Suzuki Ignis Sport

[Baryonyx]

They are neat little cars, if you can find a decent one. As has been said, they're fairly rare. I looked at buying one when I got my Focus, as the garage had one in, a nice looking black model with white wheels and some cool Recaro seats. It wasn't quite as good to drive, as it'd obviously enjoying a regular thrashing across the miles on it's clock but I did get the sense that a well looked after example would be a fantastic little car. The only small problem I had with it was the high roof, it could have been somewhat squatter and more streamlined.

I regularly see one on my way to work, but it's a shameful example; with black Halfraud wheels, cheap seat covers and other assorted tat strewn about it. Overall though, what a neat little car - the spiritual successor to the Suzuki Swift Sport in a way!

[LeeThr]

A friend of mine is now on his 4th one. (He smasheds the first 3 D'oh!) Still he still loves them and cant think of anything to replace it with. But at least he has a good supply of spares.

[C2james]

There's a really nice red one for sale in the classifieds at the moment for £3000, wish I hadn't just started a new insurance policy on my car.

[GenePoolReject13]

I would be looking around the £2k mark as I think I could sell the puma for about that. I have seen some nice, low milage examples for around that though. I've heard they like 98 octane fuel? is this true? can normal 95 be used with out killing it? if so will it affect performance noticably?

Wow alot of question haha. Sorry to keep going on and on but just need it to be an amazing little car if I'm going to swap the puma for one. So please, feel free to post up your experiance with these if you have not already done so.

[Loppin McPhee]

I have one (called Iggy) - love it. Most fun car I've owned. Does encourage hooligan driving!

98 ron used, only ever get at the most 250 miles per tank (all urban driving).
Didn't pull cleanly through the range on 95. 98 much better.

Hate it on the motorways.

A bit bumpy and crashy over the speedbumps, especially for anyone in the back.

If sounds are important to you, standard JVC stereo jumps when you hit a bump while listening to CD, so upgrade to solid state (SD or USB). Speakers small, and probably difficult to get a "reasonable" sound.

Happily gets two kids in the back. Front Recaros struggle to fit a childs seat in as they foul on the bolsters.

Has air-con, which is nice.

[csampo]

I've got one and will echo what's already been said here. It's a great little backroad car, just fast enough to have a bit of fun in and while the damping is harsh at low speeds it feels increasingly composed as you push on. With a good set of tyres on the front (I'm using T1R's) it has a decently sharp turn in and can be balanced on the throttle nicely, although there isn't a great deal of feel through the wheel. Throttle response is good and the close ratio box is pretty slick, together they make heel and toe dead easy. Unlike many modern cars you can have a lot of fun in it at legalish speeds as it feels like it's going a lot faster than it is and the limtis of grip are lower than most modern due to the thin tyres.

On the motorway it is (just) OK at 70, fuel economy drops right off if you go above this and it gets very noisy so I stick to 70 which is a good thing I guess! I get 40 mpg out of mine - the economy isn't bad around town because it is so light (~1000kg wet). It doesn't like 95 RON, just suck it up and use 98. The old school 80's style Recaro's are actually pretty comfortable. Parts are expensive for the type of car but mine has been pretty reliable. Speakers are 4" coaxials and can be replaced fairly easily but there isn't really any room to put bigger ones in so the sound is never going to be great without spending serious money. There is loads of space in the back when the seats are folded down as the wheel arches don't protrude into the cabin so it feels like a little van - very handy.

All together a great little town/b-road car. If you're doing lots of long motorway journeys look elsewhere but otherwise I reckon it's a great choice at £2-3k

Edited by csampo on Sunday 27th February 12:41

[C2james]

Here's a very nice one which I really want now.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2463405.htm

[wifiwupding]

I've got one as well, I get around 250 miles per tank on V-Power but I boot it everywhere so id expect you'd be able to get 300 miles per tank if you drove like a granny, its hard to change gear smoothly sometimes I've noticed the revs rise and fall much quicker when using V-Power compared to your standard 95 fuels so this is a factor along with its weight also the clutch uses a cable and although there's not much body roll through corners it does pitch quite a lot under braking

here's mine it looks good but its not that good an example I wasn't planning on buying an Ignis but there's a garage not far from where I live so I thought id have a look at it I took it for a test drive and I ended up buying it straight away, I might get rid of it a buy one that's been better looked after

Edited by wifiwupding on Sunday 27th February 14:10

[wifiwupding]

C2james said:

Here's a very nice one which I really want now.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2463405.htm

thats not the standard exhaust it looks like the one off the standard ignis 1.5

[C2james]

Oh yeah I didn't notice that, it still looks quite nice though.

