Suzuki Swift Sport ZC31 Track Whip

[Blackie]

That’s class Craig!!!

 

[Gaz86]

How'd you get on at the weekend?

 

[Coog]

Weekend started with some reassembly required. General safety checks, tyre rotation, investigate a knocking engine, etc

Towed to Holyhead with the best vehicle in the fleet

Arrived the night before and were arriving on track first thing next day. Track itself was unreal. I was definitely lowest powered there but in the traditional Suzuki ethos; what I don’t have in power I have in ignorance

Was hoping for some tussling with this Rallye. Unfortunately for me it was fitted with a VTS turbo engine and so disappeared up the road lol

Even still, I’ve a bullet proof jap hatch back that I’ve purposely built to be durable, so out for the day I went.

Towards the end really starting to get a feel for the track and what lines worked. The track began to quiet down with other cars fading or not wanting to risk the damp surface and I pretty much had the place to myself. It’s just me, the car, the track... Lap after lap. Nothing but lines and braking, learning and perfecting. It was brilliant.

Despite having a full tank and additional fuel in the van eventually the light came on and that finished the day.

TLDR: Beezer.

 

[Boydie]

Love that all 13 wheels are slicked

 

[yabanja]

Loved catching up on your thread. We just bought one of these yesterday for our city/track day car as we have temporarily relocated to a different continent. I raced spec miata for decades but the need for four seats meant that miata is not ALWAYS the answer. Looking forward to driving it in anger soon! Great to see the aftermarket is strong for these and will certainly be taking your lead(although with a more streetable end result in mind.) A quick handling analysis of your photos indicates that the front end is rolling over far too much causing a significant loss of camber. Would guess it is a combination of a roll center issue and imbalance between the front and rear asb's. Saw that you had RCA lower ball joints but the car may be too low still. Would recommend experimenting with raising the ride height about 20 mm to improve roll centers and see what happens-doesn't cost anything and can't hurt. Would also experiment with a front asb. Opinions are like a@@holes-everyone has one but hopefully you can gain a bit of speed. Look forward to more updates!

Allan

Here is a photo of the new whip:

 

[Coog]

Yeah it's too low at the front. I'd softened it right up to help with understeer but it needs more. Must try raising it a spot and see how that fairs. Thanks for the advice!

Also, yellow OZ 5 door - must be a mighty car mods fan

 

[Burt2000]

That looks class in yellow, a 3 door with some grey wheels would be …..with a k20 turbo under the bonnet

 

[yabanja]

Yeah it's too low at the front. I'd softened it right up to help with understeer but it needs more. Must try raising it a spot and see how that fairs. Thanks for the advice!

Also, yellow OZ 5 door - must be a mighty car mods fan

Not yet, but I will check them out!!

A

 

[yabanja]

That looks class in yellow, a 3 door with some grey wheels would be …..with a k20 turbo under the bonnet

Will absolutely be running 15" wheels. Would you mind sharing the specs of yours? Are you happy with yours? Would wider ones fit? These are 5x114 bolt pattern right?

Thanks.

Allan

 

[EF Ian]

Looks like fun.


What kind of budget do you need all in for a track day over the water?

 

[Coog]

Driving yourself would be about £800 I would have been closer to a grand because I was towing.

£230 for the track, £80 B&B, £500 ferry, £150 fuel and the rest on beer and kebabs.

Memorable trip. Really enjoyed it.

 

[Coog]

Will absolutely be running 15" wheels. Would you mind sharing the specs of yours? Are you happy with yours? Would wider ones fit? These are 5x114 bolt pattern right?

Thanks.

Allan

Yes 5x114 fitted with 195/50/15 Yokohama Advans. They're wearing well and should last a 3rd season before needing replaced. I see some folk fit Evo & DC2 wheels to theirs.

 

[EF Ian]

Driving yourself would be about £800 I would have been closer to a grand because I was towing.

£230 for the track, £80 B&B, £500 ferry, £150 fuel and the rest on beer and kebabs.

Memorable trip. Really enjoyed it.

Seems like a worthwhile experience to do the odd time to experience some different tracks.

 

[yabanja]

Yes 5x114 fitted with 195/50/15 Yokohama Advans. They're wearing well and should last a 3rd season before needing replaced. I see some folk fit Evo & DC2 wheels to theirs.

Thank you! I saw that the Evo offset is perfect although they are 17".

 

[Coog]

And so I find myself in the 3rd season with the Suzuki. It's still running the tyres I bought in 2021 and has so far covered approx. 5000 miles on track. Doesn't use a drop of oil and will sit and idle like a mouse chewing paper after a full days thrashing. Needless to say I'm still loving it and can't wait to get out again this year.

