Suzuki Ignis Sport
Discussion
Thought I would throw my car up here as I've been reading here for years now and loving the mix of supercars and super-cheap hatches all in one big melting pot.
Mine fits squarely into that second bracket, bought for £2450 a month ago, less than 5 years old and just clicked over to 70k. I considered the obvious 'warm' hatches, SportKa, Panda 100hp, C2 GT etc, but this just kept on ticking all the right boxes...
A very quick growth of very thick skin aside, it's an absolute riot. Just about quick enough to be fun on any road, yet understated enough to attract reasonable insurance premiums and nice low running costs. I'm using Tesco 97 (98ron recommended, but there is none around here) and getting 40mpg easily despite the engines unquenchable thirst for revs. Despite the looks (which I actually like) I'm struggling to constructively criticise it. All the boxes are ticked, supportive Recaros, lovely steering wheel and gear change, there is very little to dislike. Sure the ride is harder than any car I've ever experienced, but I'm assuming that's a necessity considering gravity isn't exactly on this things side.
An odd side effect I wasn't expecting - attention. I'm not aware of any £2k 04 platers that would ever generate as much discussion, love, abuse, banter and respect as this. I owned a 172 Cup before which generated 2 forecourt discussions in 2 years, I had that many in this after a week. Considering at least 1500 were built, it's an incredibly rare sight on the roads (I've not yet seen another) and a quick look through the Classifieds shows that most are on well below average miles. I've no idea what the 'average' Ignis Sport owner is, I just hope they are all having as much fun as me...
Mine fits squarely into that second bracket, bought for £2450 a month ago, less than 5 years old and just clicked over to 70k. I considered the obvious 'warm' hatches, SportKa, Panda 100hp, C2 GT etc, but this just kept on ticking all the right boxes...
A very quick growth of very thick skin aside, it's an absolute riot. Just about quick enough to be fun on any road, yet understated enough to attract reasonable insurance premiums and nice low running costs. I'm using Tesco 97 (98ron recommended, but there is none around here) and getting 40mpg easily despite the engines unquenchable thirst for revs. Despite the looks (which I actually like) I'm struggling to constructively criticise it. All the boxes are ticked, supportive Recaros, lovely steering wheel and gear change, there is very little to dislike. Sure the ride is harder than any car I've ever experienced, but I'm assuming that's a necessity considering gravity isn't exactly on this things side.
An odd side effect I wasn't expecting - attention. I'm not aware of any £2k 04 platers that would ever generate as much discussion, love, abuse, banter and respect as this. I owned a 172 Cup before which generated 2 forecourt discussions in 2 years, I had that many in this after a week. Considering at least 1500 were built, it's an incredibly rare sight on the roads (I've not yet seen another) and a quick look through the Classifieds shows that most are on well below average miles. I've no idea what the 'average' Ignis Sport owner is, I just hope they are all having as much fun as me...
Rotary Madness said:
A guy i know has one, drives it like he stole it, and it still keeps going. He even takes his offroading, dirt track rallying etc, it just goes everywhere, looks quite fun actually 
It does seem to be massively over-specced (the important bits, anyhow) so that doesn't surprise me. I'm assuming rally homologation was more important than profit, for a start the brakes would probably stop a car comfortably twice as heavy. The Nur said:
you went from a 172 cup to an ignis? How much slower in a straight line/round corners is the suz?
I can tell your having a whale of a time time with it, good luck to you sir
I had the Cup when I lived at home, bought a house a while back so needed something cheaper.I can tell your having a whale of a time time with it, good luck to you sir
It's slower in a straight line (8.5 instead of 6.5 to 60, I believe), but considering the height of the thing, feels remarkably planted in the twisties. It's definitely not quite as good as an out and out B road weapon, but it is as fun (if not more so) than the Cup. I wouldn't go back now, want to keep this for a few years at least.
_dobbo_ said:
My only criticism of the car was that it had no sound deadening to speak of, which got a bit tiresome on the motorway.
Putting a positive spin on that, it's genuinely light for a modern car, especially considering how well equipped it is. I've done a few lengthy motorway trips and you're right though, tiresome just about sums it up.Fruitcake said:
How easy is it to cock a wheel into the air?
That brought a smile to my face. I wonder where that question comes on the average persons checklist of what a car offers!Pretty easily, apparently, certainly a lot of photos around of them on 3 wheels. I've never actually noticed from the drivers seat though, never did in my Cup either despite pictures of me driving it 'tripod' style.
