Brought home my Maruti Ignis Zeta AMT: Initial impressions

The MID has been throwing up fuel efficiency figures in the region of around 12-15 kml in the city depending on driving style.

BHPian vishy76 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

We recently traded in our 2017 Renault Kwid AMT for a Maruti Ignis Zeta AMT. I would love to write a detailed ownership review with a dedicated thread, but I don’t think I can do justice to my standards at the moment. I will keep this one short and to the point.

What I liked:

• Funky styling inside-out is a breath of fresh air for a Maruti Suzuki
• Well equipped for the price it demands in today’s market. Power folding & adjustable ORVMs, 15 inch alloys, rear wash and wipe with defogger, touchscreen infotainment with AA and AC, steering mounted audio controls, and the likes
• 1.2 VVT is a gem of a motor. One of the best in the business when it comes to small capacity naturally aspirated motors
• Quite a tight handler by Maruti standards. Stiffly set suspension helps high speed stability, and steering calibration is largely on point too
• Good interior packaging. More than enough space in general with a fairly spacious boot (260L)
• Maruti Suzuki’s hassle-free ownership experience with more than enough service centres pan India

What I didn’t like:

• Rear end is still a love it or hate it proposition. Very polarising
• AMT is one of the better ones out there, but can’t match a CVT or torque converter
• Overall build quality is above average. No safety rating like the Tiago/Jazz/Kiger/Magnite
• Stiff ride might not go down well with the conservative folks. Can throw rear passengers around a fair bit at higher speeds
• Long term reliability of the AMT is something that remains to be seen. Though Maruti has the most experience in making these now

The total on-road price for the Zeta AMT here in Vadodara came to 8.15L. Got around 22K worth of accessories free, such as roof rails, window visors, mud flaps, mats and a reverse camera (it’s unfortunately a bumper mounted cam, so I have asked them to refrain from installing it for now)

Exteriors:

• Very funky and un-maruti like. I absolutely love them though. They give the car a distinct identity.

• The front is the best angle to view the car from in my opinion. The new toothed grille, the clamshell like bonnet, the revised fog lamp enclosures and the large headlamps look swell. The halogen units look vanilla though. I would love to retrofit the Alpha’s LED projector units later

• The side profile looks nice too with the black cladding and the heavily flared wheel arches adding some character. Having said that, the abruptly ending rear does look odd. Special mention to the 15 inch rims. Maruti usually undertyres cars in the interest of fuel economy. No such foolishness here. The black rims look outstanding, but are going to be a pain to keep clean. Additionally, I also foresee lots of chips around the lug nut holes. Will have to get them repainted at some point in time for sure

• The rear is where things start to go downhill. The tail lamps look dated. The odd hatch design is off putting and the large plastic insert at the bottom half of the bumper looks odd (it’s a lot less conspicuous on the facelift though, now that is has been painted silver)

Interiors:

• The funky theme continues on the inside too. The centre mounted infotainment dominates here. While the protruding bezel gels well with the touchscreen infotainment on the Zeta and Alpha variants, it looks horrendous on the Delta variant which doesn’t get a touchscreen

• Overall plastic quality is good in some areas, acceptable in others and bad in a few rare cases. Majority of the plastics on the dash and doorpads are of good quality. However, the trademark maruti suzuki power window switch console, and the AMT gear lever which looks like it belongs to an econobox entry level hatch (which it does) are the biggest sore points in my opinion.

• The steering is the standard Maruti unit seen on most economy hatches. I would have preferred the round hornpad unit from the Ertiga or Swift here. This car is a departure from the conservative maruti designs after all

• The AC vents are small. A touch too small for my liking. Clear case of form over function here. They look old fashioned too on the Delta and Sigma variants without any chrome on the louvres. Another ergonomic sore point is that the centre right AC vent is placed too close to the steering. As a result, you will feel the cold blast of air on your palms directly sometimes

• The centre console looks odd with the manual HVAC controls. The console for the HVAC controls itself sticks out like a sore thumb. The outdated recirculation slider doesn’t help matters either

• Instrument cluster looks great. The needles rest at the 6 o clock position which gives it a sporty look. The MID is a comprehensive unit with a multitude of settings related to the info displayed and even the vehicle itself

• The infotainment system is par for the course. It has CANBUS integration with the car, which means it can throw up details like average FE, DTE and even warnings like fasten seatbelt and low fuel. Comes with the usual Android auto and Apple carplay as well. What I don’t like is the screen resolution. Seems to be on the lower side

