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If you don’t want to read a long review and lots of photographs with description ahead, here is my summary in single line.
It’s not a perfect car, but scores well overall; a Jack of all, King of a few is what I wanted, is what I got.

Since, you are reading this and are interested in the long story, here it goes. It's another "S" badge in the garage.



This is the story of my purchase and ownership of Ignis Zeta AMT. So read on…


The tradition of owning a car for 6-7 years and then selling it continues. Starting with a humble pre-owned M-800 bought in 2004 and sold in 2011, Indica Xeta bought in 2005 and sold in 2012, and now Alto, bought in 2012 and sold in 2018.


It was a sudden decision that didn’t happen so suddenly. Ironical, but true.

I was at Maruti service station in Hinjawadi for the 20000 KMs service of Ciaz in Feb. I have this habit of sitting through and watching them service my car since I don’t remember how many years. Usually, I am the first customer at service station and so get 100% attention before the weekend rush for the service station starts.

During that visit, I thought of taking a test drive of automatic since Alto was aging and wife needed automatic for the city runs. So why not TD it right now? Voila, they had Wagon R and Celerio in AMT variant for TD. I spoke with the SA, glanced thru the features list and price list, but decided against the TD as my Ciaz was ready after the service. They have Nexa stall at the Maruti dealership as well and I spoke with the SA from Nexa as well. He also showed me details of Ignis and Baleno automatic on his tab.
Aah…the “premium”ness of Nexa dealer. Where I was looking at paper brochures and pricelist for “humble” Celerio and WagonR few minutes back, here was I looking at the smart tab for the other range of the cars with “S” badge.
Nonetheless, I asked them to visit my home so that intended user of the car can TD it.

I got the call promptly on Friday from both Maruti and Nexa SAs. But that weekend went by and so many weekends after that due to my office and personal commitments. I almost forgot about new car; I hadn’t even mentioned about me going through pricelists and brochures of new car to my wife.

Then the Wagon R scheduled service in April last week. Nothing major, the routine 30,000 KMs service with oil change etc. That’s when I discussed for the first time about exchanging Alto with new car. “But we don’t need another car, and I liked i10. Ignis is so yuck” said my wife and I politely agreed like any good husband.

On another weekend, while driving for errands with my son, we saw a Blue colored Ignis with white roof. I told my son, the car with two tone color looks good. And my Son, was “not a good looking car but two tone color looks nice. I like Tiago, and you know it resembles with my favorite player’s son?” doesn’t matter if I was clueless what he was talking about. I only knew Tata has improved to a great extent from my Indica V2 days, in design and construction and I liked Tiago design as well.

Oh wait, wife likes i10, son likes Tiago, and the thread still shows “Ignis”? Alto doesn’t have any major problem after six years of ownership, cost of maintenance is still pocket friendly, and I already have a Wagon R that my father drives and a Ciaz that I drive.

So why do I need to buy a new car?

Buying Decision
In the hindsight, I didn’t need car. But I still needed a new car. It was not a want, it was a need.
My wife drives more than I do as part of her daily commute. And then there are errands – grocery, weekly veggies market, dropping and picking up my son from his matches, classes etc. etc. etc. (list of how many times Alto moves out of parking lot is just endless, so the extra etc.s)

She needs to park in the city areas, at her work place, drive on congested roads. And that means, she deserves an automatic.
That’s when I actively started to read Team BHP new car ownership and test drive reviews. The requirements were listed and I had only three points in the list (i) has to have a small footprint (ii) has to be automatic (iii) has to be pocket friendly – initial outflow as well as ease of maintenance.

Having owned / driven five Marutis over last 14 years – M-800, Zen, Alto, Wagon R, and Ciaz; I had natural affinity and comfort towards the brand. But no more Maruti, both me and my son were clear on that. And hence we started with narrowing down the list.

Options Considered
With clear requirements in mind, we zeroed on following options

1. Ignis –
I liked Ignis the day I saw first photos on this forum; and then in the showroom when it was launched.
So, I drive my family straight into the Nexa showroom at Baner. And they are in disbelief. Both don’t like Ignis, and my wife knows Baleno is not in budget.



I asked for Amit Patil, the SA I met in Feb in the Sai Service at Hinjawadi during my Ciaz service. The sales guys these days know how to handle customers. Amit approached me in Feb and was ready for a TD of Ignis then; but as I was occupied with family and professional commitments, didn’t do TD then. He didn’t pester me, he rather promptly and tirelessly called when I had asked him to call me. And even then, I had asked him to call me on Saturday so that we can fix something for Sunday. Saturday morning, I get a call and we fix appointment for a Sunday afternoon. Just Amazing.

Amit was there as expected. He showed the car, explained the features and arranged for the TD. I had told him, though I like Ignis; none of my family members like the car and it is your job to turn it around. I am not a decision maker, I would only sign the cheque for the car wife likes.

