Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   Maruti Ignis : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/186135-maruti-ignis-official-review-16.html)

On the verge of a U-turn, I am contemplating Micra-CVT in light of the AMT woes I discovered. When I try to seek for AMT-Ignis performance reports, there are hardly any. I am not sure if AMT with Ignis has been successful or has fixed its issues which it had with Celerio/Alto.

I've another car with CVT and for a 2nd car at home I'm in the market for an automatic again. CVT is way technically superior than AMT and there's only so much that an AMT can do, no wonder then the AMT owners are complaining about unrefined experience, costly replacements etc. quite early in the ownership.

I test drove Alto, kwid AMTs and had feedback from Celerio AMT owners, and concluded that CVT is way ahead simply because of the technology difference. All said & done, I'll add in some more dough and go towards Micra CVT or Ford DCT but not AMTs for sure.

CVT is a good choice as well - but isn't the GC of the Micra very low?

I can only speak for myself - I have completed 2000 kms on the Ignis Delta AMT and the ownership experience has been good so far. The AMT experience is smooth but for the first to second gear which is not the best. I am getting a Mileage of 14+ kmpl in Bangalore City driving conditions. For more details you could go thru my Ownership Thread here : URL
Like I said, Ignis is a new car and its hard to find people who have completed 10,000 kms + on it.

Thank you vsrivatsa, actually I did TD the Ignis and liked it. But as I read more, I learn that AMT is not as great as I'd thought. I am yet to TD the Micra. I will make note about testing the Ground Clearance when I do. Your review helps a lot too!

It is true that the AMT is an inferior technology as compared to a CVT. But when you decide look at the overall package of the car and decide. While I have no real statistics from Maruti, given the issues being reported on the AMT woes, the issues are more with combination of the 3 cylinder engine and the AMT module. I believe the Swift Dzire also was using the same AMT module but not many issues reported on it. Same with the Tata Zest which uses the same AMT module and is a 4 cylinder engine. So, I am assuming that the AMT module works better with 4 cylinder engines.

There is no perfect car and some feature that maybe important for one person may not be for you. Before I bought the Ignis I test drove multiple cars although I did not test drive the Micra so I cannot comment on it.

Here are the points I would recommend you validate on the Micra:

1. Low GC: 154 mm seems very low to me on paper. The 14 inch wheels also wont help much here with an already low GC.

2. Three cylinder Engine: When you test drive, see the difference by switching AC on and off - usually 3 cylinder engine cars struggle with AC. I noticed this on the Tiago AMT. Also, Engine noise will be more as compared to Ignis

3. If you are planning the mid level trim of XL CVT then you get only the Driver Airbag and not dual airbags.

Another alternative technology would be the Grand i10 AT. It comes with a Torque Converter which is better than AMT. If mileage is not a concern then you can consider it. But ABS is missing on it too...

Good Luck with your car hunt and enjoy the research journey :thumbs up

You have perfectly summarized what is going on in my mind. I had almost made my mind to go for ignis AMT before I started reading about AMT issues. A quick research about alternatives at that price unveiled Micra as an option with CVT. I quickly changed my inclination towards it but the points made by you make me tread with caution. And they are very valid cases. I'll check each of them and am going to re visit ignis AMT with a TD before I finally pay up. Thanks so much to you!

Suzuki's Ignis is a hit in EU, beats most of its peers in July sales,

What works for Europe may not work for India. I think all Maruti needs to do is to change the rear bumper which looks awkward and give it a full body colored type rear bumper to improve the looks. Apart from the backside I thing the Ignis is quite likable.

And this is why the Ignis is popular in EU!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nW6gbrEn00

This may have been discussed elsewhere but I wanted to check specific to Ignis. In Ignis a common issue is the Steering not Returning to Center after a sharp turn or U-Turn. I am trying to determine the following:

1. Is this consistent across all Ignis Cars or are there some for whom the Steering Returns to Center? (trying to figure out if this is a quality control issue.)

2. Has the Service Center managed to correct this issue for anyone during the Free services?

3. I read that the Baleno and Ciaz also has the same issue. Is this common across the NEXA Range of cars or maybe even the entire Maruti range?

4. Some people claim at speeds upto 30 kph it does not return to center but at higher speeds its claimed to return to some extent. Has others experienced this?

While the car looks great in the video, the EU version is also equipped with AMT. Now, usually in the EU, manufacturers will not dare put in technologies that are not fully tested since this may result in huge recall costs given EU regulations.

Having said that I was just wondering whether the AMT transmissions installed in India are different so as to able to take the possibly lower pricing of the car when sold in India and of course price sensitivity factors that are present here.

With the various threads on the forum bordering on negativity about AMT transmissions, I would be dead scared to spend my hard earned money on any car with an AMT (which practically eliminates a lot of the Maruti budget cars). For safety's sake and peace of mind, would rather spend a bit more and buy a car with a CVT.

Prior to booking my Alpha Petrol AMT, I took four test drives of approximately 10 Kms each time in traffic conditions and on Worli Sea Face (Bombay).

I have been using automatics since 2004 with a Honda City (now sold) and a Civic which will remain for the foreseeable future. During my test drives I did not find any jerking of the AMT nor felt any noticeable steering return issue. The ride quality is much better than the Brio.

I found the Ignis to be the best in comparison with the Brio and i10 Grand.

This is for the benefit of those looking at this cute little thing. I find this package qualifies as the poor man's Mini stupid:

Waiting for my car which should be delivered sometime next month.

In case of any questions please fire away.

Cheers

I was actually surprised by your post and went to the Suzuki UK side to check it and you are right. It is not exactly mated to the same engine but it is the AMT.

CVTs require maintenance as well mainly in terms of oil change which should be done promptly. But the CVT mechanism itself is simple and hence less risky compared to other transmissions out there.

But AMT I believe comes next to CVT in terms of reliability. Getting it mated to a powerful engine probably masks the disadvantage of the Gearbox.

The 1.2L + AMT combo certainly seems better than the ones in Celerio and Wagon-R.

The Ignis certainly offers a good deal for someone who is looking for a good ground clearance, great F.E. and very good creature comforts.

Thanks sachinayak. After going to lot of discussion threads, finally decided to go ahead with Tiago AMT. Expecting delivery in this week. Will share more details in Tata Tiago thread.

Surprising that the EU-spec car gets an AMT. I'm pretty darn sure the Japanese and maybe even Aussie-spec cars come with a CVT, presumably similar to the one in the Baleno.

Anyway, I have noticed on our MT version this weird whirring noise that occurs frequently, especially in 1st and 2nd (sometimes 3rd too). Doesn't occur all the time, but is seriously annoying and gets me worried. Any doubts on the cause of this?