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Maruti Swift Sport- all about the sport version

Maruti India is in the process of making its best selling hatchback Maruti Swift even more attractive than before. The already on sale model in various parts of the globe – Maruti Swift Sport is all set to enter the country where its basic model has created history in India. It was in 2000 that Maruti’s parent company Suzuki launched Swift Sport in Japan and later in some European and other prominent car markets of the world. The car is available in three-door, five door versions with a more powerful engine and is a little longer than the normal Swift hatch.

Sporty features of the car include a M16A  1.6 L petrol powered Variable Valve Timing engine that has a peak power of 100 kW and peak torque of 160 Nm at 4400 rpms. These are the specifications of the Japanese model of the Swift Sport and the one that is heading to India could be quite different from the international model. This sporty version of Swift has a six speed manual transmission.

As part of the exterior looks and features, the Sporty Swift will have all newly designed bumpers and a stiff suspension to tackle the challenges put to a sports car. The car will have a ground clearance of 130 mm and will be mounted on 16/17 inch alloys for better road grip during sporty drives. All wheel disc brakes with EBD and ESP will ensure that the car has efficient handling and braking. On the inside, the car will have a red sports seats and a sportier steering wheel with a lot of leather work inside.

However deflating all the hoopla and fuss created for the Swift Sport, the sports version of the car that could arrive in India will have a little sporty about it. The Swift Sport that will head to India will be a toned down international version. Look and feel wise it will be Swift Sport but, there will be hardly any action when the accelerator pedal is pressed. The real culprit is the high excise duty. In the light of keeping the price down, Maruti will be replacing the 1.6 L 100kW engine with more modest 1.4 L petrol one from Maruti Ertiga and it could be the 1.6 L from Maruti SX4. The other features are expected to remain the same but the engine power of the 1.4 L is only 93 bhp while that of the 1.6 L from SX4 is 104 bhp which is close to the Swift Sport model engine. Thus expecting much sports car features specially the engine will expecting too much from the upcoming Maruti car.