Ultimate Guide : Suzuki Swift "history, Service, Care & So Much More"

Abbas J · December 28, 2011

Wishing all Blog Post Readers a Happy and Safe Avurudu!!!!

2013 Updates and News (I am Back!!!!!!)

To all my post readers thanks for your support and comments. I decided to restart posting after a busy 12 months of starting a business in Sri Lanka.

What to expect in this years update:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

Suzuki Swift Club Plans are in Motion and we had a super turn out at Independence Square

Pictures of the Official Casual Suzuki Enthusiasts Meet Up 2013 organized By "Ultra Racing Sri Lanka" was very successful. Special thanks to "Autoyouth" for their photographic coverage.

Continuous appreciation towards the "Autolanka" team as its no simple task to manage and run a forum with this many features and updates.

Education Series Updates (Will be updated over the course of the upcoming holidays and will be completed in an estimated 8 weeks.)

Part 4--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.0 Performance Wiper Blades and importance of clear vision.

Product installed : Wilita Performance Aero Wiper. Windscreen Fluid Wilita Windscreen Fluid without Anti Freeze

4.1 Wiper Brands
4.2 How to Select Wiper Blades
4.3 What to look for in a Blade
4.4 Blade care and maintenance
4.5 Different Designs and Gimmicks
4.6 Coatings and Glass Cleaning Tips

Part 5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Topics related to vehicle handling and chassis dynamics.

5.0 Products Installed : Ultra Racing Multi Point Chassis Tuning Products.
5.1 Planned Suspension Upgrades : Bilstein Shocks B14
5.2 Planned Brake Upgrades : Dixcel Rotors and Performance Pads

Part 6--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.0 Radiator Coolant

6.1 Brands

6.2 Selection

6.3 Dilution

All you need to know about Radiator Coolants and Dilution Process

Part 7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.0 Selecting Brake Pads and Rotors

Part 8--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.0 Drag Race Experience

How to prepare for competition race events
Safety Requirements
Performance enhancement Tips

Pending from last year (2012) :

CAR AUDIO VIDEO SYSTEMS!!!! Speakers and Amps too!!!!! (Pending Coming This week)

I have installed Pioneer Double Din Head Unit with Front Pair of Pioneer Components. Await full installation and review

I will be discussing head units, amps, subs, tweaters , wires , reverse cameras all in detail over the coming weeks
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Tire Purchasing Guide

All about tires: Tire rim sizes, alloy wheels, air pressure, types of tires sports or comfort. General Review of Bridgestone Turanza and Potenza tires (Pending)

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Thread dedicated to Suzuki Swift Car Owners + All car enthusiasts

Personal Note:

Personal experience, passion for car care and detailing have helped in writing this thread.

Inspiration and gratitude to the many contributors of this forum I salute you. I wish to do my part and share my knowledge with everyone who shares the passion for cars.
Its unfortunate to live in an environment where the statement "Mai kath hondthai ai kath hondai" <> "this is good and that is good" based on opinions that are not backed by technical facts.

My threads objective is to write to the best of my abilities what I have learnt from the many sources online and offline . They all have contributed and help form and build the opinions I share here.

Enjoy :::: )

Contents

Part 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction
Purchasing a Car
Important Information about Car Variants and Origin of Vehicle
Japanese Swift

Export Model (Agent Vehicle) Swift 2011
USED :Domestic Model (Reconditioned Option) Swift 2004 -2010

More about CVT and 1.2XG
Indian Swift

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Part 2--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1 Personal Car Care
2.1.1 My ArmorAll Care Care Collection (Update 16th April 2012) Visit the link http://www.suzukiclu...ual_RS415_1.pdf]http://www.suzukiclu...ual_RS415_1.pdf

Quote
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I cant seem to get my icon right. Any ideas why in editor it looks cool but when posted is a mess

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74265809@N02/6945222492/

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Part 3.1 CAR AUDIO VIDEO AND SOUND RELATED ENHANCEMENTS
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3.1.1 CAR HI FI INTRODUCTION

Definitions (pending)

Head Unit
Single (1 DIN)
Double (2 DIN)
Amplifier
Speakers
Coaxial
Component / Separates
Subwoofers
Wire Kits
Sound Deadening / Sound Proofing
Audio Processor
Equalizer Bands
FM Frequency Range
Japan Range / Sri Lanka Range
GPS Systems
Reverse Camera Integration

