Suzuki Swace review

From the outside, you'd need to be paying attention to spot a Swace among a car park full of Corollas. The most obvious change – if you can call it that – is the front bumper, which has reprofiled lower air intakes and the Suzuki badge moved up above the front grille. Beyond that, the Swace is essentially identical to its Toyota sibling, even wearing the same 16-inch alloy wheels as Icon-trimmed Corollas.

Is that a bad thing though? The Corolla's a reasonably attractive, well-proportioned car, and so too is the Swace. Plus, we're quite partial to its selection of metallic brown paint finishes. The car was updated in 2023 to coincide with the Corolla, gaining the same reshaped LED headlights on the outside, plus the same mechanical enhancements underneath.

The stuff underneath the Swace has always mattered more, anyway. It uses the same 1.8-litre self-charging-hybrid engine as the Corolla, which got a sizeable boost in the facelift from 122hp to 140hp. Of course, that's not exactly rapid, but what makes the Swace's setup so effective in the real world is its punchy hybrid motor. You get instant off-the-line shove similar to an EV, so you can effortlessly zip through gaps in traffic, alongside the simplicity of only having to fill up with petrol and economy figures north of 55mpg.

Like the driving experience, the user experience in the cabin also focuses on ease of use. Unlike so many fashionable rivals that've gone all-in on screens and touch-sensitive controls, the Swace has physical buttons and knobs for all the important features. That means easy adjustments to the climate control, stereo volume, cruise control or driving modes without fiddly on-screen menus. The only real drawback is that this admirably simple approach seems a little old-fashioned compared to rivals like the Volkswagen Golf, which lean harder on their screen technology.

Since the Swace only comes as a five-door estate, it doesn't suffer from the same compromised practicality as the Corolla hatch. Passenger space is about average for the class – you'll be able to seat medium-sized adults one behind another without complaint, but tall adults will feel a little cramped. Its 596-litre boot is, similarly, not quite class-leading but should be plenty for most families' needs, happily swallowing a pushchair and baby clobber, or a medium-sized dog.

In short, the Swace makes a very strong case to your head, if not quite as convincing an argument to your heart. What might win you over, however, is the fact the Swace undercuts its Toyota cousin by several thousand pounds. This gap remains for nearly new and used examples too, so second-hand buyers can get a newer or lower-mileage example if they don't mind a Suzuki badge on the bonnet rather than a Toyota one. And, with excellent fuel economy and Suzuki's service-activated seven-year warranty, running costs should be reassuringly low.

Suzuki isn't going to win any awards for the Swace's cabin design. The layout is fairly unremarkable and, while there's nothing wrong with the materials chosen, they're mostly dark-coloured and understated. There are soft-touch surfaces and stitched details on the dashboard and armrests, although these feel visually disconnected from the piano black trim in the centre console.

You're probably not going to appreciate the Swace's interior decor, but you may appreciate how easy everything is to use. Everything is laid out so every control is exactly where you expect to find it. You're never left guessing how to switch the AC on or how to turn the music down, with buttons intuitively positioned and clearly labelled. We also appreciate the Swace's chunky automatic gear shifter which, while a little old fashioned, feels more satisfying to use than the electronic switches favoured by some rivals.

Another area that feels a bit old fashioned is the infotainment system – especially in pre-facelift cars. There's a central touchscreen mounted in a pod on top of the dashboard measuring eight inches across. That's quite small by today's standards and, even with the brightness maxed out, it's not as bold or colourful as those used by more modern rivals. The software is extremely simple at least, with a bare minimum of graphics, icons and fonts cluttering up the screen, and easy access to the built-in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A small update in 2024 added a larger 10.5-inch screen to top-spec Ultra cars.

The driver gets a separate screen for speed and powertrain information but the layout feels more cluttered than the infotainment screen, so it's a little harder to read as a result. This unit was also swapped out on top-spec cars with the 2024 update, gaining the same 12.3-inch driver's screen as the updated Corolla. There's a wireless phone charger on Ultra-trimmed Swaces too, but it's set far back in the dashboard and doesn't lock your phone in position, so it can be hard to see whether charging is actually taking place.

