2021 MARUTI SUZUKI SWIFT

Best-selling car in India gets key updates, including — surprise, surprise — more power!

- SIMRAN RASTOGI

Despite the title of the best-selling car in India of 2020 on its shoulders, Maruti Suzuki isn’t resting on the Swift’s laurels. For 2021, it’s taken the sales-chart topping formula, and bettered it. The changes aren’t dramatic, but they are sweeping. From largely insignificant to what should matter to the buyer, they range from cosmetic, to a couple of added features, to larger brakes all around, and a retuned steering. Most importantly, what’s under the hood has been updated, for a smoother drive, more performance, and better efficiency. Here’s how it all comes together.

Engine, performance and efficiency

The Swift now has the 1.2-litre K12N DualJet naturally-aspirated petrol engine under the hood — that’s the one with two injectors per cylinder, which debuted on the refreshed Baleno. The powertrain also gets automatic start-stop functionality across the range, and other technical advancements for the unit include a bump in compression ratio, lower friction pistons and a revised cooling system. A happy by-product in the search for a smoother, more efficient running engine is that power has gone up too — a total of 90PS peaking at 6,000rpm, a healthy 7PS more than the outgoing car. Torque remains the same at 113Nm, though it peaks a couple of hundred revs later at 4,400rpm, and the claim is that it’s been spread more evenly through to that point.