News24.com | WATCH | Big mods, crazy power? No, Suzuki proves you don't need either for fun on the Knysna Hill

• Suzuki Auto participated in the Simola Hillclimb again in 2023 after its debut up the hill as an Original Equipment Manufacturer.
  
• This time, they entered three Suzuki Swift models.
  
• These little city cars held their own on the track on Saturday, quietlt creeping into the hearts of spectators with their new-found respect. 

Suzuki Auto South Africa is racing three Swift Sports up the Simola Hillclimb this year, along with two motorbikes. Their stock entries prove you don't need insane power or an expensive car to participate in the fun.

Suzuki says their reason for participating in the Simola Hillclimb is to prove again that you don't need deep pockets, or many years of racing experience, to "have a jol and be competitive at the hill."

The three cars included one manual model and two automatic Swift Sport models, which compete in Class A1 for unmodified sports cars with a turbo or supercharger and with two-wheel drive.

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All three Suzuki models passed their technical scrutinising with flying colours on Friday.

All three vehicles are entirely stock; two were still driven by staff members a week ago. Even our Managing Director, Teruo Katakawa, had to give up his beloved Swift Sport manual to have it compete in this weekend's racing," said Chelsy Pinto, Product Planning and Sales Development Coordinator at Suzuki Auto and Team Manager for the 2023 Suzuki Swift Sport Team at Simola.

Sudhir Matai of Double Apex piloted Katakawa san's car. He is joined by Wesley Greybe, second on the podium in class A1 in 2022, and Kumbi Mtshakazi of Kumbi-M on Cars and a complete racing rookie. Greybe and Mtshakazi are in Swift Sport auto models.

"We have a perfect mix of cars and drivers. With our mix of manual and auto models and of experienced and novice drivers, we can answer every question on why the Swift Sport is the perfect everyday sports car," says Pinto.

Even on paper, the Swift Sport is a perfect hill-climb vehicle. The automaker says that at R419 900 for the six-speed manual model and R442 900 for the six-speed automatic model with paddle shifts, the Swift Sport is the most affordable racing car on the starting grid. Perhaps more importantly, the Swift Sport is also the lightest production car in its class at 970kg.

Under the bonnet of the Swift Sport is the much-lauded four-cylinder 1.4-litre BoosterJet engine. It delivers 103kW at 5 500r/min and 230Nm between 2 500 r/min and 3 500 r/min. With this set of power figures, the Swift Sport finds itself in the 100+ kilowatt per tonne category of true sports cars. It has a theoretical 106.2 kW or 142 horsepower per tonne of weight.

"The engine is so tractable and willing," says Greybe, who set an impressive time of 54.580 seconds in the final King of the Hill race last year. "At the same time, the lightweight and taut chassis means that you are not fighting with gravity or momentum to keep your speed as you negotiate the last few corners on the track."

These tight corners have been the undoing of many race cars in past Hillclimbs. The Simola track is 1.9 kilometres long and has eight turns. The last four turns follow very quickly on each other, especially as the car has reached its top speed by then, and it tends to unsettle even the most experienced driver and sorted race car.

"In any form of motorsport that allows modified production vehicles, you have to spend a lot of money to be competitive.

"First, you add power, then you strip out weight and then spend time and money on tuning and maintaining your racing vehicle. In contrast, the Swift Sport models are light and fast out of the box, and all three of these cars will return to their duty as daily drivers on Monday," says Pinto.

They might never come close to winning the King of the Hill title, but these cars left a significant impression on the crowd on Saturday, crept into everyone's hearts, and most certainly left a new-found respect for these little city cars. One thing is sure, Suzuki Swift's street cred just went up a mega notch after the Simola Hillclimb. Well, at least in my books.