2021 Lexus IS350 vs 2023 Suzuki Swift

What's the difference?

The new-look Lexus IS takes several steps forward over its predecessor - it’s safer, smarter, sharper to look at and still pretty well priced and equipped.

It is feeling its age inside, and the competition has moved on in terms of engines and EV tech. But even so, if I was buying a 2021 Lexus IS, it would have to be the IS350 F Sport, which is just the most fitting version of this car, though the IS300h Luxury does have plenty to like for the money, too.

The Suzuki Swift GL S Plus offers good value-for-money, strong safety, a competitive ownership package, miserly fuel economy, a surprisingly roomy interior and respectable overall refinement. That's offset somewhat by sluggish performance, a firm ride, sober interior, and a small boot (with the rear seats up). As always, the significance of these pluses and minuses depends on your specific priorities. But we reckon for a car well past mid-life it's still worthy of a spot on your small urban car short-list.

You either get the Lexus look or you don’t, and I think this latest version is possibly more agreeable than the IS in years gone by.

That’s partly because the brand has finally done away with the odd spider-eyes twin-section headlights and daytime running lights - now there are more traditional headlight clusters, which look a lot more resolved than before.

The front end still features a bold ‘spindle’ grille, which gets different treatment depending on the grade, and the front, to my eye, looks better than before but still very much stuck in its ways. 

At the side you’ll notice the giveaway windowline hasn’t changed, despite the chrome trim line having broadened as part of this facelift, but you can tell the haunches have muscled up a bit, with the new IS now 30mm wider overall, and the wheel sizes are 18s or 19s, depending on the grade.

The rear accentuates that width, with an L-shaped lighting signature now spanning the entire re-sculpted boot lid, giving the IS a pretty tidy rear end design.

Overall dimensions for the IS are 4710mm long, making it 30mm longer nose to tail (on an unchanged 2800mm wheelbase), while it now spreads across 1840mm (+30mm) and is 1435mm tall (+5mm).

The exterior changes really are impressive - I think it is a more purposeful but also more pleasant looking car now than it ever has been in this current generation. 

The interior? Well, there’s not a whole lot to talk about in terms of design changes, aside from the repositioned and larger media screen - which sits 150mm closer to the driver because it’s now a touchscreen with the latest smartphone mirroring tech. Otherwise it’s a carryover affair, as you can see from the interior pictures.

Suzuki's traditionally followed its own path when it comes to design, and where other current small cars are increasingly a mix of sharp angles and geometric surfaces, the Swift's exterior is a blend of relatively soft forms and rounded intersections.

The headlights and tail-lights are large irregular shapes, and the distinctive side glass treatment tapers towards the rear, the smaller back windows ending in a vertical door handle and a narrow black graphic element which wraps around the C-pillar to the hatch window.

Note to Suzuki designers: The high-set handles may add visual interest, but they're a pain to use.

Interior styling offers a hint that despite upgrades and facelifts along the way this generation of the Swift is now five years old.

The approach is straight bat, with a multi-tiered dash design accommodating conventional analogue dials in a vaguely racy 'twin-peaked' instrument cluster, the multimedia display in the centre stack and ventilation controls underneath that.

Other age-related giveaways are the manual handbrake and uniformly grey colour palette. The only breaks being occasional flashes of faux metal trim and shiny back inserts.

It all works well from an ergonomic point-of-view but lacks inspiration and emotional impact.

The interior design of the IS, as mentioned, hasn’t changed dramatically, and it is starting to feel old compared to some of its contemporaries.

It’s still a nice place to be, with comfortable front seats with electric adjustment and heating across all grades, and cooling on many variants, too. 

The new 10.3-inch touchscreen media system is a nice unit, and means you can essentially do away with the silly trackpad system that still resides near the gear selector, so you may still end up bumping it accidentally. And the fact the IS now has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (though neither are wirelessly connectable) does further its appeal on the multimedia front, as does the standard 10-speaker Pioneer stereo - though the 17-speaker Mark Levinson unit is an absolute blinder!