With everything about the Swace focused on making your life easier, it makes sense that the cabin is reasonably practical. There's plenty of space up front for tall adults and it's easy to find a comfy driving position. Watch out, though, for the dashboard edges that protrude slightly into the door opening, waiting to thump unsuspecting knees – ask us how we know…

Rear space is pretty average for the class, with the likes of the SEAT Leon and Skoda Octavia offering a little more room. If your front-seat occupants are well over six-foot tall, you'll struggle to fit similarly sized adults behind them without their knees rubbing the seat backs. However, as long as you're not transporting members of a basketball team, you'll find the Swace is reasonably comfortable with the four main seats in use. Like all cars in this class, the fifth centre-rear seat is narrow and uncomfortable, making it only suitable for short trips.

The estate body shape unlocks 596 litres of boot space. That's a few more than the Focus Estate but a little behind the Golf Estate and Octavia Estate. The space itself is fairly long and tall, but there's a reasonable amount of intrusion from the wheelarches, so it's not quite as wide as its most capacious rivals. On the plus side, there are two fairly deep cargo bins behind those wheelarches, large enough for a few pairs of muddy wellies, along with hooks for grocery bags and levers to fold the rear seats from the boot.

Storage for odds and ends is generally decent, too. There are reasonably large door bins in front and back, plus a big glovebox for biscuits, sweets or whatever else people normally store in there. The front-centre armrest can be slid forward for more elbow support, or slid back and lifted up to reveal another fairly deep storage bin. There's also a little flap where the boot meets the back seats concealing a wide storage trough, handy for an umbrella or similarly shaped object.

There's just one engine choice for the Swace – a 1.8-litre petrol paired with a self-charging-hybrid system. Following the 2023 facelift, this got the same noticeable power boost to 140hp from 122hp as the Corolla. That's a welcome jump, but it's the more powerful hybrid motor that you'll notice most during regular driving – going from 71hp worth of electric assistance to 94hp.

The benefit of this Toyota-developed system is that all 94hp are available under your foot the split second you ask for them. That means you can leap onto roundabouts or cut through gaps in traffic with plenty of confidence, without waiting for the gearbox to change ratios or the engine to get revved up.

Once the petrol engine joins in to make the full 140hp output, the Swace will easily whisk you up to fast motorway speeds. However, this does expose the biggest weakness of this setup – ask for lots of acceleration and the engine will noisily drone away as it gets the car up to pace. Refinement is generally great, especially when running on electric power alone, but the full-throttle experience feels at odds with the car's calm character.

Overall, this is a setup that works superbly when you're just cruising around normally, feeling less and less at home the harder you push it. It makes sense to drive the Swace in a relaxed manner too, because you'll be able to enjoy its excellent real-world fuel economy, with mpg figures in the high-50s readily achievable. The hybrid setup also means these numbers are easy to hit, even if you cover a lot of miles in urban stop-start traffic.

Sticking with the theme, the Swace is very easy to drive. The controls are light, responsive and accurate, so you're not guessing how much steering you need, or prodding the pedals waiting for something to happen. Visibility is towards the top of the class too, partially thanks to the estate body style, which means there's a little more side window real estate to look through when changing lanes. All cars include a reversing camera as standard, with parking sensors fitted to top-spec Ultra trim.

It doesn't have the limpet-like grip or sporting stance of more driver-focused rivals like the Ford Focus or Mazda 3, but the Swace behaves itself well at speed. Big bumps and undulations in the road surface don't upset the car's balance, so you don't feel like you have to actively manage the car's mass through corners.

You'd hope the outcome of the Swace's balanced setup would be a soft, comfy ride and, for the most part, the car pulls this off. You're never quite fully isolated from potholes or speedbumps, but most of the intensity is tuned out before anything hits the base of your seat. The car also benefits from its relatively small 16-inch alloys, which means you have lots of tyre sidewall to dampen high-frequency vibrations from scruffy road surfaces.

The more you embrace the Swace's chilled-out driving experience, the better it gets. You'll find yourself naturally trying to maximise the time spent in fully electric mode, which means superb refinement in urban areas. Nor is there much intrusion from wind or road noise at higher speeds so, apart from moments when the petrol engine revs out to join faster roads, life on board the Swace is a hushed and peaceful affair.