This sod of a road eventually reaches a
junction and the leading cars turn onto a wider, flatter stretch. Their power
begins to count for more and they start to pull away. With each brow crested
and each corner navigated, the cars ahead become smaller and smaller.
No amount of commitment can reel them back
in, but to at least keep them on this side of the horizon the Swift needs to be
kept on the boil. The steering initially feels a little remote, a touch too
light for confidence, but with the chassis loaded right up it improves. The
set-up is quite soft; there’s more pliancy than body control, so the Swift
rolls and dives. That compliance – achieved through the soft set-up rather than
any particular damping quality – enables the Swift to breathe over the surface
rather than skip and hop over it, but in consequence there isn’t the same
precision as in the Clio or Fiesta. The throw of the gearlever is short and
direct, while the ratios themselves are tightly stacked to keep the engine on
top of its power curve.
Step
inside and the spacious, high quality interior of the ST Mountune still
impresses
The Swift is a hot hatch from the ’80s,
modernised, and when its driver can keep that throttle pedal pinned and resist
the fatal confidence brake, it is a huge amount of fun. Its significance in the
context of this test, though, is its normally aspirated engine. When all other
small hot hatches have since gone turbo, the Swift stubbornly adheres to that
original formula with a buzzy little power unit like the last advocate of a
discredited practice.
If the Swift is where small hot hatches
have been, the Clio is where they arrived this decade. It immediately feels
like a more serious proposition than the Suzuki: its (optional) seats are
heavily bolstered and wear the logos of Recaro, the ride feels tough and
unforgiving, the steering has more weight and the Brembo brakes seem to have
more bite. The drivetrain, too, feels as though it was conceived specifically
for a performance car and the gearshift action is probably the most satisfying
of any car of this type.
The
RS Clio 200 Cup has a practical interior
Step directly from the Suzuki into the
Renault and the car’s shortfalls are immediately lit bright in the mind’s eye.
While the Swift eventually capitulates to this faster stretch of road and its
relentless twists and turns through a fundamental lack of body control, the
tough Clio remains resolute even at full attack. That stiff ride isn’t a
concern on this smooth road; it gives the car incredible precision and a
rock-solid control of its mass, a composure and a security that the Suzuki
can’t hope to match.
The
interior of the Suzuki Swift Sport is solid and fairly well appointed
The approach should be the same as it is in
the Swift: keep off the brakes where possible, but stand on them l ate and hard
where necessary, turning in towards the apex before lifting off. The Clio
hardly seems to roll after turn-in, but instead it just rotates a little about
its centre point and grips equally hard at both axles. The steering is direct
and with the chassis loaded it’s communicative too, but the limit of adhesion
is so high that it takes a while to build up to it, talkative rack or no
talkative rack. The brake pedal, meanwhile, sends a distinctive judder through
the driver’s foot just before the point of lock-up.