My wife did TD, then I did, and I could see the expressions changing on the faces of my son and wife. Grumpy turned into smileys.
Here is what we thought after TDs
+ silent engine, no noise and no vibrations
+ better AMT than what is available in Wagon R and Celerio, probably due to how it is mated with larger engine? I don’t know.
+ good overall feel of space at front and rear with decent boot space
+ good front view for my wife with a bit of bonnet still visible, that aids in front parking in tight spots. Also now with Ignis, we both have now become fan of flat dashboard top. No curves, just flat functional dashboard that also aids in frontal visibility.
+ driveability
- premium pricing. Is it really worth that money? Price point wise, for the same money as AMT Zeta variant, I can buy top end Tigor XZA with more space and features or Tiago XZA and save a lakh of Rupees


2. Tigor / Tiago
My son’s favorite, I liked the car too. After two test drives back to back (I actually asked the Tata dealer to drive me to Nexa, parked both Ignis and Tiago side by side and did TD one after the other.)



Photo Courtesy - Team BHP official new car review

I must mention Tata has improved – both dealership experience at Bafna (at Law College Road) as well as car. Consider this – a Sunday evening when they are about to close; a potential customer walks in, sees Tigor and Tiago, asks for a TD and they oblige. Then his wife does another TD. Then they ask him to drive to the Nexa dealer with no guarantee the customer would turn in favorably, another TD follows without any fuss, no questions asked. I would give them a 5* rating just for this TD experience. Imran Pathan and his team knows how to handle customers.

Now, for the TD and the car(s)
We TD’ed Tiago, as Tigor AMT was on display and they had only Tiago AMT for TD. Doesn’t matter to me. Both cars share same engine, same transmission, same dashboard and front two seats. The difference is really from the B-pillar onwards.
Tiago is a typically small hatchback perfect for city driving conditions. Tigor offers more rear seat leg room, more boot space and overall a larger car in sub-4 meter category. And it costs approx. 100k more too.

Here are the positives and negatives from my TD experience
+ well built and a very pleasing design both exteriors and interiors
+ felt home right from the time I settled in the driving seat. Wife had exactly the same comment.
+ ergonomically placed controls, good AC to cool the interiors on a hot May evening
+ that amazingly sounding Harman-Kardon music system
- the three-pot engine was a bit noisy. I felt it affected the driving experience.
- I was still skeptical about Tata service (and service costs) experience. Not that I was unhappy with Xeta V2 over six years of ownership, not sure if I was ready to experiment
- Tiago (and Tigor) has 6 month, 5000 KMs service intervals. That means, I would end up spending approx. 28-35k extra over seven years of ownership compared with other cars that have annual maintenance schedule
- resale I would get of Tata vehicles as I experienced with my Xeta V2. Well, isn’t it too early to think of a divorce when you have not even married? No, because it’s not a marriage, it’s a financial decision.

Tiago and Tigor are still the front runners.


3. Wagon R
This was the choice when I started thinking about new car in Feb along with Celerio.


Ruled this out, as we already have one Wagon R. this is a good car, but what annoys me is
- placement of AC vent is right behind the steering wheel and the left hand fingers just freeze if kept in 9-3 position. I have to change my hand position to 10-3 or 8-2 while driving a Wagon R. Don’t know what Maruti designers were smoking when designing a dashboard and placing an AC vent at that place.
- no storage spaces – how can they do that? I don’t even get a proper place to keep my mobile phone. And I put it in the closeable space above glove-box. No proper water bottle holders at the front or rear either – door gets a thin storage space that can accommodate a newspaper at the max. What I get instead is a can holder at the dashboard in L and R in front of AC vents, and a small retractable bottle holder that’s only good for a half liter bottle between two front seats behind the handbrake. No, this is not a car from 1970s, we need proper storage spaces.

I have been driving a Wagon R for last 4 years and these two were enough for me to rule out another Wagon R even without driving an AMT.


4. Celerio
A good package no doubt.


Photo-Courtesy – Team BHP Official Review

I get AMT, a K10 engine that I am used to driving in a Wagon R. It has decent space for passengers at front and rear and decent boot space for a city runabout. Wife didn’t like it after she sat in the driver’s seat and she didn’t do the TD. I drove the Celerio AMT of one of my friends and felt the drive can improve a lot.


5. i10
Abysmal fuel economy as I know and have seen from two of my colleagues.


Photo-Courtesy – Team BHP Official Review

I didn’t like i10 at all at the price point and feature to feature comparison with Ignis and Tiago. Ruled this out. Low average and high fuel cost are a deadly combo. Thanks Hyundai and bye.


6. Kwid

I cannot miss on this one. I like this car. Small size, perfect for my needs. So with high hopes, I call the Renault Baner on Saturday asking for a TD of automatic Kwid.


Photo-Courtesy – Team BHP Official Review

The lady on the other side politely took all the details and confirmed to promptly pass that on to sales reps and I would get a call back in an hour. That one hour never came, and entire Saturday passed. I called them again on Sunday morning before leaving for my TDs of Tata and Suzuki.
Same response “Sir, don’t worry, I will ask my team to call you back right away”. So, we got assurance and started from home for Nexa.
At 5pm, I “promptly” got the call from same lady asking if I liked the car and to take the feedback of the TD that never happened. She again assured me to call back “right away” when I told her I am already in some other dealership with my cheque book and I will be finalizing in next one hour.

Sunday finished, and we narrowed down on Tiago ZXA or Ignis Zeta AMT.

