[ Swift Sport ] GP Sports Exas Evo Tune Exhaust (Modifications, Part 3)

Early on, I focused on the interior touch points and bracing for my 2007 Swift Sport, but it was about time I started messing with the looks of the car. With the carbon fiber hood and spoiler, it was already very nearly perfect, though there are improvements I wanted to make.

I picked up a flush aluminum rear wiper plug off of Yahoo! Auctions to remove the rarely used rear wiper. This simple, cheap part really cleaned up the back window end.

The next two small, but quite noticeable parts I ordered were front and rear tow hooks. I admit these were added for primarily cosmetic reasons, but they do serve a purpose on a track day. If I ever had an off-road excursion and the car needed to be pulled away, having two easily identifiable tow points are a necessity. Not to mention it could prevent further damage to other bits of bumper bodywork if a tow truck needed to latch on bottom frame points.

Fine, fine, I’ll concede they are purely cosmetic. This car isn’t likely to be tracked anytime soon, but these tow hooks do attract a lot of attention from non-car fans. This is probably my most inquired-about modification. I’ve probably had a dozen people ask me, “why?” And my answer is always, “Because race car.”

For the rear, I picked up an aluminum universal rear tow hook which clamped easily on the bottom rear tow hook. Not only is it potentially useful on a track, as it sticks out past the muffler tips and bumpers, it is also a preventative safety device. Backing up into tight parking spots is the norm here in Japan and should I ever get too close to a wall or low curb, the tow hook will be scraped or damaged instead of the bumper.

The front tow hook is a screw-in design that can attach to both the threading here in the front and to a hidden threaded hole in the lower rear crash beam as well. However, as this rather cheap piece is aluminum, it is definitely not for actual towing use. It will likely be damaged or deform under heavy tow stresses so essentially this part is 100% for looks only. The car does come with an actual, non-folding tow hook in the tool box in the trunk, so this piece can be removed easily and the other hook bolted in without tools.

I really enjoy the nice, reasonable sound of the Fujitsubo Authorize R exhaust, but not enough for me to keep it. I wanted a throatier sound, so after listening to several dozen test clips online of other various manufacturers, I narrowed down my choices. The Suzuki Sports, HKS, and Trust exhausts were too quiet and barely louder than the Fujjitsubo, if at all.

I finally came across GP SPORTS, which I had not heard of prior, but with a bit of research, it turns out they are quite prolific in Japan, making a huge range of exhausts for many Japanese cars. I heard a few clips of their dual exhausts on other car models and I was impressed. Not to mention, the titanium tips really added a gorgeous, sporty look. Eventually, I came across a great deal on a used unit from Upgarage for a steal at 39900￥ ($372 USD) in absolutely gorgeous condition. There was no way this exhaust had to be used more than a few thousand kilometers.

The exhaust was also surprisingly lighter and absolutely beautiful on the car.

It reminds me of my old HKS Legamax exhaust on my Evo X, but this one is way louder and deeper. The sound under load and deceleration is nice and throaty. There is a more pronounced growl in the cabin with the windows down, but not significantly annoying with the windows up and there is minimal drone. Passengers, particularly those sitting on the rear seats, complain that it is a bit loud when I’m driving aggressively. Certainly a good thing in my opinion. Idling decibels are only a fraction louder, very important in traffic and when I spend the minute or two to warm up my car in the morning.

You can hear it for yourself in the above clip. In a word: Perfect.

I really love the look of my WORK Kiwami wheels, but the thin, multi-spoke look doesn’t quite go with the bulbous, plain panels of the Swift’s bodywork. Smaller diameter wheels also look better and ride softer as a daily driver, so I looked around for 16” wheels. I was lucky to find some RAYS Gram Lights 57 wheels, wrapped with grippy Toyo DRB tires, also off of Upgarage for a great price of 40000￥ ($372 USD). They are the perfect size, offset, and fit for my Swift.

While they came in reasonably good condition, I figured a few coats of paint would really make them pop. Many layers and a long while later, here are the results.

If I say so myself, the white looks amazing on my Pearl White car.

[ Swift Sport ] Okuyama Carbing and Laile Beatrush Strut Tower Bars (Modifications, Part 2)

Not long after buying my Swift Sport, I started modifying my car and putting a few bolt-ons <l>, because I can never be happy with stock. As nice as these Suzuki Swift Sports come from the factory, there is always room for improvement.

Sometimes, the modifications don’t work out the way I wanted them. I suppose aftermarket wheels on tall, wide winter tires are considered aftermarket modifications. As mentioned last time, I bought a set of winter wheels and tires, required in wintertime for many parts of Japan. They are a size taller and wider, so they rubbed a bit on the lowered Suzuki Sport suspension I had. At first, the rubbing wasn’t so intrusive, a few dips and bumps would cause fender scraping which would get severely worse if I had a passenger.

