Suzuki Swift Sport tires the best and the worst

Choosing the best tires for the Suzuki Swift Sport is a hotly debated topic because of the particular tire size provided for this car. In fact, the Suzuki Swift Sport mounts tires of size 195/45 R17, and not all manufacturers provide for this particular tire size in their catalog.

No fear, however.

Thanks to this guide and the users of our community you will discover What are the best tires for the new Suzuki Swift Sport And for the use you want to make of it.

Let's start by mentioning that of original equipment the 2018-19 Swift Sport mounts the Continental ContiSportContact™ 5 In the, admittedly debated, extent 195/45 R17.

In fact, Suzuki also provides for a alternative measure, but on 16-inch rims, and exactly the 195/50 R16. The latter has been chosen by many as a solution to equip the car of winter tires, easier to find in these sizes. But it is obvious that there is some financial outlay due to the purchase of 4 (compatible) 16-inch rims.

As we have already anticipated and as evidenced by the comments of the users who responded to our Swift Sport survey With their valuable opinions, there is much debate about the particular size chosen by Suzuki to equip the Swift Sport. The Japanese engineers definitely wanted to prioritize drivability and lightness of the car, stopping at the 195/45 R17 size that probably provides the perfect balance for the Swift Sport.

But users were faced with a couple of problems, one, let's say, purely aesthetic one of not having 'major' tires to please the eyes of sportier owners and one, certainly more objective one, of Not having much choice of alternative tires to the original equipment Continentals.

Fortunately, as the months passed (since the car went on sale), the situation improved, and a number of high-end manufacturers entered the market and began to offer tires in the right size To our beloved Swift Sport.

So here are what tires, tested to date, by our community users on the Swift Sport.

Tires for Suzuki Swift Sport 2018/2019

• Yokohama Advan Fleva v701
• Hankook Ventus v12
• Nankang Sportnex NS-2R (road semi-slicks)
• Goodyear Eagle F1
• Michelin Pilot Sport 4
• Continental ContiSportContact 5 (standard tires)

Yokohama Advan Fleva v701

Summary judgment:
Very good value for money tires, road grip very similar to stock Continental, maybe even slightly better. Good tread life, just slightly longer than stock tires.

Negative aspect: They really whistle a lot.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.yokohama.it/Pneumatici/Auto/Pneumatici-estivi-auto/(product)/V701

Users' opinions about advan fleva V701

Alexander (After about 8000 km of use):

The Yokohama Fleva v701s run like the Continental and last longer in my opinion, however, as soon as you look at them they whistle.

Frederick:

My Yokohamas in the end are not bad, more grip than the Continentals though just a little, however they really whistle a lot. I think the next tires I will try the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 which cost a lot--but everyone says they are worth the price.

Hankook ventus v12

Summary judgment:
Very high performance tires.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.hankooktire.com/it/passenger-cars/hankook-ventus-v12-evo2-k120.html

Users' opinions on Hankook Ventus EVO 12

Alex:

Hankook Ventus evo 12's are MOSTLY very good! So Council, they hold the road 2 times the Continental.

Nankang Sportnex NS-2R (road semi-slicks)

Summary judgment:
In the dry and on the track grip significantly better than the standard Continental, compared to which they are also less expensive.

Negative aspect: They take a long time to come up to temperature, significantly shorter duration.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.nankang-tyre.com/index.php?active=ProductDetail&item=14

Users' opinions about Nankang Sportnex NS-2R

Manu#96:

Superior grip compared to Continental, probably less durability (perhaps by a lot).
I with Continental did 12000 km and did 2 rounds on the track with these I will do 6000 km.

Guido:

Nankang Sportnex are fine, but 7000 km and you throw them away--experience at my expense, they have a strange compound, they take a long time to come up to temperature.

