[PraNeel]

I was eagerly awaiting team-bhp review of Ignis for only one reason - "What is so premium about Ignis?" And I am sorry to say except the LED headlights and HVAC console on top trim I don't anything special / premium above other Maruti hatchbacks and competitors.

MID console like Baleno - X
Slot to park front seat belts so that they don't make noise when passenger seat is unoccupied - X [The belts are a straight lift from Wagon R]
Rear AC console - X
Soft touch plastics - X
LED taillights - X
Side and Curtain Airbags - X
Solid sheet metal - X
Low NVH - X
Armrest - X
Cooled Glove box - X
Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror - X
Telescopic Steering Adjustment - X

Cost Cutting - YES (No Styrofoam casing for tools, No engine cover for petrol, No string to pull up the spare wheel cover, HVAC controls are a straight lift from Alto K10 for lower trims)

I always wonder that Maruti after so many years in automotive industry doesn't have the engineering talent to re-position and develop some new switches?

• Why can't Maruti place the telephone buttons on the empty right side of steering wheel?
• Why can't Maruti develop new switch gear to be used for windows etc?
• Why everything is a copy of JDM suzuki products and whatever is not applicable is left blank?

What the hell is premium in this car? The car doesn't even have solid built. I am afraid this car will start rattling like other Maruti hatchbacks after some time.

Still, like others have said this is a Maruti product and already there is a 2-3 months waiting period for this car. IMO opinion the product is neither premium nor VFM. If Maruti is reaping benefits of brand name then I am afraid this trend is going to continue in their future Nexa products as well.

[ajay_satpute]

This is the ugliest car from the Maruti factory. Period.

Before this we had Ritz and the old Dzire competing for the ugly spot. But Ignis takes the top award for the ugliest car ever from Maruti. Come on !!! What were the designers smoking ?

First I thought that if I see this car in flesh, my opinion might change, but nope. It did not help at all.

And lastly, this car does not deserve to be in the Nexa showroom, or for that matter, any showroom.

Sorry for being a bit blunt and no offense meant for the prospective owners, but this car is outright ugly.

[400notout]

The rear of the Ignis reminds me of a visit to the dentist



About the car, It will have its moment in the sun till the new swift comes out next year. MS has a year to think upon how to keep this car relevant after that.

[9thsphinx]

I was looking to upgrade my wife's i20 with the Ignis considering it's relatively cute and small - something that would be perfect for the ever-increasing Ahmedabad traffic!

Got to drive a relative's Petrol AMT last night and was kind of disappointed with the lag between gear changes. Although the petrol 1.2 engine is quite peppy the AMT shows its true nature with its rather irritating soft-jerks on every gear change. I came out thoroughly unimpressed. I had read in one of the reviews that Maruti has addressed the AMT's response timing and maybe I was expecting a lot more.

This car might be strictly ok for some especially for city drives, but I would rather spend a bit more and pick up the Baleno CVT over the Ignis AMT any day.

Note: My daily drive is a Creta Diesel Auto and (probably not the best but) that was my base of comparison.

[manij]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

.... In their effort to make the Ignis look more wider than what the car actually is, Suzuki engineers have gone overboard with the ends of the rear bumper and it's overhangs and finished them off much wider than the rest of the body of the car...

Thanks, thats also what struck me when I saw it in the Nexa showroom. I've been looking out for such an offering with the comfort/safety features, while wanting the car to be as thin and short as possible - for ease of driving and parking in Bangalore city. I felt that while the car itself was 'thin', the side overhangs have increased the overall car's width much more than what the inside space suggests. For such an overall thickness, could have increased the width within the body itself to make it more spacious for 3 to sit abreast, etc. Rationalized to myself that I would not be in the target customer profile to whom this car has been positioned.

[Sheel]

Brilliant review, which amply highlights that, the WagonR stays the better tall boy (for city runs) and with out a doubt, is much more value for money.
That 1.2 motor is sweet though.

[chintazz]

Excellent review as always...
I think Maruti has missed not just one but a few things here! From pricing, to the weird rear look to the poorly integrated ICU (especially in the lower variants), the list could just go on and on....

Also looking at the manufacturing capacity and the waiting periods so far, the initial response seems to be lukewarm at best.

I don't see the IGNIS as a high seller, only the people looking for funky/weird looking cars to stand out in the crowd would go for it (My personal opinion, no offence intended)

Anyways, thank you for yet another wonderful review....looking for many many more, Keep it up!

[neeravnaik]

This just feels like a very complicated car in a segment where you want to keep things simple and elegant.

Is this the car with the Highest Wheelbase to Length ratio ever? That rear end is incredibly short.

The entertainment system for the lower end version looks really odd to put it politely. The power to weight ratio is one good thing about this and looks like this will be a decent drive.

Overall seems a confused product which is probably trying to make a Brezza mini in that segment with those looks. But as they say with Maruti anything sells but then S-Cross also happened

[dailydriver]

As usual, a very detailed review. A prospective buyer will be pleased to read this - whether he will buy the car is a different matter altogether.

