Overview

The Suzuki Ignis is a tiny SUV that happens to be one the best city cars you can buy in the UK today. It continues Suzuki’s long tradition of building small, quirky cars with a surprising level of competence off-road. But does this weirdness add up to a good car overall? Perhaps surprisingly, it really does.

By its size alone, the Ignis slots into the city car class, putting it into contention with some of the smallest and cleverest cars on the market. The Toyota Aygo X, Hyundai i10 and Fiat 500 all provide strong competition – but these are cars designed from the ground up to be the ultimate in smart city slicking. The Ignis has a broader range of ability.

Still, the Ignis doesn’t disappoint when it comes to traditional city car attributes such as interior practicality. It has a well-sized boot and its upright silhouette gives loads of passenger space for something so short. Plenty of glass and a minimalist interior also make it feel very bright and airy inside, which is something that can’t always be said about some of its rivals’ cramped, dark cabins.

Suzuki also offers the Ignis with two features you won’t find on any rival. The first is a hybrid system, although Suzuki has slightly oversold the powertrain in its marketing material.

Suzuki describes the Ignis as a self-charging hybrid system, but it’s actually a mild-hybrid. There’s no capacity for driving the car on electric power alone, with the additional electrification only being there to improve responsiveness, fuel economy and CO2 emissions. It’s still unique in the class, however, where most rivals have naturally-aspirated three-cylinder petrol engines that are about as sophisticated as a rock.

The other unique addition is Suzuki’s AllGrip all-wheel drive system. It doesn’t turn the Ignis into a Jimny-beating off-roader, but it does give it an additional level of capability that none of its contemporaries can match.

The Ignis underwent a mild facelift in 2020 which gave it a little more of the tough aesthetic the original car was aiming for. Chief among these tweaks was the addition of a Jeep-like five-bar radiator grille with slightly different bumpers front and rear. Then, in 2023, Suzuki introduced a new seven-year warranty scheme across its range in an effort to keep its cars up to speed with the likes of Kia and MG.

Over the next few pages we’ll be scoring the Suzuki Ignis in 10 key areas to give it a score out of five. They’ll take into account the driving experience, how pleasant the interior is, the practicality on offer and what it’ll cost you.