I raised the suspension a bit in hopes of minimizing the rubbing. A bit wouldn’t be a problem to me. I thought until a few months into driving on them, I hit a hard dip and all of a sudden, I noticed my front windshield had a hairline crack. I was frankly quite shocked. Did the crack appear as a result of the tires hitting the fenders hard, causing the crack? Or was it simply a result of an exacerbation of pre-existing stress cracks in the window? Most likely, it was a combination of the two.

While I personally didn’t mind driving around with a minor stress crack in my windshield (which slowly grew in length), it would not pass shaken, which was due in a few months. I prepared my wallet for the worst because I knew a front windshield would not be cheap.

Of course, soon after that incident, I knew I needed new tires immediately that would not further any damage. I settled on a pricey set of Suzuki Swift Sport wheels from the ZC32S model year (2010-2016). These wheels are slightly larger and wider, at 17x6.5 compared to my stock wheel size at 16x6. Unfortunately, due to the late winter timing when winter tires are at their peak pricing, I had to pay a slight premium about 30,000￥ with a set of nearly-new winter Nankang Corsafa studless tires which are appropriately sized for my car.

The wheels themselves were also nearly mint, with no curb damage and only a few minor rock chips. However, to me, these multi-spoke, bright silver wheels don’t really match the flat, simple lines of the car itself. What do you think?

My shaken was due in late January 2018, so over winter vacation, I had to replace the front window at a miserable cost of almost 80,000￥. Add to the cost of the inspection for a regular white plate and other maintenance, the total cost hit me about 180,000￥ ($1700). To put it lightly, that really hurt my wallet.

My mechanic ordered some China-sourced H4 LEDs to replace the messy wires of the old PIAA HID bulbs installed on the car. These cleaned the engine bay up a bit and are genuinely very bright. Having used this brand himself for a few months prior, the quality seemed to be good and haven’t burned out yet (which is quite likely for many lower-quality sets).

Carbing Okuyama Front Strut Tower Bar
My next modification would not (or should I say, could not) come until a few months later. After cracking my windshield driving around the mountainous, bumpy roads of Japan, I considered strengthening the perceived chassis rigidity in my little box-shaped hot (warm) hatch.

Most traditional front strut tower bars connect the tops of the strut towers, but due to the compact design and dimensions of the Swift, it is actually rather difficult to have a bolt-on product that works the same as the Cusco piece on my Alto. I found a STB offered by Tryforce that appears to bolt on directly to the top of the strut towers, but judging by the thin sheet metal and tiny mounting points, it looks extremely flimsy. I’m not an engineer by any means, but there is no possible way it could do anything noticeably beneficial.

Well, let’s be fair, the front of the Swift is probably already fairly rigid, so would anything else benefit? Products such as those offered by Laile Beatrush and Carbing Okuyama seem to offer stiffer solutions. These products attach to the chassis near the strut towers near the firewall.

Initially, I wanted the Laile Beatrush unit because I have good experience with their products on my old Mitsubishi Evo, but I liked the more rigid design of the steel Carbing Okuyama one, as it is one solid piece of steel. 16000￥ later, it came in the mail a few days.

It installed quickly in under an hour, using a few bolts through pre-existing holes in the chassis, so there is no permanent modification.

After the install, I don’t honestly think I felt a huge difference in driving dynamics. While bumps felt slightly more isolated, overall I’d say turn-in and handling was largely the same as before. Sadly, I’ll be honest and say this bar might be more automotive bling than an upgrade.

Laile Beatrush Rear Strut Tower Bar
After my Carbing bar install, I found a deal for a Laile Beatrush rear STB, used for 8000￥, a few weeks later. While the performance and overall stiffness of the rear of my Swift was not at all lacking in comparison to my Alto, I figured for the price it would be a cool addition and the fact that the rear of a hatchback really could benefit from overall stiffness.

Installing the bar was actually really simple and only took about a half hour of actual work. First, the carpet had to be peeled back a bit to expose the mounting points. The bar used existing rear seat latches, which are hard points bolted into the frame. Four bolts for each side and the bar is installed. I had to cut the interior carpeting to poke the bar through, but everything looks clean and is easily reversible, unlike the cut I had to make for the rear STB for my Evo.

In theory, this bar adds rigidity to the rear of the car on rough roads and corner transitions, as it adds two additional points of contact between the empty rear “box” of a hatchback car. This arguably does more for this car than the front strut.

