Maruti Suzuki Ignis – evo fleet

If there is one guy in the evo India team that has taken to the Nexa brand most welcomingly, it would be me. My last two cars came from the Nexa umbrella and with the Ignis I am continuining with the new and upmarket Maruti arm.
I literally stay at the other end of the city and the commute to and from office is 34 kilometres of city driving daily. It may not seem like much for someone from Delhi or Mumbai but in Pune where there are no highways inside the town, the time taken is excruciatingly long. It takes me about 75 minutes to get to work on a good day, and the time spent at traffic signals amounts to about half of it if luck isn’t on my side and I see reds all day. A stick shift then is a headache and that’s why we asked for the automatic Ignis that lets my left foot rest peacefully.

I’m not getting any younger so it’s good to be behind the wheel of such a funky and youthful car. The Ignis we got however is the mid-spec AMT variant that doesn’t come with the touchscreen infotainment and I am reduced to using buttons now. Forgive me for complaining, but once spoilt by the S-Cross and Baleno, going back is tough. But I’m told Maruti Suzuki will offer a fully loaded AMT variant in the future, just like they did with the Baleno. This car doesn’t get the reverse parking camera too, and that’s something I miss every day when I park around my house.
The good bit however is the convenience. It has a smaller footprint and the Ignis feels quicker off the line and handles better. It suffers from the characteristics of the AMT gearbox, particularly the head toss when power is cut momentarily as the ’box shifts gears. To counter that I started driving it harder and holding on to gears longer and that obviously led to higher fuel consumption than the petrol Baleno (which has the same engine) I was driving before this. And then my colleagues suggested using it in manual mode which, turns out, is quite a bit of fun. The Ed also taught me how to shift seamlessly with an AMT gearbox. Basically you lift off the throttle ever so slightly when it has to shift gears and that kills the head toss completely, making it shift like a proper automatic. My commutes are now jerk free while consuming less fuel!

My dog Genny doesn’t care about human problems like fuel efficiency though. She likes the high set rear seat and loves jumping into the boot. The Ignis is more her age than mine, and her joy at hopping on for a roadtrip makes me like this Ignis even more.

Date acquired: March 2017
Duration of test: 1 month
Total mileage: 1155km
Mileage this month: 150km
Overall kmpl: 12kmpl
Costs this month: Nil