Monday morning – “Sir, I am xyz, calling from Renault Baner showroom. When are you coming for booking?” that’s when I lost it.
This is the level of coordination between front office and sales team. The customer gets a call from front office to assure of call back “right away”, the sales guys never call up and the TD never happens and then they call me to ask when I am coming there for the booking.
That’s taking the pre-sales experience to a whole new level. Keep it up Renault. Happy days are ahead for you with such a grand service.

Kwid – which was a front runner till Saturday morning went out without TD and we are now with Ignis and Tiago to chose between.

I again read through the official review of both cars, read ownership reviews here and other sites, and decided, Ignis Zeta AMT it is.
Two points mainly where Tiago / Tigor lost it, as far as I am concerned – additional service cost due to six month / 5k kms service intervals + resale value as well as a three-pot engine vs four-pot of Ignis that felt smoother to drive. That said, both are quite competent cars and I quite liked both from Tata.


So, Ignis it is.
But why Zeta?
Very simple – I didn’t want a car with touch-screen. Somehow, I like traditional buttons more than touchscreens. One, I feel the touchscreen may be a distraction and not very intuitive to use and secondly, I don’t know how long that would last. The reason I opted for ZXi for my Ciaz and not ZXi+.
Also, top of the line Alpha was costing me 90k+ on the road over Zeta; and what would I get for that premium? Broadly speaking, I would get a touch-screen controls with navigation that I don't want, Automatic climate control that's a good to have, LED lights with DRL that has more of a snob value. Both ACC and DRL looks classy but I can’t spend that obscene premium for that.
We had decided on the color even before finalizing the car, liked Red color in Ignis as well as in Tiago.
Zeta AMT was readily available at the dealer for the color of our choice – Red with Black roof.

So, Ignis Zeta AMT with Red and Black color it is.

Nexa Experience

The dealership at Baner (near University) that we visited, had that welcoming ambience. The receptionist greeted us and guided us to the seating area. Amit was available to take us through the car and TD. Overall, a very positive feel.


Nexa Baner-Aundh Showroom near University


Although we went out with chequebook to finalise the car on Sunday, after the TD, it was almost 8 on Sunday evening, and we were unsure of Tiago or Ignis and we left the showroom asking Amit from Nexa and Imran from Bafna, Tata for a day to decide.
Thought through on Monday, and none of the two SAs called me to check.
On Tuesday I got a call and whatsapp message from Tata SA asking for my decision and then afternoon, Amit called me. I told him to keep everything ready and we were coming there after office for the booking.
There was nothing he left for me to negotiate. Offered me a good value for my Alto that I was getting in the market, offered me freebies and discounts and we finalized the final booking price and we paid the advance on Tuesday, 15th May. He confirmed the delivery date of 23rd May, that’s the date we wanted to take delivery on.
I was not pressured to deliver Alto immediately to the dealer and we could use it till Saturday. Not that we would have been stuck without Alto as we had Wagon R that my wife could drive before new car came in. But it just shows the professional behavior from the dealer. We gave the Alto to Nexa on 20th May. The dealer person came out, checked the vehicle, and gave me Delivery Challan. I had given the RC and Insurance already when we booked Ignis.
Everything went smooth, there was nothing for me to follow-up or escalate or anything like that.



I had meanwhile, asked Amit the VIN to check the vehicle I would be getting, and it was April manufactured. I had checked the vehicle already while we went for first TD as it was the only Red Ignis they had. And they immediately removed it from showroom and kept it safely in the basement once I booked. Since I had seen the vehicle and checked it already from inside and out, another PDI was not required either.

Then the day finally came. I called up Amit if everything was in order and that we would be there by 5pm.

As I entered showroom, I could see Red Ignis at the delivery area with my name displayed on the TV screen. Final cleaning of the body was being done, garland and coconut was ready as well. Odo reading showed 37 KMs, so all is good.



We cleared final documentation formalities of delivery note, he explained the documentation, put it in the leather cover. After my family came, he explained all the features. Again, no hassles and everything was in order.
Customary cake cutting, photo, breaking of coconut and we were on our way home.
10 on 10 for the Nexa Experience for entire team there.

Initial Impressions

The car has finished 1000 KMs even before reaching one month, and that includes city driving of around 550 KMs and highway driving of 400 KMs


City
No doubt, this meets my requirements 100%.
Light steering, efficient engine, good storage space and leg room for front and rear seat passengers means my wife is happy.
First week of delivery, I found the problem. In a city, bumper to bumper traffic, I had a peculiar situation. Here I am just trying to narrate the irritating experience.
I slot the gear in D mode and start driving. Peace. Gear changes to D-2 at 2000 rpm. Peace.
I accelerate, go to 2000 rpm and gear changes to D-3. But then as it happens in the B2B traffic, you have a biker, a bullock cart, a pedestrian who just jumps out from footpath onto the road or just a slow moving traffic, and you have to reduce speed and gear changes from D-3 to D-2. Peace, no problem yet.
Then, you flow with the traffic, accelerate, cross 2000 rpm, 3000 rpm, engine just makes noise, speed doesn’t go up beyond 40 kmph and gear doesn’t change. Problem.
Peace just vanished out of the window. It’s a problem and it is irritating every time it happens.
I have to either change it to manual mode or brake the car to standstill and start over again.

