Update -
The S-CNG technology is popular in India and we have seen several cars. But never on a private car and that too an AMT. This user shares his experience as to what it feels like owning a petrol AMT Maruti Ignis with aftermarket CNG in it.
The Maruti Ignis is a funky looking car with compact dimensions and a powerful engine for its size which makes it a great city car. The tall seating position gives a commanding view of what is happening at the front and a short turning radius helps the driver navigate it through the tight lanes. With our Santro getting old (Read Ownership Review Here), it was decided that we will be replacing it with a small, powerful, and a spacious automatic car which can run on CNG without any major issues and after considering everything, we went ahead with the purchase of the new Ignis. Read this 2020 Maruti Suzuki Ignis AMT CNG ownership review to know more about this vehicle.
Registration Year: 2020
Odometer Readings: 5300 km
City: Delhi
Fuel Economy (Petrol): 13-14 kmpl (City)/ 18-20 Kmpl (Highway)
Fuel Economy (CNG): 22-23 km/kg (City)/28-30 km/kg (Highway)
Things That I Like:
- Brilliant City Car: Compact dimensions, a small turning radius, and supreme visibility make it a great car for city driving and manoeuvring this vehicle in the tight spaces is an easy affair.
- Peppy 1.2-L K12B Engine: The 1.2-L petrol engine is not just powerful but is extremely refined. The long-term reliability of this motor is great and the overall performance makes it extremely fun to drive vehicle, even on CNG! More on this in the second half of the article.
- Practical Car For Everyday Use: Peppy performance, compact footprint and a high ground clearance makes it a highly practical vehicle.
- Driving Dynamics: While the steering does feel a little disconnected, the overall ride and handling balance is sorted and pushing this vehicle into the corners always leaves the driver with a huge grin on his/her face. The body roll is well contained and the braking performance is impressive as well.
- Fuel Economy: The car delivers around 14-15 kmpl in mixed usage with AC on.
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Things That I Don't:
- Ride Quality: Stiffer suspension takes a toll on the ride quality and the car does tend to get bouncy on the badly patched up surfaces.
- Build Quality: The overall build quality of the vehicle is not so great when compared to the rivals. The interiors too feel cheap and of low quality.
- Polarising Design Language: Not everyone likes the design language of the vehicle. However, with the recent facelift, the car looks better than before.
- Slightly Overpriced: Considering the overall package, I do believe that the brand has overpriced this vehicle by a slight margin.
- Poor Headlight Output: While the higher variants do come with projector headlamps, the lower variants get a halogen reflector setup which delivers poor headlight throw.
The Ignis is often seen as a funky looking car with a compact footprint and I think these two things make it a unique and a different. For starters, the facelift model gets a new grille and a new bumper design with a faux-skid plate. The headlamps remain similar to the older model and the overall side profile too looks the same. However, it is worth noting that the facelift model comes with roof rails, side cladding, and a rear spoiler, which in my opinion, makes the car look slightly more proportionate from the sides. The Delta variant gets clean looking wheel caps while the higher variants come with sporty black alloy wheels. The indicator bulb finds its place on the ORVM which also reminds me to tell you that there is no electric fold option for the ORVMs. On the plus side though, both the ORVMs can be electrically adjusted from the driver's seat and the IRVM gets a manual day and night adjustment option.
Move to the rear of the car and you will realise that the rear tyres are positioned at extreme ends to give the vehicle a much wider track. The tail lamps are small and subtle and get halogen bulbs. Just like the front, the rear bumper too has been revised and now comes with a silver skid plate in the centre and reflectors. There is no excessive badging and the registration plate is placed on the tailgate.
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Moving to the interiors of the vehicle, the car gets a dual-tone white-black colour combination. The layout of the dashboard looks nice and the ergonomics too are sorted. The instrument console is large and is can be read easily. The MID on the right gives a lot of information about the vehicle but does not have a temperature gauge which in my opinion should have been there. The steering wheel remains light at city speeds but starts to feel extremely nervous as the speed climbs up. There are steering mounted buttons that control the infotainment system. High seating of the vehicle does help in an easy ingress/egress while the all-round visibility from the driver's seat is great.
The ORVMs are large and give a good view of what is happening at the rear while the A-pillars are not very thick which further aid in overall visibility. Navigating this vehicle in city traffic is easy and the engine-gearbox combination further enhances the overall experience. With this being said, let's move to the driving section.
The Ignis is powered by a 1.2-L K12B motor that delivers 82 bhp and 113 Nm of peak torque output. This engine can be had with a 5-speed MT as well as an AMt gearbox and we have the latter. The overall performance from this motor is impressive and you will never be left wanting for more. However, the gearbox is slow with shifts which do get better when you take manual control of the vehicle. The vehicle also has a creep function which comes in handy in the traffic. There is no park option on the gearbox and no paddle shifters for the hardcore enthusiasts. Having said this, the gears are tall which makes it a great car for highway cruising and the fuel economy delivered by this vehicle inside the city remains at around 13-14 kmpl.
Since our running is extremely high, and the vehicle is used inside Delhi most of the times, we wanted to have CNG in this vehicle and after getting approval from the RTO, we went ahead with the installation of the sequential CNG kit in the vehicle. While there is a slight decrease in the performance, the overall performance is still great and the car pulls cleanly. There are no jerks during acceleration and performance while using AC too remains decent. Yes, we no longer have a usable boot space but there is still space to keep a couple of small bags in the boot. We have used the vehicle for almost four thousand kilometres after installing the CNG and so far, there have been no issues. Also, the car feels much better to drive now with the additional load of the cylinder in the boot. Having said that, our experience with the Ignis AMT BS6 CNG has been great so far and if you too are planning for something similar, I would definitely recommend you to go ahead as installing a CNG kit in your vehicle will not only bring down the running costs but will you will also be leaving a lot less carbon footprint when you use your vehicle.
Before I conclude, here are a few things that I would like to share:
- A central armrest is definitely missed in the vehicle, especially if you have an automatic variant.
- While the low beam is satisfactory, the high beam should have been better.
- The car does not feel solid and all the parts feel flimsy and cheap.
- While the seats are comfortable and spacious, the rear seat feels a little cramped and is best suited for a maximum of two grown-up adults.
- Audio quality is average.
- There is a lot of wind noise and tyre noise that creeps into the cabin when the speed of the car goes above 60-70 kmph.
- The brakes are powerful but the brake pedal feels soggy and lacks any feedback.
- This AMT version of the Ignis is best for relaxed driving. Period.
- The glovebox is small and should have been bigger in size.
Do you have any questions and thoughts about this 2020 Maruti Suzuki Ignis AMT CNG ownership review? Do let us know in the comments box below. You can also join our 91Wheels Auto Enthusiast Telegram group (click via mobile to join) to be a part of interesting automotive discussions. Further, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more such amazing motoring updates.
