Modifying my Maruti Ignis: Wheels, suspension & other aesthetic changes

The Ignis replaces my Polo GT TDI, because of the 10-year-old diesel ban in Delhi.

BHPian Intelsingh recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Prologue:

I owned a GT TDI 1.6. Absolutely loved the car, and pampered it all these years. This vehicle got me into the world of modifications, as it was running a Quantum Red Map, KSM intercooler and a BMC stock replacement filter inside the engine bay. In the 8 years that this car was with me, it had seen Brembo rotors and pads, and later I moved to EBC Green Stuff with stock rotors.

The car had a 3-way active music system. The car was nothing but smiles, as these years were absolutely niggle free and smile-inducing every time I got into the car.

As all things must come to an end, living in NCR with the 10-year diesel ban - it was time to move on.

The Year 2022:

In February, I got an offer for the Polo and chose to move on. With 1,47,000 on the odometer, I still had a decent offer and hence, I jumped the gun.

The important question was which car can replace my 145 BHP, 350 Nm torque German Monster?

As I prefer hatchbacks and wanted to keep it under 15L - The answer was clear. No car could be a worthy replacement!

So, I had to look for a car, that I could tinker with, and modify such that it gave me the joy to drive and tinker with.

The Choices:

• Buy the 1.0L Polo
• Honda Jazz
• i20 N Line
• Anything from the Suzuki Stable with the 1.2L Engine.

Of the above-mentioned, The i20 N Line was a dream to drive. Loved nearly everything in the car. Why did I not buy it? For starters, there was no manual. Then the car was too refined, it would have been blasphemous to tinker with things, upgrade the music etc. Owning a turbo car before- it felt easy to work within the power upgrades domain.

The Jazz was ruled out because of the infamous quality of things that Honda has been offering lately.

The 1.0L Polo would have not felt like a new car. Even if I opted for a Stage 2 Map, the torque would have made it feel sluggish; and the newer stable just felt a bit poor in quality, compared to what I owned- so why complain later?

From the Suzuki stable, Ignis seemed quirky enough to meet my tastes. All of the 1.2L cars felt more spacious than the Polo any which way! Then there was this whole enigma of tinkering with a Naturally Aspirated Engine- as the future would offer everything turbo and/or hybrid.

Jumping the gun:

Filled up the enquiry form on the Nexa website, and woke up the next day to a barrage of incoming calls for test drives. Prem Motors, Gurgaon had the most impressive staff (The rest reminded me of the disinterested Maruti sales team of the years gone by). There wasn't much to register in the test drive itself, as the car felt like any other Japanese hatch available in the country. Since I had plans to tinker with it anyways, I chose the Sigma variant as that was the only vehicle with all-black interiors. The compromise was made with Rear Power windows and adjustable ORVMS, which didn't matter much to me. Prem Motors also offered me the best deal from the rest of the flock, so the car was booked, and I waited for my funds to clear, and for my daughter to finalize the colour!

In the meantime, I started calling people to go ahead with the procurement of modification parts.

Pahiya 4x4 helped me get a set of OZ racing wheels with Continental UC6 195/60/15 and a Momo gear knob with Sparco replica pedals.

Till now I had plans to go ahead with the Music System from my Polo. So my pre-purchase shopping was done!

Taking Delivery:

March 17th, 2022 I woke up to a message stating that my account has money! I call up Rahul Paliwal from Pem Motors, telling him about the fact that I am ready to take delivery. I immediately transferred the pending amount and was assured delivery the same day.

Special shoutout to the team at Prem Motors to get the car ready for delivery when they were open for a half day as it was Holi. I was especially impressed with the fact that they got my car ready, and ordered a cake with my daughter's name. That's some good customer service. I was done with all the formalities and on the road by 1 pm.

The reason for me buying this car was the motor and the quirky design. What this car lacks in speed is complemented by the small footprint that makes it super nimble on the road. With speed cameras nearly everywhere in NCR, I realized that my commute still takes the same time as in my Polo. What this car lacks in acceleration is complimented by its manoeuvrability. I personally like the spartan interiors, as a rear parking sensor, and lane changing indicators provided by the factory do suffice my needs. The AC works like a charm while the boot space, though not so relevant for me feels like an upgrade from the Polo.