The centre stack below the media screen retains a CD player, and still has the electromagnetic temperature adjustment sliders as well. That part of the design is dating it just as much as the transmission tunnel console area, which looks a bit out of touch by modern standards, though still incorporates a pair of cup holders and a reasonably large centre console bin with soft armrest padding.

The front doors feature trenches with bottle holders as well, while in the rear doors there is still no drink storage - a carryover annoyance from the pre-facelift model. However, the middle seat in the back doubles as an armrest with pop-out cupholders, and there are rear air vents too.

Speaking of that middle seat, you wouldn’t want to sit in it for long, as it has a raised base and uncomfortable backrest, plus there’s a huge transmission tunnel intrusion eating into leg and foot space.

Outboard passengers also miss out on toe room, which - for my size 12s - is an issue. And it’s hardly the roomiest second row in this class for knee room and headroom, as my 182cm frame was a touch squished behind my own driving position.

Children will be better catered for in the back, and there are two ISOFIX anchorages and three top-tether attachment points for baby seats.

The boot capacity varies on the model you buy. Choose an IS300 or IS350 and you score 480 litres (VDA) of cargo capacity, while the IS300h has a battery pack that robs it of some boot space, with 450L available. 

Measuring a bit over 3.8m nose-to-tail, and roughly 1.7m across, the Swift is perfectly proportioned for the urban environment. And with an overall height of just under 1.5m and a 2.45m wheelbase it maximises the packaging potential for passengers within such a compact footprint.

Interior accommodation is good, with plenty of space up front, and in the back. At 183cm I was able to sit behind the driver's seat set to my position with a surprising amount of head and legroom.

Three full-size adults across the rear seat would be an uncomfortably cosy arrangement, even on short trips. But a trio of up to early teenage kids will be fine.

Seating negatives amount to something of an armrest rant. Specifically, the lack of a front centre armrest, front door armrests that are unreasonably hard, and omission of a fold-down rear centre armrest.

When it comes to storage, there's a reasonably generous glove box in the front, plus bins and a bottle holder in each door, as well as two cupholders and an oddments tray in the centre console.

Those consigned to the rear have to contend with a close to bare-bones layout, with a single cupholder (located at the rear of the front centre console), a bottle holder in each door, and a single map pocket on the back of the front passenger seat.

No adjustable ventilation, again, no fold-down centre armrest, and no USB or 12-volt power outlets. In fact, the only connections available are a 12V socket, USB-A media and charging outlet and a 3.5mm 'aux-in' jack, all in the front console. The kids won't be thrilled.

Boot space is passable rather than spectacular for the class (so that's where the rear seat room comes from...) with 242 litres on offer.

As our photos show, the (admittedly big) CarsGuide pram wouldn't fit, and we could only squeeze in the small (36L) and medium (95L) suitcases from our three-piece test set without removing the cargo cover. Fold the 60/40 split-folding rear seat down and available space opens up to 556 litres.

Worth noting there aren't any tie-down hooks to secure loose loads, and there's a space-saver spare under the floor.

The Swift GL S Plus wears a sticker price of $25,990, before on-road costs, sitting at the upper edge of the 'affordable' small car market, and aiming up at the likes of Kia's Rio GT-Line ($25,590), the Mazda2 G15 GT ($26,290), and the VW Polo Life (manual - $25,250).

Worth noting the car Suzuki Australia loaned us for evaluation is a pre-Feb 2022 update example conforming to the previous Swift GL Navigator (with Safety Pack) specification. So, key upgrades arriving with that change, like a 9.0-inch media screen (up from 7.0-inch), climate control air, four-speaker audio (up from two!), adaptive cruise, and LED headlights, aren't reflected.

But assuming the presence of those features, this city-sized hatch does pretty well with some other handy boxes ticked. Aside from the safety tech covered later, the GL S Plus boasts a leather-trimmed steering wheel, keyless entry and start, sat nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity (plus voice control for key functions), and 16-inch alloys. All up, decent value-for-money in this part of the new car market.

The engine specs depend on the powertrain you choose. And at a glance there’s no variance between the earlier version of the IS and the 2021 facelift.