No, I bought an automatic for peace of mind in city traffic driving condition. Not for this.
I call up Amit, he shares the service engineer’s number and next day I am at the service station talking to Aditya.
He takes a drive and confirms the problem and orders some part from Maruti that may take a week to arrive.
But this problem doesn’t manifest in every case – even in exactly the same scenario. It just happens randomly. I again get the call from service engineer and I confirm I would be there on the weekend.
I went there on Saturday. He just saw the car, asked me to wait. I also told him the brake lights are continuously on even when I lock the car.
He immediately bent down, checked the ECU switches below the steering column and fixed “something”. Upon asking what he did, he just said, the ECU was getting confused in such a situation and was sending signal not to change the gear as brake was applied and at the same time I was revving, so it won’t move from D-2 to D-3. I have just reset the switch and no parts were replaced.

Since then, no problem. Not sure, how can it happen in a new car freshly delivered from factory. And that too in random manner. If it was a problem; it should happen in every test case scenario.
Since this is now logged in the records as we had opened a job card, I am sure it is recorded as an issue and I may not have to run around in case of any similar problem in future.

Anyways, all is good now. The car is running smooth in bumper to bumper traffic since then. Current fuel economy showing on MID at 15.2 kmpl, decent enough for the city driving.

This is not a car if you have heavy foot. For a sedate drivers like me, for city conditions where you are not in the speed race, this is a perfect car. No, it is not a traditional automatic or a DSG and not as smooth either; but it does it’s job decently with a good fuel efficiency. For people like me, “kitna deti hai” with rising fuel prices is important.

High ground clearance comes as a boon on the butter smooth roads of Mumbai and on the roads in Pune where I live where every few meters there is a speed breaker created by the corporation or a crater created due to road works or rain.

This has passed the city test well.


Highway
I wanted to check the highway driving mannerism of the car. So during visit to Mumbai, we decided to take out Ignis instead of Ciaz.
And she came out with flying colors.
The highway driving was very well sorted, including the ghat section between Lonavala and Khopoli.
Because of the design, it was a planted ride. Yes, the suspension is on firmer side and Ciaz for the rear passengers is more comfortable on bumps and tight corners.
But a firm suspension was actually helpful on highway drive.. Very small front overhang and almost zero rear overhang helps as well. This, combined with decent boot space to accommodate bags for four people for a weekend, and good leg and shoulder room for 2 adults and one kid at the back for a three hour Pune-Mumbai drive means this is a complete package.
It passed the highway test as well.




Broken Roads
We encountered the village road (?) which was just mud and rocky hill side connection between two small villages during one of our weekend outings.
All thanks to the generous ground clearance, the Ignis fared quite well there. I was although apprehensive for the AMT, as I never have driven a car that doesn't give me control to change gears so far on such roads. Now, both me and wife feel comfortable driving the car on any road or broken road condition.

What I like, and what I don’t

Here, I am trying to summarize my impressions over last 6-7 weeks of ownership and my comparison is with the cars I have driven so far

What I love

• No non-sense smooth engine combined with ease of AMT
• I get what I wanted – a relaxed drive in a compact car with comfort for driver and passengers
• Absolutely silent cabin. The best apart from Ciaz that I have owned so far.
• Predicable gear shift mechanism – I know I have to reach 2000 rpm and it would change – a combination of 2000 rpm and interval of every 10 KMs – 0-10-20-30-40 is so predictable and now I am so used to it.
• It’s a fresh design that stands out amongst the standard hatchbacks. I have been a fan of this the day it was launched.

What I like

• The spare wheel doesn’t have the Styrofoam to put tools. Why is that I like it? Because, in this case, I don’t have to take out Styrofoam that holds tools, remove the nut that holds spare wheel and lift up the spare wheel and keep it upside down to refill the air. Why is that so? Because the casing is placed in the wheel cavity; and that means the air filler valve is facing downwards. This is quite a task every time I want to check air for spare wheel for Ciaz.
  
  see the air filler cap facing top here,unlike the one facing bottom in Ciaz
  
  While Styrofoam casing looks nice for the tools, it causes problem as well. Not the case in Ignis. I can go there, open the boot, remove floor mats, and check air without wasting time or effort. I am fine without nice looking casing and tools can be placed somewhere else if it saves me effort. This is important for me, as I check air every alternate fuel sessions, which means every 3-4 weeks.
  
• The car gives choice to change certain settings like I can decide if want all four doors to open or only driver’s door when I turn off the engine and other such settings. I don’t have that in Ciaz.
• The instrument cluster is nicely placed and 6o’clock position for the tacho and speedo meter when at rest looks class.
• Well lit boot, a lamp that I can put in auto-mode. It would light up only when I open the boot.
• AC is not a chiller, but is adequate for the Pune summers and for the cabin size. So far, barring one or two occasions, I have not had to put the AC with speed of 2. Never in speed of 3 or 4. It works perfectly fine at the speed of 1 and cools the cabin.
• Steering wheel that looks better, with changed button layout than in my Ciaz’s steering wheel.
• Perfect design and bolstering for driver and co-driver seats. For me, it suits lower back perfectly and lumber support is perfect. Rear passenger seats also offer good amount of cushioning and thigh support is adequate for children and other passengers in the family that occupy rear seat.
• Seat height – it offers good seat height both at front and back for the elderly and they don’t have to bend down to sit or make extra effort to get out putting pressure on their knees. This height is just perfect.
• Adequate space between seat and rear door. You don’t have to juggle your feet to remove them out of the car. You can just get out without effort.
• White and black theme is a good design element and refreshing compared to usual Greige theme we are so used to in cars these days.

