Suzuki Ignis review - Interior, design and technology

Key to the Suzuki Ignis’ appeal is its styling. Unlike the boxy old Ignis, today’s model brings a fresh and distinctive approach to small car design, ushering in a crossover-style look that stands out next to rivals. 

From the front, the Ignis looks narrow and has a bold bumper and grille design, surrounded by a chrome strip and with U-shaped LED running lights on higher spec models. Side-on, you start to see the crossover influences in the stretched wheelarches and body cladding although, interestingly, you need to choose SZ-T models and above to receive those and roof rails. Several different colours for the roof can also be selected.

The rear is where the retro influences lie, with the steeply raked window line and slits in the C-Pillars designed to hark back to Suzuki’s ‘Whizzkid’ city car of the 1970s. It’s easy to see why Suzuki positions this as the emotional offering compared to the dull-looking Celerio.

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The inside is far more conventional, but still more stylish than many city car interiors. The two-tone effect for the upper and lower dash brightens things up, as does the body coloured door pulls and centre console plastic. The central screen juts out from the top of the dash, yet the graphics are dated and that lets things down a bit.

Another problem is the materials used. You can tell where Suzuki has made weight savings, particularly with the tinny-feeling doors, but this is forgivable given the price and kerbweight. All of the cabin plastics are hard and scratchy, and the seats aren’t very supportive – a number of rivals feel more grown-up inside. It’s all solidly put together, though, and mostly feels built to last.

There’s no arguing with the sheer amount of kit on offer. Base models are slightly more expensive than other entry-level city cars, yet few offer the same level of equipment as the Ignis for under £10k. Top-spec models are even better value, offering an almost executive car level of kit. 

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

The first UK examples of the Ignis came with a fiddly aftermarket Pioneer infotainment system, but Suzuki’s bosses ensure us that customer models will come with the same seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system as the Baleno. It’s feature-packed, with a DAB radio on all models and sat-nav on mid-spec trims and above. There’s also Bluetooth connectivity, USB and Aux ports, although there’s no CD player.

Unfortunately, it’s not the easiest screen to use. It often takes a couple of prods to respond to your inputs, while the graphics are low-res and a bit cheap looking. The volume slider on the side of the screen isn’t very user-friendly either.

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