3.1.2 CAR OEM SYSTEMS

3.1.3 CAR's Come with Premium Audio in 2012 Myths vs Facts

3.1.4 After Market Brands

Commonly Known Brands

Head Unit Brands

Sony
Pioneer
JVC
Clarion
Blauphunkt
Alpine
Nakamichi

General Speaker Brands

DLS - Entry Level
Infinity
JBL
JL Audio
Boston Acoustic
Rockford Fosgate
Kicker
Lightning Audio
..................List goes on and will be updated in coming weeks

Dedicated Speaker Brands (Insane Performance Level Products)

DLS - SWEDEN
FOCAL AUDIO - USA
RAINBOW - Germany

OEM

Bowers and Wilkins - Jaguar Premium Package
Bang and Olufson -Design that is simply stunning. Comes with Audi Cars and Aston Martin. Finding its way into many products due to ICE amplifier concept.

Bose OEM installed usually in a variety of cars. High to medium end to even Ferrari and Porsche.

3.1.5 The Basics of After Market Car Audio

I hope to make this section a bit humorous and enjoyable to read. Option 1 is the standard most cost effective way to improve stock car audio. Option 2 is the full works approach to create the ultimate audio visual extravaganza for the neighborhood you live in.

Option 1

Hassle Free (Cost Effective) Method

STAGE 1 : CHANGE YOUR SPEAKERS

STAGE 2 : Change your Head Unit

STAGE 3 : Add A Powered Sub

Option 2

Allot of wiring, extra costs, cutting and the use of dedicated amplifies and non active sub woofers

STAGE 1 : Throw your Head unit and Buy A DVD MULTIMEDIA RECEIVER

STAGE 2 : ADD a 4 Channel Amplifier. (Under Seat or in the Rear Storage compartment space)

STAGE 3 : Get the System wired. Select Wire Kits, Special Fuse, Remove seats and tear ur car apart temporarily. Spend on interconnects and premium high gauge wiring too

STAGE 4 : Now you need one or more Subwoofers. Decide monochannel amplifier, 2 channel bridge , 4 channel bridge and then be confused.

STAGE 5: Once your system is operational an you have the watts to shake the neighbor hood you are the king of your area.

STAGE 6 : WAIT FOR PEER APPROVAL AND BE THE ENVY OF ALL. (Jealousy + you are a show off branding for yourself)

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Release Note

16/04/2012

Car Care Pic Uploaded "ArmorAll Collection"
Updated Information on using Castrol Edge 5W-40 "Very Happy"

19/4/2012

Car Audio under part 3 initiated with icons and formatting for chapter details updated.

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11/04/2013

Updates to new content and parts of blog. Correction of minor spelling errors and update to brands in Car Care Range

"Do give me feed back and improvement tips as I write"

"Will be adding photos and illustrations as I complete my ultimate guide"

Regards Abbas J

Edited April 10, 2013 by Abbas J

CARBON B4 · December 29, 2011

Hi Abbas J ,

Nice work.... If you added a few pics it would be better..

CyRaX · December 29, 2011

A great write up, not a owner but a daily driver of a 2009 Jap Swift. She's with some few engine and exterior modifications, planning on a Swift sports bodykit in the near future. Thank you very much, looking forward for part 3

kalana · December 29, 2011

On 12/29/2011 at 4:46 PM, CyRaX said:

planning on a Swift sports bodykit in the near future.

Cyrax, can we buy the sport body kit in SL ? and how much is it ?

CyRaX · December 30, 2011

On 12/29/2011 at 8:21 PM, kalana said:

Cyrax, can we buy the sport body kit in SL ? and how much is it ?