What I don’t like

• This is still an AMT and so gear shift from D-1 to D-2 is ok, D-2 to D-3 is when you feel the jerk and car says, I am changing the gear; I am doing the hard work while you relax, D-3 to D-4 is better, D-4 to D-5 is very smooth and you don’t realize when the gears have changed. I agree, this is not a DSG, and it is an AMT, and I knew before I signed the deal what I am getting into. But still, I hope that can be improved in next generations of AMT.
• The glovebox. It is a two slot box with top part meant for the owner’s manual with bottom slot for other stuff. The irony is when I try to put the manual in the nice leather folder that Nexa gave, the glovebox doesn’t close. Does someone think before designing the parts?
• Why only one overhead light? That too in front? My benchmark when I compare here is Ciaz which has middle overhead lights at front and individual lights at the back. Even if they wanted to put one overhead light, why not in the middle?
• Remote key doesn’t have boot open option, nor does it have sensor. That means I have to open all four doors so that I can open the boot hatch. Why? I can’t quite get the logic behind this design.
• Same old driver side window controls. When will Maruti designers have time to rejig the design and offer something new to us? We have seen the same switchboard since the time Swift first gen was launched in 2005 and it is repeated in every other MS vehicle since.
• Bonnet release switch looks like “choke” switch that I had in my M-800. Could have been designed a bit better. Though not an irritant, this could have been better.
• What I like is also what I don’t like – black and white theme. I am doubtful for how long I would be able to maintain White color to show as White before it becomes Gray.
• The digital display in bar graph style for the instantaneous fuel economy looks classy but not useful. I cannot for sure say what is instantaneous fuel economy with horizontal bar dancing from left to right in Ignis; not only that, it is also risky to keep an eye on it to make sense of it rather than on the road. In my Ciaz, I get to see a number and that is easy to read while driving.

What I hate
Below is what I am getting in top-1 variant of Ciaz but I don’t get in top-1 variant of Ignis due to evident cost cutting

• No height adjustable seat even for the driver
• No one touch up and down for driver side window. I get only the one touch down, same like my WagonR
• No automatic overhead mirrors. I get the same mirror as my WagonR LXi
• I saved the last as this is the worst irritant; a design flaw.
  The AC vent by design is exactly behind the steering wheel. This is to accommodate the music system / touch screen system and that means they had to place middle AC vents on either side of music system. But by doing so, right AC vent is behind the driver’s hand. Although it is not as bad as in Wagon R as the placement is slightly lower if you are used to 9-3 position of steering, it still is irritating. I have to keep the blower faced upwards or downwards so that driver’s fingers don’t freeze.

Other Important Points

• I have not missed the rear camera yet. The sensors do their job well and don’t think I would install an aftermarket camera on Ignis. No, Zeta doesn’t come with the rear camera, my Ciaz ZXi (that would be Ciaz Zeta in Nexa nomenclature) has the rear camera. I don’t like this discrimination.
• I had apprehension of visibility for rear passengers due to shape of the windows. For adults, it is not a problem, but my son doesn’t like it. He says he has better view in Ciaz and Wagon R and so was the case with Alto.
• It does have a blindspot at the rear three-quarter view due to sheet metal and no glass. Be careful while reversing.
• Headlights do their job well in stock fitment. I have no intension to replace with higher luminosity lights.
• Piano black finish at the gear lever looks classy. I didn’t like aluminum finish in Tiago / Tigor. Black looks very decent for my liking.

Exteriors

Let’s talk about the car now. I won’t go in detail as it is covered to great detail in the official review. So, I would rather let the photos talk with the narrative of what I feel about the car.


The front profile view gives this car the required aggression in the looks with large single unit of chrome grille that houses lights.
Below the headlight units on the front bumper is a chrome housing with round foglamps. The two horizontal lines on the side of the foglamps add to the looks. The Radiator grille can be seen behind the number plate.
The relatively flat bonnet, without any curves or any other unwanted lines that's so characteristic in cars these days, gives this a plain and simple and yet aggressive looks. The Maruti designers although needs to think something about those black wiper sprays. I didn't like the placement in Ciaz, and now in Ignis too. Why can't they safely hide somewhere near the wipers?


This is the best looking front grille I have seen so far in any of my cars. A single unit that houses the headlight and side indicators (and DRLs for Alpha variant) looks a class apart. A horizontal chrome line with black inserts that runs across with a largish "S" logo and in the middle gives this car a character of its own. What I also liked about this grille is how it wraps around and goes sideways.


The engine bay is quite a standard fare. Yes, you can see through and as is here, you can see the floor fro the engine bay. Why none of the manufacturers can think about having a simple protection? Is it cost cutting or laziness on designers' part to give it to us?


This is often touted as the ugliest view of the car. And I cannot disagree. The humongous logo in the middle, the tail lamp design and overall layout makes it "unconventional" if I may say so. Not quite we are used to seeing on the roads.