MaxZ:

The Nankang NS-2R (the only semislicks in our size 195/45 17) are very street-grade semis, they are certainly not Toyo 888r...they cost less than the standard Continental, in my opinion the difference in expense, if you don't do a lot of miles, is not that high.

Campa:

So far only merits, better in everything than Goodyear F1 and Continental, faults--they say wet grip, but I haven't tried them yet.

Goodyear Eagle F1

Summary judgment:
Great street tires and unbeatable in the wet.

Negative aspect: They drop conspicuously with higher temperatures.

Users opinions onLLE GOODYEAR EAGLE F1

Campa:

On the track, with high temperatures, they are not good ... on the road in the wet in my opinion they are a dream (actually they almost look like rain, they are based on the goodyear wet of f1).
In the curves not exaggeratedly tight I was fine with very good road holding, while in the wide curves "the last sector of modena" I was bad but no road tire especially on a front wheel drive was saved in those curves with 30 degrees of air. In my opinion on the road they can be great tires and in the rain the best tires ever given the internal texture, this is the photo after 38 minutes on the track

Michelin Pilot Sport 4

Summary judgment:
Great street tires, great grip in all conditions.

Negative aspect: More expensive than average.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.michelin.it/auto/tyres/michelin-pilot-sport-4

Comments from users onLLE MICHELIN PILOT SPORT 4

Manu#96:

My partner just installed them on the Fiesta ST, and they are glued to the ground.

Continental ContiSportContact 5

Summary judgment:
They are the standard tires on the Swift Sport, providing good performance in all conditions and excellent durability.

Negative aspect: They lose effectiveness under stress.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.continental-pneumatici.it/auto/pneumatici/contisportcontact5

Winter tires for the Suzuki Swift Sport

In the opening we talked about the alternative size of tires on the registration certificate that provides for a 16-inch rim, with this solution many users solve the problem of the winter tires, but they face a not insignificant expense in the purchase of new 16-inch rims.

Now it would be possible to avoid this problem thanks (finally) to winter tires available for the original 17-inch rims, in the intended sizes, we are talking about the new Continental WinterContact TS 860.

But there is a not insignificant problem, the cost of these winter Continentals is practically prohibitive (at least for now), certainly because of very low production numbers but also because of the fact of lack of competition.

Users' opinions about Continental Wintercontact TS 860

Alessio:

Starting with the fresh snow (about 20 cm) I had no problems even when going uphill or in curves, both with the controls on and off. With "heavy" snow, if it gets to touch underneath, you have a bit of a struggle to get going, but once you get going you have no problems.
I then found myself in a special situation, in a Field with some mud, snow and ice, but the only limitation I think was the ground clearance, of grip it always had and I got out of it without any problems.
With ice obviously loses a lot of grip, but the reactions are predictable and prone to oversteer, but staying below code speed they still remain quite safe.
With very wet road/rain they surprised me, they have good grip even taking puddles the car never rattled like with summer tires.
At dry road with temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees is the best condition and they have a lot of grip despite being winter tires. If the temperatures drop the grip still remains good.
With higher temperatures, from 15 degrees up, if you enter a corner decisively, they tend to oversteer but with relatively slow slip that make them safe even with controls off.
I paid just over 500 for them in October 2019, but I remember there were very few tires available.
In short, highly recommended.

Official page of the manufacturer: www.continental-pneumatici.it/auto/pneumatici/wintercontact-ts-860

Final thoughts on tire selection

At the moment those proposed in this guide are the main alternatives available for the new Swift Sport, we obviously count-thanks to the support of our community-to periodically add valuable information for all owners of the small Suzuki.

To move on to purchase the tires you have chosen, and save money through online shopping, we recommend that you take a ride on the gommadiretto.co.uk website

Those interested in purchasing some compatible snow chains for the Swift Sport, without swooning, will be able to purchase this Husky Advance model proposed by Sumex.

Feel free to add your comments below If you have had a chance to try some (or others) of these tires and would like to leave your impressions... we are waiting for you!