That means the IS300 model still runs a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol motor producing 180kW of power (at 5800rpm) and 350Nm of torque (at 1650-4400rpm). It has an eight-speed automatic transmission, and like all IS models, it is rear-wheel drive (RWD/2WD) - there is no all-wheel drive (AWD/4WD) model here.

Next up the spectrum is the IS300h model, which has a 2.5-litre four-cylinder Atkinson cycle petrol motor teamed to an electric motor and nickel metal hydride battery pack. The petrol engine is good for a 133kW (at 6000rpm) and 221Nm (at 4200-5400rpm), and the electric motor produces 105kW/300Nm - but the combined total maximum power output is 164kW, and Lexus doesn’t provide a maximum torque figure. The 300h model runs a CVT automatic transmission.

The big horsepower offering here is the IS350, which runs a 3.5-litre petrol V6 engine, producing 232kW of power (at 6600rpm) and 380Nm of torque (at 4800-4900rpm). It runs an eight-speed auto.

All models have paddle-shifters, while the two non-hybrid models have seen tweaks to the transmission software that is said to “estimate driver intentions” for better enjoyment. 

The Swift GL is powered by a 1.2-litre, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine, driving the front wheels through a continuously variable auto transmission.

Featuring dual variable valve timing to enhance performance, and two fuel injectors for each cylinder (in the name of better fuel atomisation and efficiency), the all-alloy unit produces 66kW at 6000rpm and 120Nm at 4400rpm.

There’s still no diesel model, no plug-in hybrid and no full electric (EV) model - which means that while Lexus was at the forefront of electrification with its so-called “self-charging” hybrids, it is falling behind the times. You can get plug-in versions of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, and the Tesla Model 3 plays in this space in full-electric guise.

As for the fuel-sipping hero of this trio of powertrains, the IS300h is said to use 5.1 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle fuel test. In reality, our test car’s dashboard showed 6.1L/100km across a mix of driving.

The IS300 with its turbocharged 2.0L engine is next best for fuel use, claiming 8.2L/100km. On our short launch drive of that model, we saw 9.6L/100km on the dashboard.

And the full-fat IS350 V6 petrol claims consumption of 9.5L/100km, while on test we saw 13.4L/100km.

The emissions for the three models are 191g/km (IS300), 217g/km (IS350) and 116g/km (IS300h). All three are Euro 6B compliant. 

Fuel tank capacity is 66 litres for all models, meaning your mileage range for the hybrid model could be considerably longer.

Suzuki's official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 4.8L/100km, the 1.2-litre four emitting 110g/km of CO2 in the process.

Our time with the car included mainly city and suburban trips, with some freeway freeway running thrown in, and the result was a (dash-indicated) average of 5.8L/100km. Still pretty handy.

Minimum fuel recommendation is 91 RON standard unleaded (or E10), and you'll need just 37 litres of it to fill the tank. Using the official consumption figure, that translates to a range of around 640km.

With the engine at the front and drive to the back, it has the ingredients for a pure driver’s car, and Lexus made a bit of a big deal about the new-look IS being more focused thanks to chassis adjustments and track width improvements - and it does feel a pretty nimble and tied-down car in the twisty stuff. 

It is competent at stitching together a series of corners, and the F Sport models are particularly adept. The adaptive suspension in those models includes both anti-dive and anti-squat tech, which is designed to make the car feel solid and flat on the road - and it does, thankfully without feeling twitchy or uncomfortable, with good suspension compliance even in the most aggressive Sport S+ drive mode.

The 19-inch wheels on F Sport models are fitted with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx rubber (235/40 front, 265/35 rear) and there’s plenty of tarmac tenacity.

The grip from Luxury-spec models on 18s could be better, with those Bridgestone Turanza tyres (235/45 all around) proving not quite the most enthralling. 

Indeed, the IS300h Luxury I drove felt very different in character to the F Sport IS300 and 350 models. It was surprising how much more of a plush-focused model the Luxury grade feels, and likewise it wasn’t as impressive in dynamic driving due to the tyre grip and less-enthusiastic drive mode system. The non-adaptive suspension is a touch more jittery too, and while it’s not to the point of discomfort, you might expect better for a car on 18s.  