A closeup of the tail-lights reveal it is a simple and functional design. Goes well with overall "squarish" looks of the car. Rear fog lamps are sadly missing.


The small "hump" for the lack of any better word, again is not typically seen in the typical hatchbacks. We have always seen a glass line smoothly meets the body in single curve or line. I found this and other such subtle design cues very interesting.


One of the best angles is this closeup of "red meets black". The finishing of black color in gloss looks very different and this was a major factor for us to go for two tone car rather than single color.


To me this looks out of place placement. May be due to size, may be due to shape or may be due to where it is placed. The photo here somehow has become distored while I was reducing the file size.


The red and black. You would never guess if you are looking at the car from side profile that the roof is completely black. Notice how the black door line tapers downwards from A pillar to C pillar.


These are one of the best alloy designs I have ever seen. The wheels and tire size that Ignis has fit perfectly in the wheel arch too. There is a lot written about the Bridgestone vs any other brand of tire, but to me; it has never made a difference and I have never replaced stock tires with any other brand yet in any of my cars.
The black lines over the wheel arch lends the two tone look - but this is only available in Zeta and Alpha variants if I know it correctly.
Notice how the headlights curve sideways. Also notice the small bumper ahead of the body and fog lamps in the recess rather than protruding or in the same line.


Another view of the car from front three quarters, and you can distinctly see the black plastic inserts on the bonnet. Placed on either side, these have no functional value but enhances the look for sure by breaking the monotony.


The carbon-fiber like element comes to the side cladding too. No, its not real, it is just visual, but looks better than the standard black plastic. I got it added from the dealer. Was in dilemma whether to go for it or not; and when I saw another red/black Ignis without this, I decided to add it from the accessories list from dealer. Without it, I feel the large door looks very plain.


The rear wheels definitely has the bulge (its not as much as in Duster though) and you have to be careful in tight b2b traffic.


What looked to me like an Adidas logo when the car was launched is a re-entry of what they call Suzuki Progressive Triad, seen first time in SC100 (as given in TeamBHP review here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...al-review.html). Whatever it is, the way this triad is placed, and the way window lines go up and triad lines go in parallel with the boot hatch, looks very distinct.


Just look at the bare underbody, and you can see all the cables running there. Why cannot it be safely placed or why cannot they give underbody protection plate? Will it make the cost to go up by a few lakhs?

Again, same comment. Why cannot they place a simple plate to protect the engine? We are asking for a sheet metal plate, not a gold or platinum plate. I have the same grudge with all the car manufacturers.

Interiors

As soon as I opened the door for the first time, in the showroom display car (that eventually came in my garage), I had that wow feeling.

This is the first look of the car interiors that I got when I opened the driver side door.


You are welcomed by a black-white contract dashboard, that carbon fiber finished AC vents, seat that is placed at perfect height. Although it is placed at a lesser height to my liking, but my wife likes it the way it is. I miss the seat height adjust here.

Once you are seated, you get a clear view with a very flat and no curves dashboard top, the windshield glass that is not as slanting as in Ciaz helps greatly on sunny afternoons. I have a terrible dashboard top reflection on the Ciaz windshield in sunny afternoons that’s almost blinding. Not the case in Ignis due to angle of the glass.

The fact that the bonnet also is flat and doesn’t taper as drastically as in other cars I have driven, it aids in frontal visibility – I can see bonnet more than I am able to do in Ciaz or in Wagon R. Indica was the worst of the cars I drove in this aspect.


A nice to hold and perfect size steering here. The aluminium finish and newly designed button looks refreshing. The buttons for call and Bluetooth need to be pressed with thumb from front, rather than with fingers from behind the steering wheel that I am used to in Ciaz.


The start-stop button is illuminated when you turn on the lights. Large “S” logo welcomes you as soon as you press brake pedal and it stays for some time before usual MID data is displayed.


The won’t start the car unless you have pressed brake and gear is in “N” position.


The console with speedo and tacho both in default 6'o clock position looks good. Usually, I have sen default "0" speed in 8'o clock position but Ignis with this change looks sporty.


Yes, there is a small blind spot as seen here. It is not as bad as i have seen in some other cars, WagonR included. The worst I had seen was in Jazz while doing TD at the time of purchasing Ciaz.


What I dont like with the view front from driver's seat (and also in Ciaz) is the way wipers are visible. I have seen better placements of wipers in cars at the same or even less price band. It was not visible in Tiago / Tigor as far as I can remember.


This is what I can see when looking at the back. The rear glass gives adequate visibility, but three quarter view is zero. So far, as i said earlier, sensors are sufficient and I never really felt need to have aftermarket camera.


The square looking music system sounds good for an in-car entertainment. The sound quality is adequate and it does it's job. For better music experience, I have a home theater system.


Twitters on either side on the door give clarity and add to the pleasure of listening to music.


Below the music system are AC controls and USB / Aux and power sockets. The standard manual knobs look and feel functional. The horizontal bar for controlling recycle or fresh air mode looks so 90s, i see same thing on WagonR. Surprisingly, I didn't find this out of place for the overall design theme.


