Why we got a Maruti Suzuki Ignis after driving a Polo for 7 years

Changing the perspective to scale, Ignis turns out to be just that car (for me and probably for you). Hence the post title says, Ignis: the best a man can get.

BHPian omranga98 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Not too long ago, our prestigious founder, GTO had posted about law of diminishing marginal utility. He mentioned how after a certain amount of price, the satisfaction level has a downward slope. If my memory serves me right, he mentioned how a Rs. 50 L car offers similar level of satisfaction as a car priced much higher.

This Idea stuck to me. Changing the perspective to scale, Ignis turns out to be just that car (for me and probably for you). Hence the post title says, Ignis: the best a man can get. Now I bet you are wondering why/how? Hence here is this post.

My Maruti Suzuki Ignis 1.2 Delta in Grey. It completes 2 years today and the ODO stands proudly at 13912 Km.

Time surely flies, been driving this beast for two years but never came around to post about it! But it is never too late.

Why and how I bought Ignis

I had a lovely VW Polo 1.5 TDI Highline that served me right for 7 years and 68000 Kms. Till one day, it did not anymore. About 5 ABS sensor change, a couple of clutches replaced, suspension overhaul, steering rack changed, the Polo finally had an injector failure on the 7th year mark.

The timing could not be worse, it happened during a week when i really needed my car. So i pick up my phone and start dialing Hyundai, Honda, Tata and Maruti showroom asking them which car was available immediately. Hyundai had i10 Nios, Tata had something else, but when Maruti said they had an Ignis Delta in Grey that could be picked up next morning, I was hooked.

I took the Polo to the showroom, they gave me a fantastic exchange value plus I got really good discounts on Ignis. Right there, in about 30 mins, the deal was done. No test drive, no anything.

Next morning the car was delivered to my house and i was in LOVE!

The fact that this buying experience was at par as buying a fridge from a store, it was perfect.

Pros

• Looks great
• Lightweight car means it is easy to drive and live with.
• Very fuel efficient.
• Bulging fenders make it look like it means business.
• Spacious interior. Far better than Polo.
• Great headroom and bootspace.
• Quick enough for city use.
• Cheap to live with.
• Good ground clearance means it can travel over bad roads with ease and wade through 1.5 foot of water with ease.
• Comfortable car.

Cons

• Rear seats do not recline.
• Headlights are good but not great.
• Tyre is not good. Needs A/T tyre to make the best use of the capability of the car.
• Does not have leather seats.
• Does not have sunroof.
• Not turbocharged.
• Only 2 Airbags, at this price, we should get at least 6.

The cons were difficult to write but there are so few of them.

Driving Feel

The car is fast enough for city use. Gears have good throw, the suspension is soft and supple for bad roads, body roll is limited for a tall car like this. Steering is light, brakes are responsive and good enough, clutch is light and linear. Much better than Polo.

Fuel Economy

 It takes skill to actually get below 12 kmpl. The car is so fuel efficient that it does 1/3 of the petrol pump visits compared to my other car.

Drive with a light foot and you will be doing upwards to 16-18 kmpl with ease.

Is it SUV?

 People joke about how Ignis is not an SUV and a hatchback. But if you remember, Maruti Suzuki had their first AD stating that Ignis was an SUV.

So what is it? it is complicated.

SUVs stands for Sports Utility Vehicle, Ignis has the sportiness, has a utilitarian touch to it, and it is a vehicle.

Just that it is does not have 4x4 or is not big in size.

Ignis also has good suspension travel. You will never find a situation where any wheel is in the air. Be it mall parkings or tall speed breakers.

Some interesting findings of the car.

If you open any door, the screen near the speedometer shows a top down view of IGNIS! The attention to detail here is great. You can notice that it shows exactly which door is open and also the Adidas (3 strip) lines.

 The car has good silver skid plates

Here it is in rear: Notice how it gets 4 parking sensors compared to 3 offered in VW Taigun. A car priced at 4x of this.

No rear wiper, no problem. 

The rear windshield has a slanting design and the overall design is very nice. Water rolls off and rear wiper is never missed. Shape is very practical for carrying things in car.

Notice the Adidas like logo embossed on the car.

I think it is for aero, maybe a secret design that helps the car become so fuel efficient.

Same strips are inside the car for some reason. I do not mind.

Notice how the fenders bulge out. Giving it a squatting stance. Love it!

Secret Menu

If you hold the INFO button placed on either the steering wheel or on the dash (Yes, the same button with same function is placed twice, about 6 inches apart). It opens a secret menu where you can toggle various hidden features. Meanwhile for VW you need an OBD port and computer with software to unlock these.

A/c vent with honeycomb

Good design, easy to operate. The vent inside has additional honeycomb grill. Looks very good. Reminds me of Lamborghini Aventador.

In a world full of screens, be a button

Practical central control stack.

Fighter plane like switch

They add a bit of flare to use and feels tactile. Built to last.

Interior leather print

Ignis has mutiple leather print on the plastics in the inside.

The Dashboard top side which is black in colour has a regular animal leather emboss. Which we see in most cars.

While the lower side of dash and door panels which are white in colour have a stingray skin pattern embossed.

Great attention to detail. Make the cabin feel better.

Bad design bits 

Not everything is perfect. Ignis has bad design also.

Like this hole in the dash, i cannot keep anything here.

or this door handle which is never aligned with the lock switch.

Never aligned when it is locked:

or when it is unlocked:

For some reason the interior door handle is body coloured. Makes no sense.

I hope the pictures justify the points. The car is trouble free, easy on the pocket. 2 years have been a breeze. No issues, no headache. I simply love it.

I plan to mod the engine in the future, maybe add a turbocharger to it. The car comes with provision for heat escape vent on the side, which is currently fixed with a blank grill. It could be useful when i mod the engine.

Here is the vent.

I would love to talk about the car in this thread. If you have any question, please feel free to ask here. As GTO says, a PM helps 1 person, a post will help thousands.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.