Fruitcake said:
Now you've whetted my appetite by confirming it'll corner on three wheels, what's the MPG like?
The tank is pretty small (41 litres) and the fuel light comes on early (10 litres remaining) so you feel like you're using more than you actually are, I'm so far averaging 280-300 miles between fill-ups but there is always at least 8-10 litres left. At most fill-ups I've worked it out at 40-42mpg quite comfortably, and I rarely go on long motorway runs.The central clock has average speed and length of time driving, there is no indicated MPG.
It seems a lot less frugal than it is, mainly because it has a smallish fuel tank (41l) and very, very conservative fuel light. As above I fill up at 280 miles usually, and I'm always quite shocked that there is a good 15l or so left despite the needle showing nearly empty. I run it on Tesco 97 (99 where possible) and genuinely haven't seen it drop under 35mpg or so, and that includes plenty of spirited driving and even more stop-start town traffic.
Anyhow, still going well after a few months, still love it. Picked up 5 spare OEM alloys (all virtually unused) for just over £100, which was a pleasant bargain. Most people go for wider wheels, but I'm loving the skinny tyre action so figured I would stick to the originals, very playful car.
Decided to keep it standard, been reading some in-depth technical gubbins I didn't really understand, and speaking to a few guys who race/rally them and they all say that without spending serious money on genuine Japanese Suzuki Motorsport parts or custom made stuff here in the UK, there is very little that can be done to improve it, the initial set-up was/is very very good and easy to mess up with cheap springs etc. Anti-roll bars have been the only consistent suggestion for noticeable differences, but I don't want to dampen the fun, even if that is at the expense of outright pace.
The only downside is speed-humps, the ride really is back-breaking over the ones on my way to work, even though I basically crawl over them. They never felt that bad in my Cup, but it's nothing a half-mile detour each morning hasn't fixed.
On a final note for now, I've seen one other in 3 months now (and that was at Rallyday, so understandable), for a £2.5k car it sure generates an awful lot of discussion with other petrol heads, most of whom know of them but have not actually seen any about.
It seems a lot less frugal than it is, mainly because it has a smallish fuel tank (41l) and very, very conservative fuel light. As above I fill up at 280 miles usually, and I'm always quite shocked that there is a good 15l or so left despite the needle showing nearly empty. I run it on Tesco 97 (99 where possible) and genuinely haven't seen it drop under 35mpg or so, and that includes plenty of spirited driving and even more stop-start town traffic.
Anyhow, still going well after a few months, still love it. Picked up 5 spare OEM alloys (all virtually unused) for just over £100, which was a pleasant bargain. Most people go for wider wheels, but I'm loving the skinny tyre action so figured I would stick to the originals, very playful car.
Decided to keep it standard, been reading some in-depth technical gubbins I didn't really understand, and speaking to a few guys who race/rally them and they all say that without spending serious money on genuine Japanese Suzuki Motorsport parts or custom made stuff here in the UK, there is very little that can be done to improve it, the initial set-up was/is very very good and easy to mess up with cheap springs etc. Anti-roll bars have been the only consistent suggestion for noticeable differences, but I don't want to dampen the fun, even if that is at the expense of outright pace.
The only downside is speed-humps, the ride really is back-breaking over the ones on my way to work, even though I basically crawl over them. They never felt that bad in my Cup, but it's nothing a half-mile detour each morning hasn't fixed.
On a final note for now, I've seen one other in 3 months now (and that was at Rallyday, so understandable), for a £2.5k car it sure generates an awful lot of discussion with other petrol heads, most of whom know of them but have not actually seen any about.
Edited by ukaskew on Wednesday 14th October 19:16
The section in the review about spin is interesting, noticed this quite bit accelerating out of corners etc even at relatively modest speeds and wondered what the hell was going on at first. Never felt like it was going to let go or give up, just an odd feeling to get used to as I've not experienced it any other car. Learned to moderate the throttle much better now, just never expected to need to in a 107bhp car! Also pleasantly surprised by the weight, I knew it was light, but 945kg is very light for such a car these days.
I love the skinny tyres though, shame that so few of them seem to remain on original wheels, it's part of the fun/charm in my opinion.
I love the skinny tyres though, shame that so few of them seem to remain on original wheels, it's part of the fun/charm in my opinion.
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