The car has only front AC vents. Actually, I didn't feel the need to have rear AC vents for the cabin size. Two round vents at L and R corners which can be completely closed. The middle vents are placed on either side of the music system. And As explained elsewhere, the driver side vent is behind the steering wheel behind the driver's left hand. A design flaw. More so, middle vents cannot be closed, and so I have to keep this particular vent facing the roof always. :Frustrati


This is one waste of space. The tiny cubby hole on left side is just there for no functional value. It cannot hold even a pen due to its size and shape. Not sure if designers actually thought about it or the accountant chopped some part off the design in the name of cost cutting?


This collage gives various information on display in the MID. As a user, this gives me option to look at what I want to see there. And good part is the console doesn't have those ugly plastic sticking out. Rather, this car has two separate buttons for Info and Trip meters display in MID. An excellent and welcome design change.


Another nice design touch. You get body coloured theme carried forward on the doors and interior panel around gear stick. This is however available only in Red and Blue color cars. For all other color options, the car gets grey-silver finish. Looks nice to break monotony.


This is what the front door looks like. I get a bottle holder that can accommodate 1 ltr bottle and space to keep other stuff. The white with red looks excellent here.


Rear door can only accommodate half a ltr bottle. The wheel arch eats up space and rest is for the speakers, so no space to keep anything else here. Look how small the window that can be opened is due to wheel arch.


The foot well gets adequate space for A and B pedals are kept at sufficient and comfortable distance. The dead pedal and no clutch is a welcome inclusion for the left foot.



Ignis came with black fabric seats from factory. Nothing wrong with seats as is, but I got the artificial leather seats with same design as in Ciaz from accessories shop. This has improved the seats a bit more both looks wise and support wise.


The rear seat is sufficient for two adults and a child at the back. Here, I have adjusted the front seat for my driving position.


The space behind the handbrake has adequate space to hold a larger bottle or other stuff. It is accessible and doesn't eat up leg space for child sitting in the middle.


The hump at the middle is negligible and isn't a hindrance even for the adult. I have put a half liter water bottle for the comparison of it's height.


Rear wiper when in action cleans adequate area. Another half an inch or an inch larger wiper would not have harmed and would have aided rearward visibility further is my view.


A two layer glovebox looks very nice to look at. Holds user manual at the top and other things in the bottom compartment. But, the nicety ends here...Have a look at next photo

This is the nice leather folder provided by Nexa to keep the user manual and visiting cards of Nexa folks etc. And when you keep the user manual in this folder, and keep it in the glovebox, Tadam...glovebox doesn't close. Why? What are the designers who designed nice looking glovebox and nice looking user manual didn't speak with each other? Or are they expecting me to keep the leather pouch with user manual in the boot instead of easily accessible glovebox? Can't figure it out yet.
Enough of rant.


The boot space is adequate as I already mentioned somewhere earlier for a weekend luggage. No intrusions of wheel-well or anything else makes it functional. The seats come with 60-40 split (as far as I remember, Tiago didn't offer split seats). The cargo area increases with folded seats. But, seats don't fold fully flat nor do they tumble forward. Meaning, I have to make do with this kind of folded seats boot as seen in this collage. Not very effective utilisation I would say.

Driving Experience

Gear Box
I have already detailed out my experience with the AMT in section above. I know it is not the best of the mechanisms; but is capable and does it’s job efficiently. Gear shifts from D-2 to D-3 is jerky but all the shifts are predictable at 0-10-20-30-40 kmph with normal sedate driving.
For the fast acceleration, gears won’t change till reaching 2500 or 3000 rpm and fifth gear would only be at 55kmph.

Noise
During the express way drive, the tire noise did creep in to the cabin at speeds of 80+. For lower speeds, Bridgestones do their job well and no noise in the cabin. There was a bit of air noise and insulation can be a bit better to reduce that for speeds in excess of 90 kmph.
As I said above, windows rolled up, you are cocooned in a very silent cabin.

Music System
One of the better sounding music systems – better than what I hear in Ciaz.
Of course, it is not in the same league of Harman-Kardon that I heard I Tiago. Tata have done a wonderful job in this department.
What I get in Ignis is acceptable with decent bass and treble. The twitters do their job well and the genre of songs that I hear sounds quite well in Ignis.

Ergonomics of control switches
Easy, in one word. All controls are easily reachable without taking eyes off the road. Rear wiper stalk took some getting used to before monsoons started; the reason being none of the cars I have driven yet had rear wipers.
It is a standard Maruti affair with stalks for headlight, side lights, wipers etc. and no fuss around it.
For window controls, again, it is a standard Maruti affair and we are so used it now.

HVAC
I have already elaborated above the problem with the AC vent right behind the driver’s left hand. It is irritating no doubt and hope the designers don’t repeat the mistakes in future models and correct it in the facelift.
AC for our needs works in speed of 1 most of the times and it cools the small cabin efficiently.
I didn’t have a chance to run it in defog mode or turn on the heater yet, so cannot comment on that.

Accessories

The only accessories I got done aftermarket are seat covers and polishing. That meant the original seats had to be taken out, and new covers that are stitched to fit the seats (and not tied with threads) have to be put. Here is how the looks without seats

with all seats removed

And here is how it looks after the seat covers are done


rear seats


front seats

And here is the WIP of the body polish being done.


body polish

Apart from this aftermarket accessories, I got door side cladding and door way logo lamp that projects "Ignis" on the floor when door is open as paid accessory from the dealer. Other free accessories like steering wheel cover, floor mats, cleaning kit etc. was given by the dealer.