Across all models the steering is accurate and direct enough, with predictable response and decent feel to the driver’s hands for this electric power steering setup. The F Sport models have even further retuned steering for “an even sportier drive experience”, though I found at times it could feel a little numb for rapid changes of direction. 

As for engines, the IS350 is still the pick. It has the best zest, and feels the most fitting powertrain for this model. It sounds good, too. The auto transmission is pretty clever, there's easily enough pulling power, and it's probably going to be the last of the non-turbo V6s in Lexus's line-up when this cars life-cycle is up.

The IS300's turbo engine was the most disappointing, lacking some urge and constantly feeling bogged down by turbo lag, transmission confusion, or both. It felt underdone in enthusiastic driving, though in dull day-to-day commuting circumstances it came across as more acceptable, though the remapped transmission software was far less impressive in this application than in the IS350.

The IS300h was a lovely, quiet and refined experience all around. It’s the one you should go for if you don’t really care about all that go-fast stuff. The powertrain is proven, it accelerates with nice linear delivery, and at times it’s so hushed I found myself looking down at the instrument cluster to see if the car was in EV mode or if it was using the petrol engine. 

Sure, 900kg isn't a lot of kerb weight, but 66 isn't a lot of kilowatts, and 120 isn't a lot of newton metres. In short, this little car is far from a powerhouse.

It takes a strong and persistent flex of the right ankle to get the Swift GL moving adequately, the CVT auto shuffling itself around to keep the 1.2-litre engine somewhere near its (relatively high) 4400rpm maximum torque sweet spot. Not ideal in dense, slow-moving traffic on tight streets.

If you're after more urgent acceleration in a Swift, the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder GLX Turbo is the better option. It'll hit 100km/h from rest in around 8.0 seconds while this car will take around 11 seconds. Only snag is the $29,790 (before on-road costs) price tag.

On top of the performance challenges, the ride is firm, the Swift's strut front / torsion beam rear suspension transferring a fair bit of bump and thump from our spectacularly ordinary city and suburban roads. This despite the 16-inch rims being shod with 185 width rubber boasting a normally comfort-enhancing 55-series sidewall profile.

Overall refinement is more than acceptable, though. Even while working hard, the engine remains reasonably quiet and outside noise from the urban grind is modest.

The steering delivers good road feel and the brakes (ventilated disc front / drum rear) are also nice and progressive.

No surprise, given the Swift's compact dimensions, that it's a breeze to park in tight spaces, the reversing camera remaining clear day and night.

All Swift GL variants scored a maximum five-star ANCAP score when the current-gen car launched locally in mid-2017, with the assessment updated in July 2020.

Active, crash-avoidance tech includes, AEB (urban and highway speed) with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, 'Weaving Alert' (Suzuki's take on drowsy driver detection), blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, and a reversing camera.

If, despite all that, a crash is unavoidable the airbag count runs to six (front, front side, and side curtain), plus there are three top tethers for child seats/baby capsules across the rear row, with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

On paper, Lexus’s ownership offer isn’t quite as enticing as some other luxury car brands - but it has a strong reputation for blissful ownership.

The Lexus Australia warranty period is four years/100,000km, which is better for duration than Audi and BMW (both three years/unlimited km) but not as accommodating as Mercedes-Benz or Genesis, each of which offer five-year/unlimited km warranty.

The company has a three-year capped price servicing plan, with maintenance every 12 months or 15,000km. The first three visits cost $495 each. That’s okay - but Lexus doesn’t offer free servicing like Genesis, and nor does it offer prepaid service plans - for three to five years for a C-Class, and five years for Audi A4/A5, for instance.

There is complimentary roadside assistance for the first three years, too.

That said, the company has its Encore ownership benefits program that allows a number of experiences and deals, and the service team will collect your car and return it, leaving you with a loan car if you need it.

Suzuki covers the Swift with a five year/unlimited km warranty, which is cost-of-entry now in the mainstream market. Roadside assistance is renewed annually for up to five years if the car is serviced at an authorised Suzuki dealer.

Speaking of which, service is scheduled for 12 month/15,000km intervals, with costs capped for five years/100,000km. The average annual figure over that period is $293, which is competitive in the small car class.