Suzuki is on a roll– it raked in the awards at the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards – Powered by WesBank, earlier this year and sales are growing nicely in a depressed market. What comes next? It may just redefine the modern-day compact hot hatch…

The Japanese firm's 4th-generation Swift (its top-seller locally) was revealed at the recent Geneva Motor Show and promises to be a very strong performerin the compact hatchback segment when it arrives in South Africa later this year.

But even better news for fans of fast and entertaining compact cars is that the Swift Sport (no pictures exist yet) is shaping up to be a real little firecracker. Now that hot hatches are out of the financial reach of most young car fanatics, a car such as the Swift Sport is potentially a realistic purchasing goal.

More power, less weight

The next-gen Swift Sport will be powered by Suzuki's new 1.4-litre turbocharged petrolengine that delivers 103 kW and 220 Nm of torque, most likely coupled with a 5-speed manual transmission. Without context, those figures look relatively meagre for a modern-day performance car, but note that the current naturally aspirated model has 100 kW and 160 Nm, so the torque in particular, has dramatically been upped.

More importantly, the new Swift Sport could weigh as much as 150 kg less than its predecessor, resulting in an unmatched power-to-weight ratio at its price-point. The current model accelerates to 100 kph in 8.7 seconds – we would not be surprised to see its successor achieve the same in well below 8 seconds, closer to 7 secin fact. The new HEARTECT platform, developed to be extremely light and rigid, promises to make a great base for a compact hot hach. This time round, it looks like the Swift Sport will be offered in 5-door form.

We foresee a great battle between the Suzuki Swift Sport and next-generation Ford Fiesta ST for supremacy in the Fun Car category of the Cars.co.za Consumer Awards. Stay tuned.

You may also be interested in;

Suzuki Swift Sport (2016) review

New Ford Fiesta ST revealed (with video)

Fastest-accelerating cars under R500 000 (2016)

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