Comparison
I am trying to provide my impressions with comparison between cars I have in my garage. All in different category, with different features and at different price point.
Ignis vs WagonR vs Ciaz


This is what you get to see in different cars from the driver's seat.


I found Ciaz's design to be the best here. I found it best among other cars I had TD'ed when I was in the market to purchase Ciaz among its competitors.


This is what I was ranting about in earlier post. See the different placement in the middle in Ciaz that's very comfortable. WagonR is worst of the lot, Ignis is better than WagonR, but still not good.


The footwell of three cars in my garage. Most comfortable is Ignis, for obvious reasons. Ciaz foot rest is adequate for my foot. Notice a button to open Ciaz boot there. Ignis doesn't hvae boot release button. You can open the boot if all four doors are unlocked. Notice the "choke" like lever to open bonnet for Ignis. Ciaz bonnet release button is kept at 5o'clock position vis-a-vis boot release.


No start-stop button in WagonR. Identical in Ciaz and Ignis.


Same old panel continues in Ignis. :Frustrati
Don't know when will they introduce a new design.


The best of the lot obviously is Ciaz. Ignis comes second with WagonR with bronze. It also has the most unsupportive seats of the three. Ciaz is comfortable for three adults and Ignis for 2.5 passengers :) at the rear seat.


Audio controls for mode, mute, volume and song selection are different and I find better in Ignis. Press "Mode" button to toggle between Radio, USB, Aux and CD. Pressing same button up or down changes the volume. Below these are buttons for call and bluetooth. As explained earlier, pressing these buttons in Ignis vs Ciaz is different.


I selected identical design for seat and stitching for Ignis that I have for Ciaz. These are very comfortable seats to be in. WagonR is most unsupportive, with very little under-thigh support and no lumber support.


This one is to show relative "depth" of the rear bumper for Ignis and WagonR. I find both to be same and impact at the rear bumper in either cars is going to make the boot hatch equally unusable.


Ciaz headlight with twin lamps is more effective no doubt. Ignis with single lamp is not inadequate though as I found out on highway.


Best in terms of looks, vote goes to Ignis. For Ciaz I can put more "things" in the door pocket. Most unusable is that of WagonR.

So, that concludes my review of new car in the garage - Red Ignis Zeta AMT.
Next post is about first free service.

First Service

The first service was due as per schedule within one month or 1000 KMs of taking delivery. As I mentioned earlier, we completed a highway + city driving and reached 950 KMs within three weeks, I booked the service with Sai Service Hinjawadi and got it done on a Saturday morning.

As expected, nothing much to be done except for checking for fluids and washing. I got Nitrogen filled up, just for the sake of it. I have never got Nitrogen in any of my other cars, so just wanted to try it out. Otherwise, it was a "free" service and I was out of the service station within two hours.



The car has now crossed 1700 KMs and shows 15.1 KMPL on MID. So far, so good. It has actually varied from 14.5 to 15.7 in last 800 KMs. But I am assuming it would settle around 15 kmpl, and that's not bad for an AMT that's being driven in city about 70% of the time.

Will update this as we go ahead with more driving experiences with Ignis.

Congratulations on the new Ride! I went through almost the same comparisons last year and ended up with the Ignis Delta AMT [>] in June 2017.

Well Written review and your screenshots with comparison of the 3 cars are an added value to get a comparative perspective. Wishing you many happy miles with your Ignis!

I have done about 8,700 kms so far on my Ignis and very happy with the car. As mine was Delta, it does not come with the sensors and I have added an aftermarket reverse camera. Oh! and I must add the AMT gear shifts become little more smoother after the 3rd Service. The higher gears start to shift at RPMs below 2000 as well.

Agree with the point you have raised on the position of the Cabin Light in the Ignis. There is very less light that comes to the rear seat. I tried sticking aftermarket battery based puck lights to the roof and it kept falling down. Finally did a workaround and I have tied the same puck light to the rear grab handle :D Will post some pics when I get time.

Congratulations on the car sir and many happy returns of the day :)!

The ignis makes a very compelling case for itself. It's only the price which has made it's positioning a confusion. The Alpha AMT is priced dangerously close to the Baleno CVT (Delta/Zeta CVT) and for that price a CVT is anyday better over the AMT. I'm still looking for a replacement for my Nano in that budget and I'm considering the Grand i10 at the moment purely for the torque converter gearbox but your review and @vsrivathsa sir's reviews are making me consider even AMTs too. Let's see which car occupies this space.

Hope you wouldn't mind me bugging you over the smallest of the smallest queries :),

Varun

Thanks @vsrivatsa. It was a short and good search. And we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of TDs.

@varun_hexaguy - most welcome. TD the Ignis. i10 automatic being a traditional auto box is better to drive than an AMT. It's the initial price and fuel costs that made me go away. Ignis made that refreshing entry. As I mentioned, if you are ok with a bit of jerk from D-2 to D-3, it gives you perfect package. Rest all I have tried to cover in review.