The main drawback of this bar is a major sacrificial loss to the already limited rear trunk space. It cannot be quickly removed since the bolts are hidden under the panels, so large objects such as suitcases will only fit now with the rear seats folded.

As for driving impressions, I think I’m not wholly impressed. While I do feel marginally more predictability in hard corners, the cost to actual performance is pretty poor. Overall I feel the Swift Sport is already well designed and reasonably stiff, so additional structural bars like these two will not transform the car. Either way, they add a bit of automotive "jewelry," for whatever that is worth.

[ Swift Sport ] Modifications, Part 1

So after my long saga of buying and crashing my first car, then buying and selling my second car, I came to the conclusion I needed something better than those two prior kei cars… it was time to upgrade to a “white plate” car, which means a regular car by the standards of most other countries. Third times a charm! This means a lot higher cost for the car, gas, maintenance and upkeep, taxes, and aftermarket parts, as I’ll discover shortly. So I picked up a 2008 Suzuki Swift Sport ZC31S in 2017 which I reviewed a few months ago.

Even for the uninformed, at first glance the car comes with a few changes that do not come from the factory. The gorgeous carbon fiber hood is the most obvious change, perhaps followed by the large GReddy carbon fiber roof spoiler. The wheels are aftermarket which are taller and wider than stock ZC31S wheels. These are WORK 17x7 +42 Kiwami Wheels (compared to stock 16x6.5 +45) bolted on with Suzuki Sport aftermarket heptagon (7-sided) lug nuts.

Looking further at the back of the car, you can see the exhaust is aftermarket that I later discovered was a Fujitsubo. It looks quite lovely and has a slightly deeper idling note than the other stock ones I’ve heard. Not super loud and not very intrusive in the cabin.

In the interior, the car is virtually stock, with the exception of the aftermarket 2-DIN Pioneer DVD Head unit, which has a rear USB input and can play DVDs! Perfect distraction while driving. The only factory package I am aware for the Swift Sport offered is the Recaro Seat package (grey or red, depending on interior colors), which this doesn’t have.

A quick glance at the engine bay reveals a Top Fuel 1000 carbon fiber intake. The stock Suzuki cover was removed as is typical to fit such aftermarket intakes. Wiring for PIAA HID front headlights are also quite obvious, connecting directly to the battery. This design is an older HID setup, so there’s a mess of wires that I would eventually clean up. Nothing else of note here. Fairly nice condition otherwise.

After driving it home, I brought it to my mechanic’s garage. I poked around and discovered my pre-loved car had a few additional bolt-on modifications made by the previous owner(s). The suspension is an aftermarket Suzuki Sport adjustable coilover setup. This might explain why the whole car feels sharper and slightly harsher than a similar year base model Swift, though I have not ridden in a stock Swift Sport for comparison.

So, altogether, the car came with these mods:
GReddy CF Spoiler
Fujitsubo Exhaust
CF Hood
PIAA HID H4 Headlights
17x7 +45 WORK CR Kiwami Wheels

Not long after, the desire to modify and further customize the car became unbearable, like an addiction that keeps itching in the back of my mind. There were a few things I needed to “remedy” more quickly than others. While I haven’t done much in terms of custom modifications, what I have done I documented a bit on my Instagram.

As with my Alto, the Man Machine Interface needed to be immediately addressed. One of the first few aftermarket purchases I made were the steering wheel and the shift knob. The stock shift knob already had a few surface cracks so that was probably the greater need. The fat steering wheel, though functionally acceptable, was not my cup of tea. I prefer thinner-rimmed and smaller diameter steering wheels. I ordered an HKB Sports steering hub with airbag resistor to install a Nardi 330mm Deep Dish Steering Wheel. Both of which were not remotely cheap.

For purely cosmetic reasons, I found a deal on a second-hand Laile Beatrush Alumimum Floor Plate. This replaced the partially worn stock mat with a gorgeous rust-resistant plate that really adds a nice look to the interior. Unfortunately, it is a bit slippery when wet.

Scouring around used shops and the internet, I came across a solid deal on the aforementioned Recaro factory option seats. These two seats were grey instead of the red the rest of the interior is in, but I think it looks much more “mature” and less aftermarket than red would have been. Either way, the bolstering on these seats feel supremely supportive during spirited drives.

As a necessity, I picked up some winter tires on a generic set of 16x7 wheels. The wheels were a bit taller than I expected, as the tires should be about 45 with 17s or 50 series with 16s, but these are 55. I figured they would be just fine if I raised the suspension a bit. That was a purchase I soon regretted...