Yes you can, I cannot exactly remember the cost, but if you want to know the place just PM me, I'll let you know

Edited December 30, 2011 by CyRaX

Hiran_j · January 5, 2012

This is great.. thanks for updates!

virensti · January 6, 2012

mate this is really good, I do have 1 question regarding the 1.6 Swift Sports fuel economy though, I have a 1.3 Manual Jap and it does around 9 in traffic, I have a friend who has the sports and he swares by 10+ in traffic (Also Manual) Both cars have the avg fuel meter as well and the 1.3 shows 9.3 km/l and the 1.6 shows 10.4 km/l.. So unless this specific Swift sports is different to the rest, I think the 1.6 sports does better on fuel purely on having a better power to weight Ratio..

kalana · January 7, 2012

On 1/6/2012 at 10:25 AM, virensti said:

mate this is really good, I do have 1 question regarding the 1.6 Swift Sports fuel economy though, I have a 1.3 Manual Jap and it does around 9 in traffic, I have a friend who has the sports and he swares by 10+ in traffic (Also Manual) Both cars have the avg fuel meter as well and the 1.3 shows 9.3 km/l and the 1.6 shows 10.4 km/l.. So unless this specific Swift sports is different to the rest, I think the 1.6 sports does better on fuel purely on having a better power to weight Ratio..

are you an aggressive driver ? i have the same car with a manual gearbox and it does more than 9 kmpl. it does around 11-12 actually

cruze5151 · January 8, 2012

On 1/6/2012 at 10:25 AM, virensti said:

mate this is really good, I do have 1 question regarding the 1.6 Swift Sports fuel economy though, I have a 1.3 Manual Jap and it does around 9 in traffic, I have a friend who has the sports and he swares by 10+ in traffic (Also Manual) Both cars have the avg fuel meter as well and the 1.3 shows 9.3 km/l and the 1.6 shows 10.4 km/l.. So unless this specific Swift sports is different to the rest, I think the 1.6 sports does better on fuel purely on having a better power to weight Ratio..

well I own a 08 swift sports manual , 1.6L my case scenario a decent drive gives me 10-11 km/l in Colombo in rush hour & I’ve got a reading of 16km/l when I drove to dambulla (soft on the peddle) , if I drive aggressively like hitting 7000rpms to change gears , then consumption per liter drops down to 6-8 km/l. I think 1.3L should give more km/l , the jeep model old swift which we have does 12-13km/l in Colombo.

Edited January 8, 2012 by cruze5151

virensti · January 8, 2012

On 1/7/2012 at 8:20 PM, kalana said:

are you an aggressive driver ? i have the same car with a manual gearbox and it does more than 9 kmpl. it does around 11-12 actually

hmm interesting, well nope, its mainly my dad and even when I drive it, try to keep em rev's below 2500, average rpm's is about 2000 I guess.. and most of the other 1300 auto's I've seen have similar results, (8-9 in traffic)

Abbas J · January 11, 2012

I am having a problem with adding pictures to my post. It says "save in post" error when I want to add photograhs with comments.

Does anyone know how to create an album in the forum editor My Media.

Any other help will be appreciated

Best Regards,

ans · January 20, 2012

Awsome . I own Japanese Swift, 2009. Keep it up bro!

Gayan Wickramarathne · March 20, 2012

Hi

Nice job brother..

I have a Suzuki swift beetle 2004 and it has an alternator issue. Can you tell me a place to solve this issue and a good place for mechanical repairs for Suzuki swift near Colombo area.

Please mail me: gayanwicke@gmail.com

Thank you

Gayan

Sampath Gunasekera · March 21, 2012

Good work mate.

Wish to add following links too.

Swift - Japan

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsuzuki%2Bjapan%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D665%26prmd%3Dimvns&rurl=translate.google.lk&sl=ja&u=http://www.suzuki.co.jp/swift/&usg=ALkJrhghOrYlsLYBjJBqcy5qCzsnzuKL4Q

Swift - India

http://www.marutiswift.com/

Swift - Malaysia

http://www.suzuki.net.my/models_brochures/Swift-GX-Brochure.pdf

http://www.suzuki.net.my/models_brochures/Swift.pdf

Swift - New Zealand

http://www.suzuki.co.nz/Automotive/Swift/

CARBON B4 · March 21, 2012

On 3/20/2012 at 4:18 PM, Gayan Wickramarathne said:

I have a Suzuki swift beetle 2004 and it has an alternator issue. Can you tell me a place to solve this issue and a good place for mechanical repairs for Suzuki swift near Colombo area.

A*W... ?

Abbas J · April 16, 2012

On 3/20/2012 at 4:18 PM, Gayan Wickramarathne said:

Hi

Nice job brother..