[GenePoolReject13]

I'm tempted but abit unsure about having to fill it with 98 Ron, that would rule it out in terms of economy unless it's alot cheaper in insurance. But then again the puma is abit high maintenance in comparison to the Suzuki by the sounds of it.

Need to get a couple of things sorted before I sell the puma so gives me time to think.

[Jayho]

Its takes about 30-35L when I fill it up from the lights coming on, that gets me about 300 miles. Aint too shabby tbh. I do a mix of town/B Roads/DC. As said before, its great fun to drive, but is a bit crashy on uneven roads and at high speeds it is a bit noisy. There was a recall for driveshaft surclips I think. Servicing's never really needed more than the usual oil/filter change with any other car, only thing to point out is spark plugs. It uses special spark plugs, but if you get them yourself rather than go through a garage you can pick them up for a bit cheaper.

I use Vpower in mine, which runs fine, if I use normal fuels it seems to be just a bit upset and not run as smooth. I found using Vpower to be quite alright since I get enough miles out of it and get double Vpower clubcard points.

Could be the way I drive, but it chewed through a pair of Yokohoma's in about 10k miles.

I'm 21 with 3 years driving experience and 3 years NCB, paying £600 a year. Not too bad I guess.

Best thing to do is to go find one for a test drive taking more time on the DC/Motorway, to see if you can live with it.

Edited by Jayho on Sunday 27th February 17:48

[charliedaker]

wifiwupding said:

thats not the standard exhaust it looks like the one off the standard ignis 1.5

Its just missing the chrome cling on

[Jayho]

charliedaker said:

wifiwupding said:

thats not the standard exhaust it looks like the one off the standard ignis 1.5

Its just missing the chrome cling on

I think the standard Ignis Sport came with a Straight through stainless steel exhaust, which was specifically developed to optimize the car. I'm not 100% positive on this one as when I bought mine the previous owner had already fitted an aftermarket exhaust on it.

[YoungOne]

I have the Suzuki Swift Sport and if its anything like that you won't be disappointed on the fun factor.

Speaking of you can get a Swift Sport for about 6 grand now if you want something a bit newer and I should imagine more refined.

[Baryonyx]

As I said earlier, I reckon the Ignis Sport is the spiritual predecessor to the Swift Sport, both capturing a very old-skool hot hatch vibe. I'd favour the Swift as the better car though, and probably my favourite car in that class today.

[YoungOne]

If you come to the Sunday Service in March you can have a look at mine

[GenePoolReject13]

YoungOne said:

I have the Suzuki Swift Sport and if its anything like that you won't be disappointed on the fun factor.

Speaking of you can get a Swift Sport for about 6 grand now if you want something a bit newer and I should imagine more refined.

Would love one but thats double my budget. Looking for cheap thrills really, the puma was cheap to buy and is fun to drive but drinks even when driving like a granny and prone to rust. Also the brakes are pants. The IS seems like the almost perfect alternative, better on fuel and better brakes, jap reliabillity and a lower insurance group. Harsh ride I'm ok with and the puma aint exactly quite on the motorway either. Oh and dials lit in blue light, yum. Shall sort out some bits on the puma then wait for a good one at the right price.

There is only one close by (close to work atleast) but it has aftermarket wheels on it. The wrong example for my first test drive I think. Also, the misses wants a yellow one!

[ctdctd]

Had mine for 6.5 years and from 1000 to 62000 miles.

Air-con has a leak so is bust and I had the exhaust replaced when a bracket rusted through a couple of years ago. No other problems even though it's not looked after.

Drive sensibly and you get 40 and a bit MPG
Keep the revs above when the VVT kicks in at 4000RPM and you don't - but that is when it's fun.

Ride is a bit harsh and you need a better stereo to hear it above 70MPH.

It goes fast enough for my ability so I'll be keeping it for a while yet.

HTH

[YoungOne]

Sounds about right for your needs. I wouldn't worry too much about aftermarket alloys especially if they are in good nick, it means the owner cares enough about their car to look after it.
Now lowered springs is a different matter...