Coog
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A number of years ago I rented one of these and thrashed it round the Nurburgring. During induction and general 'ring training the rent4ring instructor said that all those in the room taking a Swift for the day will never look at one in the same way again. He was right.
So it's no surprise that the moment I arrived home I stuck an alert on for all local adverts in the hope that one day one will pop up. Fast forward 5 years and an old alert activates and pops an email into my inbox:
'09 Swift Sport
Full history
Full MOT
Lady Owner
66k miles
Tantalising.
The workshop is full and I'm into the MX5 to the tune of many thousands of pounds & man hours at this point but those memories of thrapping a Swift round the 'ring just kept coming flooding back. So in the end I stuck it up for sale almost half heartedly and unbelievably 45 minutes later it was sold!
So... I guess this swift thing is going to happen. One spirited test drive later and I'm handing a very small sum of money over for one of the most fun cars I've ever driven...
The chassis is sublime. It possesses the kind of agility bloated premium sports cars can only dream of. The way it deals with corners is borderline hilarious. It's low weight, just a shade over 1000kg with low rotational mass with skinny tyres and small brakes makes it really sharp at direction changes. There's no sound deadening and while it's basic and light it's well screwed together. It's raw in the same way as 80's hot hatches but it's got a CD player and a trip computer and fully working aircon... The standard seats are very supportive and the driving position is often said to be a little high but I find it perfect. A great view for track use, it adds to the sensation of speed.
I see the fun in tackling corners and bends, not all out acceleration or straight line speed. So while my XJ6 would probably empty it on a drag strip the Swift is an entirely different league when it comes to anything with a corner. It's got just about the right amount of power (~125bhp) to keep things fun and legal on road and should be able to hassle some fancy stuff round the track too. The VVT engine loves to rev and being naturally aspirated it's ready to go at any time.
It's like a keen little happy puppy. It's brilliant.
I should also be confident in reliability. The R4R instructor mentioned that they only generally require routine maintenance. One example was actually sold to a private buyer having completed almost 3000 laps of the Nurburgring. Another was rumoured to have over 300k km before retirement. Bear in mind these are as hire cars in the hands of people like me!
Fantastic car and confusingly cheap - I'm already besotted with it.
First step was to give it a deep clean. It wasn't bad but it needed it given the colour of the water that came back out!
So what's the plans?
Well I figured the R4R guys know what they're at so the wheels are being switched out for a set of 15 inch wheels with meatier tyres. These are ready for a set of AD08RS to be fitted on Monday
I also have TEIN fully adjustable coilovers coming along with many other upgraded bits and pieces. Will be a busy few weeks - will keep you updated