Chose the Maruti Ignis over the Tiago AMT: 10 quick observations

Small foot print and a small turning radius is a boon to park and navigate in the city.

BHPian mmshen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Driving Ignis from 2022. Have clocked about 29k on the Odo till date. To tell you the truth have fallen in love with the car!

The car has a refined 4 cylinder 1.2L engine which pulls. Car being relatively light weight makes the car peppy. A very useful feature to have in city traffic.

• The engine is very refined and silent in idle. I have mistaken it to be off a few times. Since our car is an AMT, we have to press the gas and keep it pressed while overtaking. When the car hits high RPMs the sound of the engines turns into a growl, which is music to my ears.
• On the highways, it holds its own. You can cruise comfortably at 80-100 kmph range. On good expressways, the car can maintain 110-120 kmph.
• I have made multiple 1000 km plus journeys in the past two years. Never faced any major problem. Have travelled from Bangalore - Kholapur - Goa - Bangalore within 3 days. About 1500 plus KM driven. No problem. Have travelled Bangalore - Mangalore - Goa - Mangalore - Bangalore in 4 days. No issues. Have made many Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore trips within one day. Have done Bangalore - Trichy - Bangalore in two days. Never had an issue.
• The seats are wide. More wide than the Ecosport. Makes it more comfortable.
• Riding height is not low nor high. It is adequate.
• The suspensions are not that good. But if you are a good driver who can detect the pot holes and avoid and slow down in time, this is not an issue.
• Steering does not auto-center. But you will get used to it. The steering is light, because the car itself is light. It gives sufficient feed back upto 100-110 kmph. Above this mark there is no feedback. But hey, this is a commuter car, not a racer. Most highways have a speed limit of 80-100 kmph. This will get you through.
• The ground clearance is also ok. Have not scrapped the bottom in this. Even with 4 passengers.
• AMT has been life changing coming from manual cars. I hated AMT the first time I drove. Shifting was not in my control, but has I piled on kms, it grew on me. I understood how it behaved, how I can control it. Yes, it is not as fast as shifting in Manual transmissions, but if you drive sedately, which you will do on long journey's, the rest it offers to your left legs and left hand is unparalleled. You will feel less tired.
• Small foot print and a small turning radius is a boon to park and navigate in the city. The length of the car is small. You can squeeze in tight spaces.
• Interior is spacious with 1 litre bottle holding capacity in all four doors. Paper holder in front door. Three cup holders. Two from front, one for rear. The dash is small. So this is my drawback of the interior. But visibility is good. Blind spots are very small. The boot is not very big, but adequate.
• The GNCAP for ignis is 1 star. Not the safest. But very reliable car. Maruthi's reliability is unquestionable.
• Service bill never exceeded 5k including oil change.

I personally have not driven the Tiago. But my brother who was in the market to get a car last year has. I accompanied him for test drive. He drove the car for a kilometer and was disappointed. His only cribbing was paying 8 lacs plus for an underpowered car. He very strongly felt that the car did not have the sufficient punch. May be the added weight of a sturdy car paired to a 3 cylinder 1.2L just did not cut it for him. But for whatever it was worth, my brother gave the Sales Rep his counter offer, never to be followed up by the Sales rep. May be they were not too interested to sell the car. But other wise, the car felt good. Only question is the reliability of TATA and the aftersales support which is still something TATA needs to improve on.

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