In fact, the Ignis is a cute automotive to drive. The tiny footprint means you’re taking a line by each bend, which is novel, satisfying and a bit old-school. The lightness means you could possibly chuck it about with out fearing any heavy-car, slow-recovery penalties – though none are possible anyway, as a result of it’s a neat, impartial handler with loads of grip. Regardless of the excessive seating, the Ignis loves roundabouts and incorporates its physique roll nicely. I by no means actually felt the restrict, but it surely out-handled some fairly big-note automobiles even so.
The engine is kind of puny – simply 80bhp from 1.2 litres – so the helping built-in starter-generator has an necessary function. Besides, the Ignis is way from fast. If you wish to go briskly, you should often garner efficiency from the opposite facet of 5000rpm (redline is 6500rpm) and use the sweet-shifting five-speed guide gearbox on a regular basis. It’s enjoyable, however you’ve nonetheless obtained to know that you’ll often be shut down by impatient individuals in premium German saloons as quickly because the highway goes straight for greater than 50 yards.
Suzuki calls the Ignis a metropolis automotive, however I ended up doing one thing like 4500 miles in three months, many on satisfying B-roads taken as briskly as was snug for the automotive, and fairly a number of on motorways. The trip is respectable, too: not too agency and however nicely damped, though hardly subtle.
My most notable lengthy haul was a 400-mile Cotswolds-to-Cornwall return sprint to see Neil Yates, the bloke who’s cooking up EV chassis methods for low-volume purposes in his lair beside Newquay Airport. I set off round 6am, cruised at empty-motorway speeds and returned 50mpg (my very own measurement, not that of the journey laptop, which fibs a bit). After I stopped for gasoline or consolation, the embarrassment, if that’s the proper phrase, was by no means seeming to want so as to add greater than 15-18 litres to a tank that holds simply 30 to begin with however which nonetheless permits a cruising vary of 280-odd miles. The seats are fairly flat, however their sit-up-and-beg positioning makes them as snug as a lot pricier automobiles for as much as three hours at a time.