• Special mention to the sound quality though. I was surprised to find the car gets 6 speakers. 1 on each door and a tweeter on each A-pillar. From a non-audiophile’s POV, I would give it a 8.5/10. I don’t find the need to upgrade at all

• Overall ergonomics are on point barring the lack of height adjustment for the driver’s chair. It seems the seat is set to the highest height by default. This is the only feature I miss on the Zeta

• Rear legroom is actually above average for a hatch of this size. What isn’t acceptable is the narrow width. Seating three abreast at the back will be a task. Another issue is the rear quarter glass has a weird wedge shaped intrusion. It massively cuts down visibility for the rear passengers

Performance, ride and handling

• Fire up the 1.2 VVT and the first thing you notice is the refinement! It’s dead silent at idle with zero vibrations. Switching the air con on does lead to very minor vibrations, but you really won’t notice until you go hunting for them

• Slot into D and the Ignis starts creeping at around 4-5 kmhr. Although this is a huge upgrade over my Kwid which never used to creep in the first place, the Ignis won’t creep even if there is a medium level gradient. The car will either stand still or roll back. Use the handbrake, build the revvs and move on. It’s unfortunate the S-presso gets hill hold but the “premium” Ignis doesn’t

• The AMT does an above average job in the city when driven with a light foot. Shifts from 1st to 2nd are instantly noticeable with succeeding gearshifts being far smoother in comparison.

• A minor irritant with this AMT (common complaint with many others) is the fact that it holds 2nd gear whole going over speed breakers at 7-10 kmhr. When you put your foot down, the AMT slips the clutch liberally and gets off the line. This is going to have a detrimental effect on clutch life if you drive with a heavy foot and build the revvs when taking off after a speedbreaker.

• Drive spiritedly and the AMT will show it’s mediocre side. The gearbox logic is actually well programmed. It knew exactly when to hold the revvs and by how much depending on my driving style.

• Unfortunately, the gearbox is limited by the technology of its hardware. Shifts are slow and you will feel them always. Manual mode will help prepare the car for overtakes. One ergonomic flaw is that the manual mode orientation on the gearlever is opposite to what logic dictates. Push the lever downwards for an upshift and upwards for a downshift.

• Coming to the 1.2 VVT, I have only one word for it. Excellent! I would buy the Ignis again for this engine alone. The K12B is a jewel of an engine. It is arguably one of the best small capacity NA engines this country has seen.

• Low end is average at best. The AMT masks it to a huge extent, though you will feel it in the manual

• Mid range (2500-5000rpm) is where the motor starts coming into its stride. There’s a very sweet thrum audible inside the cabin as the engine goes up the revv range. Power delivery is strong yet linear.

• Top end is also surprisingly good. The engine revvs hungrily to 6200-6300rpm, post which it feels as if you have hit a wall. There’s a strong jerk as the ECM abruptly cuts of fuelling. Shame since I feel the K12B can easily max out at 6500-6700rpm. Needless to mention, the engine sounds surprisingly good even at the top of the revv band. It’s never boomy or raspy like most of its competitors. Has an extremely likeable note.

• The MID has been throwing up FE figures in the region of around 12-15 kml in the city depending on driving style. I would say a figure of 13-14 kml should be easily achievable even if you don’t aim for FE alone and just drive sanely.

• Ride and handling is again very un-maruti like. The overall suspension setup is on the stiffer side.

• At lower speeds, you will feel the underlying stiffness as the car goes over sharp bumps and potholes

• As speeds rise, the ride at the front does get a lot better, but the rear remains bouncy. Passengers will get thrown around a lot as the car goes over bumps and potholes

• The steering is tuned quite well. The issue where the EPS wouldn’t return to centre after making a U-turn seems to have been largely sorted. The EPS also weighs up surprisingly well, though one is always well aware of the fact that it’s artificial weight and there’s no real feedback from it

Conclusion:

I would want to conclude this short review by answering a very simple question: Would I pick the Ignis AMT again? No. Would I pick the Ignis again? Absolutely yes. The AMT was an indispensable option since the car is used by my mom, but if I had to buy an Ignis myself, I would get the manual. The slick shifting 5-speed manual with the short throws and the light clutch would be icing on the cake paired to the already capable 1.2 VVT.

The Ignis is the dark horse of the MSIL stable. It joins an elite rack of cars (which the S-cross was formerly a part of), which are fairly well made, do most things well and offer great value for money in today’s market where car prices have gone bonkers.

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