Maruti Suzuki Ignis Long Term Report: May 2017

Take it Easy

Humidity levels are past 93 per cent and I am perspiring like crazy. But I don’t care, I’m 18 years old now and I have just got my driver’s licence! As I pilot our Maruti Suzuki Gypsy home, I am all gung-ho about life. Do I care that I do not have air conditioning? Nope. Do I care that I don’t have power steering? Not a chance!

Sigh. It’s been 10 years since those rose coloured days, God I feel old! Anyway, as autoX aficionados will know, in sync with the times I am currently driving Maruti Suzuki’s latest car in town, the Ignis. Designed to appeal to us Millennials (ha, I feel young again!), this car has it all in terms of satellite navigation, reverseing camera, voice activated stereo and more. But today I want to talk at a more basic level. Almost all cars today come with power steering and air conditioning. But for the Ignis, Maruti Suzuki has really worked on fine tuning these basics to make them perfect for their latest urban car.

Having driven this car for a while now I cannot stress just how much of a joy it is to drive around in this hatchback. The steering is wonderfully light and so easy to twirl that manoeuvring this car around town is an absolute breeze. In fact I like the manners of the Ignis so much that I would have to say that driving a car around town has never been as easy. Making things even better, I am happy to report that the system has been well weighed to give you a direct feel right from moderate up to high speeds. The Ignis never feels imbalanced or underconfident around high speed bends. Being an electric system feedback isn’t great, but it’s not completely lacking now.

Moving on, the mercury has soared way past the 40°C mark with the heat wave kicking in but I still have to keep the knob out of the blue section on the HVAC unit of our Alpha trim Ignis. Even slightly into the blue zone and it absolutely chills the cabin.

However, constant use of the air conditioning albeit at low temperatures has seen the car’s efficiency drop from last time’s 18.31 km/l to 16.17 km/l in the city. Still very good I would say for a petrol car.

I have also noticed that at low speeds, the automatic transmission is tuned to use engine braking a fair bit to assist braking while slowing down. Something that comes in very handy as it puts less strain on the brakes. Very thoughtful! Little things like this, they go a long way.