Looking at the Ignis from outside, I have a feeling that some influential Suzuki honcho's kid started playing with clay balls and shaped a thing that resembled a car. And the said honcho took matter into his own hands and came out with this twisted car.

Just look at the boot lid. In case of a hit, it will take the maximum impact because of the non existent bumper. Take my word, no amount of skill will embolden a tinkerer-painter to undertake its repair. Complete replacement is the only solution. So is the case with the side panels with the Suzuki triads. Lest I forget, I think they are the finger marks of the kid on the clay car carried over to the production models .

The review rightly calls Ignis a polarising car. Some will like it, many will hate it. The white portion of the dash and the door are clearly dust/scratch magnets, and since the Millennials(at least some of them) are likely to have small kids, it is a major cause of concern. Also prone to scratches are the body/titanium coloured door grab handles.

The lesser width of the car is compensated by the generous headroom. However, the short squab and the scooped out front seats are major downers. It would be interesting to see what happens to the scooped out portion when seat covers are installed on them.

Sincerely, one can only comment on the appearance, space, sheet metal and other extras offered in Maruti's new age cars; for the engines and drivetrains are almost similar in multiple models. Ergo, Ignis fails to impress me.

If I were to look for a tall boy petrol, I would select the Wagon R (+/- the AMT) and save money. The diesel AMT is perhaps the only variant of Ignis that can interest an average car buyer. But being beset by a few minor but non-ignorable irritants, I would have a difficult time convincing anyone to put their money here.

Plus, the quintessential Indian desire to get get more car per rupee spent on it prevents an average Joe from buying this strictly average car.

All said and done, I think this car should not sell well but being a Maruti, I believe it will.

[SoumenD]

Excellent review as usual(do we even need to mention that anymore for T-BHP reviews?)

So the build quality is more or less on par with Baleno innit? No matter how hard I try, this looks more of an updated WAGON-R to me than a RITZ replacement. Saw it in flesh quite a few times and by no means does this give an impression of a mini UV. Plus the rear is honestly uglier than the RITZ IMO(no offence to the owners). Remove the projectors and DRL(i.e. lower variants) and it looks simply plain jane boxy.

To top it even the pricing is pretty optimistic. If it didn't have the Maruti badge I doubt it would sell even 1000 copies a month.

[madhavgpai]

Great Review!

Personally, I do not like how the rear looks and how the front interiors look either. But I drove the Petrol AMT and felt that it was a major improvement from the Celerio/WagonR AMTs. It was downshifting even in the manual mode to give a smooth experience. And the shifts are not slow, only AMT is slow(for some), so when it bothers you, you could just go manual. I liked these things about the car.

I guess they are not offering AMT on top end as the on-road price could go into 7 digits with accessories in cities like Bangalore. And that is bad for word of mouth publicity.

This car is sold at this price majorly due to its brand. While many people are paying MSIL a high price for this car, I think there are better deals out there in the market.

[abhishek46]

Excellent review as usual.

It is clear now that the Baleno completely eclipses this in almost all aspects, starting from Space, practicality & NVH to ride & handling.

Except for the funky styling which may attract some young audiences, did not notice any key USP of the Ignis.

Some flies in this rather small-but-expensive ointment, which could have been easily fixed are:
1. Vibes at higher rpms. (Using better hydaulic engine/gearbox mounts)
2. Noise at higher rpms/speed (Using better quality firewall & firewall insulation)
3. Poorly calibrated steering
4. Ride & Handling

Suzuki clearly knows how to do all the above, but looks like it has taken a half-hearted approach here.

[i74js]

This is not a India spec product instead it has been made one by MSIL. If you look at the Ignis sold in the international markets (looks 95% same externally) is much better screwed internally both from the material used and the features made available to the end customer.

MSIL quotes investment of about 950 Cr. in development of this product in India, of which major investment is done by vendors for close to 100% localization of this product. MSIL as such has not shelled out this money.

What MSIL engineers have done is to figure out all possible avenues of cost cutting in the car. Not sure if the platform / shell strength has also been compromised. MSIL is known to be quite agile in terms of meeting regulations and follows strict principles of lean manufacturing.

It is therefore quite possible that until the new safety norms are applicable in India, Ignis may be sold with relatively poor shell strength. The features, though are in line with the segment standards (barring quirky design as suggested in review as well as observations shared by members), yet it needs something more to make it desirable - which unfortunately it is not. Few things that should have been there for the millennials:

- Automatic fully loaded trim
- CVT or TC instead of AMT (it adds to the snob value, AMT is certainly a compromise and does not warrant NEXA premium)
- Auto head lamps
- Auto IRVM
....
The list is long !

[subhro1988]

IMHO, the car does not look good. The shape is disproportionate at the rear, the large headlamps look odd and the shape of the DRLs look like hanging garlands around the headlamps
I wonder that if the car does not sell well, will Maruti open it up for the yellow plates? Given that its being sold through Nexa can/will they do that?

[Beerus]

Maruti should really consider releasing an "RS" variant, with the turbo-petrol.

But they should not charge anymore. We could also see a repeat of "baleno & s-cross repricing" with the ignis.