I have a Suzuki swift beetle 2004 and it has an alternator issue. Can you tell me a place to solve this issue and a good place for mechanical repairs for Suzuki swift near Colombo area.

Please mail me: gayanwicke@gmail.com

Thank you

Gayan

I would suggest you go to Either Kithul Watte or Rajagiriya Service Centre from A*W. They are actually very nice and will only ask you to replace or fix a part if needs to be. Just get it checked by the agents as its the safest.

If near Peliyagoda the High tech centre is there from A*W as well

Hiran_j · April 17, 2012

Thanks for the recent updates...Abbas J !!

Anybody have an idea where to buy tyres for the swift (Size :185/60 R15)

Edited April 17, 2012 by Hiran_j

Abbas J · April 17, 2012

I found information related to this. you may have to opt for 185/65 R15

Check following links

I have used Potenza and Turanza Tires

Potenza is prohibitively costly and is insanely expensive in Sri Lanka. A Rs 9000 tire costs 30000 due to tax.

The tire is awesome, super stiff and u can feel every bump on the road. Super road grip in wet and dry conditions. For Carpeted roads. Terrible if u have allot of potholes

I have bought the Turanza GR 90 tires and had them installed from Autodrome.

Fabulous for a smoother softer drive with comfortable driving performance. Tested on Suzuki Aerio

Previously was using Yokohama S series but not available in Sri Lanka "Came with car" was also super

Do ask for a discount more than 10 percent. U may just get it.

U and H has a massive variety and do check with them to. (Near Burgers King and Cinnamon Lakeside)

Recently tried Tire shop near Bambalipitiya Mosque. Super service too.

http://dsl-tyre.com/product_catalogue/champiro_eco.php Size Available and seems good? Not tested

http://dsl-tyre.com/product_catalogue/champiro_gtx_60.php

http://www.autodrome.lk/downloads/pricelists/Bridgestone%20Price%20List.pdf Bridgestone Price List

http://www.amwltd.com/pitstop/html/location.htm for good year

http://www.unitedmotors.lk/contactus.php Yokohama Tires

D*MO are agents for Michelin

Abbas J · April 17, 2012

Preview to the Car Audio Installation.

I am having problems adding more links to this page so will be making new threads in future.

Preview for Audio Speaker installation

kalana · April 17, 2012

nice work abbas j

Hiran_j · April 17, 2012

Machan, How much was the Pioneer Double Din Head Unit ?

RajeevRanganath · April 18, 2012

On 12/28/2011 at 9:30 PM, Abbas J said:

2.3.1 Using Castrol Edge (Real Life Experience and Conclusion)

Having been a Caltex fan for over a decade I still use Havoline Formula Semi Synthetic for my Suzuki Aerio 2002. Its 2012 and no major engine oil related problem using this product. Only once got an oil seal leak.

I recently Tried the Caltex Edge Fully Synthetic and have now been using the car for a few months.

Definitely feel that the car is very smooth and performs very well. Smooth acceleration and quieter engine noise when in park position.

The car seems extremely smooth and I am not sure if its my imagination or the oil.

If any other blog readers have tried Fully Synthetic Oils please do give me your comments.

Especially when using the same viscosity 5W-40.

Conclusion: "Fully Satisfied with New Oil"

I'm using Shell Helix Ultra 5w-40 fully synthetic oil. What you say is correct. When using fully synthetic, engine runs very smoothly & has quieter engine noise. I'm also fully satisfied with the fully synthetic oils.

Edited April 18, 2012 by RajeevRanganath

Abbas J · April 18, 2012

I looked everywhere for Shell Helix Ultra. Not easy to find? Have you ever used mobil 1 oil and found a difference? Also how many KM have you driven before performing and oil change?

Abbas J · April 18, 2012

If anyone can tell me the correct way to create photo previews I will greatly appreciate it. Sometimes the flickr preview works at other times nothing just the link!!!

Edited April 18, 2012 by Abbas J

Pericles · April 19, 2012

On 4/18/2012 at 6:02 PM, Abbas J said:

I looked everywhere for Shell Helix Ultra. Not easy to find? Have you ever used mobil 1 oil and found a difference? Also how many KM have you driven before performing and oil change?

Motorcade