Last week I raised and adjusted the suspension. Decreased spring rate on the front just a touch and lifted it about 15mm. I'm hoping it'll give me a bit more front end grip but will see how it goes.

Also given it's the start of a new season it's service time. New brake fluid and quick oil & filter change and we're good to go for another year.

Paul at CL Brakes has another pair of RC6 pads on the way to me but I'm going to chance last years for a day or two as they still look dead on to me and the pads are bloody expensive.

 

[GrantR]

@Coog you used Mannol before? Interested to hear your thoughts as it seems to get mixed reviews online.

 

[Coog]

@Coog you used Mannol before? Interested to hear your thoughts as it seems to get mixed reviews online.

Just in the Swift. This is second jar of an order I made a couple years back. I think the Hiace may have got it too but it would probably be fine with swamp water and gravel. Genuinely couldn't tell you what's good or bad oil other than the engine hasn't exploded despite my best efforts. The stuff that came out was a dark brown but not black or golden colour so at a guess it's probably fine.

For the VAG scrap I tend to use Castrol Edge or Quantum.


Oh and I should add that the first time I did an oil change in this I accidentally filled it with very expensive gearbox oil. The jars were basically identical ffs

So that year it got flushed through with whatever jars of oil I had lying about for whatever, ATF and then got topped off with a jar of Amazon Basics oil. The Suzuki loves it.

 

[Coog]

Few more tweaks. Got a set of used R888R’s mounted to a set of cheap light weight rims. The AD08RS’s have been great, particularly in the wet but I think the Toyos will be a better option for dry days.

Also had the ECU remapped by Reidy, who specialises in these models. Hoping now it should be mid to late 150’s bhp and this will also give me an extra 1k rpm to play with too.

Ultimately I’ll probably never know what, if any, improvement it makes as I don’t time laps, but should hopefully be measurable against others out on track.

Next up might be a little more stripping!

 

[Daniel]

These wee cars were definitely made for track enjoyment. I've always joked with my other half that when she gets rid of her wee Sport I want it for a track car... Only tracks I've been on are Go-Kart tracks! lol .. Intimidation factor puts me off, I want the track to myself!

Class to see you're making the most of it & still enjoying it! - Still the most fun I've ever had in any FWD car.

 

[Coog]

These wee cars were definitely made for track enjoyment. I've always joked with my other half that when she gets rid of her wee Sport I want it for a track car... Only tracks I've been on are Go-Kart tracks! lol .. Intimidation factor puts me off, I want the track to myself!

Class to see you're making the most of it & still enjoying it! - Still the most fun I've ever had in any FWD car.

Three years after purchase and I'm still having the craic. It's really not the right car for Kirkistown but stick it onto a technical track and it's right up there with much more powerful cars which I find very amusing. Every time I'm out I'm going as fast as I can. There's no easy laps outside of warm-up or cool-down, there's no resting in the paddock because it needs a break, there's no stopping to cool down... it's just out there, being thrashed as hard as I can thrash it and (touch wood), it's never put a foot wrong. Brilliant wee car.

No need to worry about intimidation. Any track days I've been to allows the newbies to go out on their own together. Sometimes for the first half of the day and sometimes for the first 10 minutes.

 

[AC]

The reliability of this is just fantastic and I do love seeing it out on track - it just looks class!

No need to worry about intimidation. Any track days I've been to allows the newbies to go out on their own together. Sometimes for the first half of the day and sometimes for the first 10 minutes.

Agree with this entirely. I was out on Sunday past and easily the slowest car on track. Just let everyone past when safe to do so and had a blast with my old man.
That said when someone comes up quick and sits on the rear bumper, it's a tad scary!

 

[Coog]

Bit of a damp finish at Kirkistown at the weekend, however as usual the car performed well. Fuel light came on with a natural close of the day. New tyres made a slight improvement. Not sure about the remap but I did time a lap for the first time ever at a 1:15 odd in the damp. No idea if that's good or cack for a 1.6 litre shopping cart.

 

[DJMCA]

Could you genuinely not feel any difference since the remap?

 

[Coog]

Could you genuinely not feel any difference since the remap?

It's hard to feel a difference when there's nothing to compare it to. It revs higher and has a hard cut limiter now which it didn't before, so I guess there was differences. It was able to sit with and eventually pass a Clio 200, so a combination of all the mods together has turned it into a pretty competent budget package. Mondello next month will be the real test. Much better suited to this car.

 

[AC]

Car was going really really well on Sunday @Coog - just after lunch I did my best to catch up but was struggling.. the swift was flying!
Unfortunately the Clio decided to drop a valve so play time came to an end early for me.