8 months with the new-gen Swift (Z12E engine) - efficient but is it as fun?

40 views3 replies27 Aug

Been driving the latest generation of this hatchback, the one with the new three-cylinder engine, for about eight months now, mostly city commuting with the odd weekend drive out of town. The fuel efficiency is genuinely the standout thing - I'm consistently getting numbers in the mid-twenties per litre in mixed driving, and the automatic variant is officially rated even higher than that. For anyone cross-shopping, the CNG option is apparently good for over 30 km per kg too, which is wild if running costs are your priority.

My one real complaint is ground clearance. I've scraped the front lip on speed breakers more times than I'd like to admit, and you do need to approach broken roads carefully. There's also a bit more three-cylinder thrum at higher revs compared to the previous generation's four-cylinder engine, nothing deal breaking but old owners will notice it. Six airbags standard across variants was a big reason I picked this over some rivals though, so can't complain too much on the safety front.

Anyone else running the new engine long term - has the vibration or NVH gotten better after running-in, or is this just how it is?

3 Replies

manoj_garage

27 Aug

I'll be the contrarian here - I still have the previous generation and honestly I miss that engine's refinement over this new one. Test drove the newer version before deciding to keep my old car a bit longer, and there was a noticeable vibration through the pedals at idle that the dealer brushed off as "normal for three-cylinder engines." The efficiency gains are real and hard to argue with, but something was given up in smoothness to get there.

isha_carventures

27 Aug

Useful thread, I'm deciding between this and another premium hatchback right now. How is the road noise at highway speeds, does the smaller footprint feel noticeably more affected by wind noise or is it comparable? Also did you get the sunroof variant, curious if that added any extra rattle over time since sunroofs on budget hatchbacks sometimes do in my experience.

divya_autolove

28 Aug

Same experience here, my automatic has been returning close to 24-25 on the highway and low twenties in the city, can't complain given how much I drive. The three-cylinder note took me a week or two to get used to coming from an older four-cylinder hatchback before this, but I stopped noticing it after that. Ground clearance is the one thing I'd flag to anyone buying too, especially if your roads have unmarked speed breakers like mine do.

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