Dislikes:

The major sore point of this car is its suspension. In the city, the suspension feels quite adequate. Problems begin the moment you hit a speed breaker, that's when the rear of the car tends to jump and land with a thud! This may be avoided at single-digit speeds, or else the rear suspension reminds me of leaf springs. The added quirk to this suspension is that the moment you egress from the vehicle and shut the door- the car seems to vibrate a bit.

Thanks to this suspension, on some roads you can hit 90kmph and the car drives like magic; while on some roads, crossing 50kmph will make you nervous with its weird body roll on steroids kind of dynamics.

Hit some potholes, and the rear passengers are going to curse you, even at speeds as low as 20kmph.

Something else worth noting is that this is a narrow car, so if two people with medium to heavy build occupy the front seats, it may feel cramped while you are changing gears.

Tinkering and getting to know the car:

Post Delivery, it was time for me to understand the car, its maintenance, fluids needed, aesthetic changes, and music. The first order of business was to get rid of the chrome on the bumper, as it felt like a major eye sore.

Though this car shares its engine with the Old generation Swift, with the new BS6 norms, I was unsure of what engine oil to flush out the company oil with. Since the Suzuki K Series VVT engine can have either 5W30 or 0W20. I started by searching for synthetic variants of both. Got my hands on Motul 8100 X Clean 8100+ 5W30 and decided to give it a try. Purchased Motylgear 75W80 for the gearbox.

Flushed out the company engine oil and replaced it at 2885kms on the odometer. Before, my car was giving me a mileage of 14.7 km/l in city drives, which dropped to 14.5 km/l. Whether this was the oil change or the heat- I have no idea! Did not replace the gear oil at this point as the rain Gods seemed to be looming over NCR.

What was decided was the roof wrap though.

Car Audio and German Cars came into my life at the same time. Switching over to a Japanese Manufacturer made me understand the need for car dampening. This got me into a spiral of enquiries to the doorstep of audio installers which gave me bouts of acidity. The prices were vague. Most of them were non-committal when it came to either a quote regarding the scope of work or the timelines.

Here is me enjoying the bare-bones interiors

Enter Sundown Audio! (drumroll please)

I had interacted with Anubhav Gupta of Hype Audio(Sundown Audio dealers in India) in the past, this man gave me nothing but genuine advice. As I was sharing my frustration with him- I happened to hear one of his setups and was blown away by the clarity. Thus I tried my hands on audio installation for the first time, since Hype Audio does only Competition Installs. Thanks to Anubhav, I got all the parts needed to get working. My free time was filled with the audio built in my driveway.

The above sights were a norm as I would dismantle a certain section of the car in my free time till the audio setup was complete. Another interesting observation as I completed the setup was that the doors felt more solid with the dampening, and the car became silent- and, surprisingly, with the amps and the subwoofer- the rear of the car felt lowered. The springs seemed to be sagging with the weight of the music hardware.

Before this car, a remap would have been my first go-to. With the Ignis, I realized that the suspension is the weakest link. What would performance upgrades serve, if the car feels wobbly at normal speeds on certain roads?

The rest of the things that are there, are all quite impressive - hats off to Nexa Experience. The car is well-packed, feels sturdy, and even the service experience is extremely professional. From the moment the car would be attended to by a service rep to the time of final delivery: the whole thing works like a well-oiled machine. In the first check-up at 5000 kms, I was expecting to be billed for some random miscellaneous bits or an oil top-up. Nothing of that sort happened- though they cleaned all the filters, tightened all the bolts, and even checked bits that I don't have a working vocabulary for. I did opt for both Air and Cabin Filter changes personally. (Chargeable of course)

By the first week of November, my car had reached its 10k mark; and once again I take it to the Service Center. The well-spoken staff was still there, and most of them remembered bits from my previous visit. This again speaks volumes of the kind of training Nexa employees to get. To add to the smiles, I see that Nexa is really working on having a bunch of gadgets that car owners might use offered under their roof, and come with a company-provided warranty. Now, for a car charger or any other small item, I don't fret over which accessory store to go to, as I know a visit to the service centre will take care of it. The 10000 Kms Service is the last of "free labour" services. The hit to my pocket was around 2500INR (Oil change with the oil filter and misc. and a cabin filter with other liquids topped up)

Continue to read BHPian Intelsingh's Maruti Ignis modifications for more insights and information.