about offering light steering, suspension with good compliance and smaller alloys with larger tyres that mean ride refinement is good. And while a softer suspension and tyre set-up means there’s more body roll in tighter corners, grip and balance is good.
The additional power from the hybrid powertrain appears to have also helped the CVT gearbox. Because you don’t have to work the car as hard, the noise from the automatic gearbox is reduced.
There are drive modes, but in reality there’s no need to go near these as Normal is what you’ll want 99% of the time. Eco reduces throttle inputs and dulls the aircon while Sport provides a better throttle response.
The front seats are supportive and comfy too, which helps make longer journeys easier. There’s good head and legroom in the rear seats even behind taller drivers.
The boot is not only impressively large on paper at 596 litres, but the false floor is level with the boot lip making for easy loading while also providing a good hidden space underneath. Fold the rear seats and the load bay is fully flat too.
It’s practicalities such as this along with the easy driving experience that will attract business drivers who care about costs but need a car that does everything with minimal fuss.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The Suzuki Swace
An excellent family estate car offering great value and excellent comfort for longer journeys.
Suzuki Swace
- Model: Swace Ultra
- Power: 140 hp
- Torque: 185Nm
- Max speed: 112mph
- 0-62mph: 9.4s
- Official fuel consumption: 62.7mpg
- Test fuel consumption: 54.1mpg
- CO2 emissions: 102g/km
- BIK tax band 2022/23: 25%
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