[ Swift Sport ] ZC31S Review

After I sold my last Wagon R in September 2017, I picked up my Suzuki Swift Sport in October 2017, so I’ve been driving it for over a year and a half now, putting around 20,000 kilometers in that time with upwards of 12 hours in a single day, through traffic, windy roads, and inclement weather, so I can give you hopefully a pretty good impression of the car.

Exterior
The Swift looks pretty plain with the exception of somewhat flared arches, as the rest of the car has large, flat sides and very few distinguishing creases or body lines. To the layman, the base model Swift looks very similar to the Swift Sport, the most noticeable differentiating parts being the front and rear fascia. There are other details, of course, such as the side skirts, larger rear spoiler, rear lights, and dual exhaust that separate the regular from the sporty.

I will say, despite the design being 15 years old (first sold in 2004), the car has aged well, helped by it’s simplistic design that still looks like a modern econobox. With small details like a large rear spoiler and the right set of wheels, the car can still look quite sporty.

Interior
The interior of the car is a nice, if not also a bit of a plain place to be, as is typical for the price range. The car has swaths of drab dark plastic everywhere, but the finish is nicely matte and contoured, which does help make the car feel marginally more “premium” than a few other similar-year cars. The Sports’ stock seats, red fabric and stitching, and brushed faux metal panels add a racy flair, which are different than the regular Swift models. The steering wheel is thick-rimmed and simple, offering no features and no switches or controls.

The car is overall quite practical, offering some typical cubbies along the doors, 3 cup holders, and a fairly roomy interior for all passengers, even with the front seats moved to a typical seating position. The fifth middle rear seat, of course, is not really a nice place to be, but it is expected from the size.

The rear trunk area is surprisingly small. In fact, it is smaller than my Wagon R trunk in nearly all dimensions of depth, height, and length. It also doesn’t have that cheaper cars’ fold flat or reclining seats, limiting some practicality. The cushions and materials are much thicker and better, of course. But this is still surprising, given that it is the volume-selling white plate car of the Suzuki fleet. A major competitor, the Honda Fit, released in 2001, has always offered superior “Magic Seats” since its debut. Suzuki has yet to implement similar seats that even their lower-end Wagon R has (even on their current ZC33S models).

Nonetheless, neither the interior nor the exterior is what I bought the car for. How does it drive?

Engine / Drivetrain
I can’t talk about the driving experience without first talking about the powerplant and heart of the car: a M16A 1.6L, naturally-aspirated, 4-cylinder that pushes about 123 HP via a 5-speed manual gearbox. It sadly sounds like an otherwise typical 4-cylinder engine at its 6800 RPM redline and the VVT doesn’t sound particularly sweet. The ZC31S and the following ZC32S were both offered with nearly the same NA-only engine and, as with most hatchback economy cars, in front-wheel-drive only.

For cars with sporting intentions, the performance package might not sound particularly compelling, but when it comes to actual driving experience, the car can definitely hustle its 2300 pound weight around.

Driving
The shifter slots in each gear very predictably and with some solid clunk for reassurance. The shifting throw is, what I would estimate, about medium-length. It is definitely not a Miata or S2000, but it is not a Fiat 500 or Ford Fiesta. (Those stock shifter throws feel like I’m traversing the length of the center console.) It feels reasonably sporty, but its heritage is definitely econobox.

As a daily driver, my biggest issue is that the turning radius of the car is absolutely atrocious, given the length of the wheelbase. The car should be much more nimble, but the steering knuckles of the Swift Sports are different than the base Swift. The ride quality is reasonably stiff, but not excessively noisy or rough, though this may be more attributed to the Suzuki Sport aftermarket suspension than the Swift Sport OEM. (Confused? Suzuki Sport is the tuning arm of Suzuki, as Mugen or HPD is to Honda.)

As a weekend canyon carver, the Swift Sport responds with ease, inspiring confidence in the corners. Turn-in is solid and definitely conveys the weight and forces the car experiences. This makes every corner a joy to drive, though when pushed at 8/10s, it predictably understeers, plowing forward when I want it to turn. It is nowhere near as nimble as my Alto Works HA12 was, as you can definitely feel the heavier weight of the car in sharp corners. On wide, high-speed turns (which doesn’t occur frequently in these mountainous roads), rotation can be helped with a bit of left-foot trail-braking.

Conclusion
Of all the cheap econobox cars I’ve had the pleasure of driving, I can see why many reviewers have only positive things to say about the Swift Sports’ handling and overall value. I do wish there was a bit more power behind the acceleration, but given the low speed limits of Japan, the power feels more than adequate. To be honest, the car is “too large” for roads such as these to be driven hard anywhere near the limits.

This car has put a smile to my face ever since I bought it. Look forward to some more epic drives (hopefully) in the near future.