Suzuki Ignis review
A quirky and characterful city car with SUV styling, the Suzuki Ignis is cheap to run and surprisingly practical.
Author: Charlie Harvey
16th Dec 2025 – 8 mins read
The Suzuki Ignis is one of those cars that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face. It’s a tiny city car that thinks it’s a big SUV, blending funky, chunky styling with incredibly low running costs and a surprisingly roomy interior. First launched in this form in 2017, the Ignis is a car that’s bursting with personality. Thanks to its lightweight design and efficient mild-hybrid engines, it’s exceptionally cheap to run. It's also packed with a generous amount of standard equipment for the price. While it might not be the most refined car on the motorway, its charm, practicality, and fun-to-drive nature in town make it a hugely appealing choice if you want something that stands out from the usual city car crowd.
Pros
- Lots of standard equipment for the price
- Surprisingly practical for its tiny size
- Very cheap to run with efficient engines
Cons
- Can be noisy and unrefined at high speeds
- Infotainment system isn't the best
- High insurance groups for a city car
Interior
Dashboard & tech
The inside of the Ignis is just as quirky as the exterior. You’re greeted by a distinctive two-tone dashboard, and you can find versions with colourful orange or silver highlights around the gearstick and door handles, which really brightens things up. It’s a fun and cheerful place to sit.
Higher-spec SZ-T and SZ5 models come with a touchscreen infotainment system. In older models, this was an aftermarket Pioneer unit that looked a bit plonked-on and could be fiddly to use. The good news is that it includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can bypass the built-in software and use your phone's apps for navigation and music. All models get a DAB radio and Bluetooth as standard, which is great for a car at this price point.
Comfort
For a small city car, the Ignis is surprisingly comfortable. The soft suspension does a great job of soaking up bumps and potholes around town, and the seats are nicely cushioned. Its small size and light steering make it incredibly easy to nip through traffic and squeeze into tight parking spaces.
Where it feels less at home is on the motorway. The boxy shape and steep windscreen mean you get a fair bit of wind noise at higher speeds, and it doesn't feel as settled as a larger car. But for the kind of driving it’s designed for, its comfort is a real plus point.
Quality
The interior of the Ignis is built to be durable rather than luxurious. You’ll find a lot of hard, scratchy plastics, which is quite common for cars in this price bracket. While it might not feel premium, everything feels solid and well put together, as if it’s designed to withstand the knocks and scrapes of daily life.
What it lacks in plush materials, it makes up for in character. The fun design and colourful accents stop the cabin from feeling dull and cheap, giving it a personality that’s often missing from more sensible rivals.
Practicality & boot space
Interior space
This is where the Ignis pulls a real rabbit out of the hat. For a car that’s only 3.7 metres long, the amount of space inside is genuinely impressive. Thanks to its tall, boxy shape, there’s loads of headroom, and four adults can sit in comfort without feeling squashed, which is remarkable for a city car.
It’s worth knowing that the higher-spec SZ-T and SZ5 models come with two individual rear seats that can slide back and forth. This is great for boosting either legroom or boot space, but it does mean these versions are strictly four-seaters. If you need to carry five people, you’ll have to go for the entry-level model, which has a more traditional three-person rear bench.
Boot space
The boot is another pleasant surprise. At 267 litres, it’s bigger than what you’ll find in most other city cars and is not far off the space in superminis from the class above, like the Ford Fiesta. It’s more than enough for a weekly shop or a couple of weekend bags.
The sliding rear seats in the top two trims add a brilliant layer of flexibility. If you need more boot space, just slide them forward. Be aware that models with the ALLGRIP four-wheel-drive system have a slightly smaller boot (204 litres) to make room for the extra mechanical parts underneath.
Driving
Driving experience
In its natural habitat – the city – the Ignis is a huge amount of fun. Its tiny dimensions, peppy engine and super-light steering make it feel zippy and agile. It’s one of those cars that’s just a joy to dart around in, making mundane trips feel a bit more entertaining.
Out on the open road, it’s less composed. That light steering can feel a bit vague at speed, and as mentioned, it can get quite noisy on the motorway. It’s perfectly capable of longer journeys, but it’s not where the car feels happiest. Think of it as a brilliant town car that can handle occasional motorway trips, and you won’t be disappointed.
Performance
Suzuki keeps things simple with the Ignis, offering just one engine choice. It’s a 1.2-litre petrol engine that produces 89bhp. Because the car is so incredibly light (weighing as little as 810kg), this is more than enough power. The engine needs to be worked quite hard to get the best from it, but it’s a willing and characterful unit.
Most recent models feature mild-hybrid (SHVS) technology as standard. This doesn’t power the car on its own, but it uses a small electric motor to assist the engine, which helps to improve fuel economy. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard and is the best choice. A five-speed automatic is also available, but it can feel a bit slow to respond.
Running costs
Fuel economy & CO2 emissions
Thanks to its light weight and efficient engines, the Ignis is incredibly cheap to run. With the mild-hybrid system, you can expect to see fuel economy figures well over 60mpg in official tests. Low CO2 emissions also mean that annual road tax is inexpensive.
It's a car that's perfectly designed to be kind to your wallet, making it an ideal choice for new drivers or anyone looking to minimise their motoring expenses.
Value for money
The Ignis offers fantastic value. It's priced very competitively against other city cars but comes with the kind of SUV styling and practicality that you’d normally have to pay more for. It’s also very well-equipped as standard, with even the entry-level model getting air-con, Bluetooth and automatic lights. Used models represent a great bargain, offering a huge amount of character for the money.
Reliability & Warranty
Suzuki has a rock-solid reputation for building reliable cars, and the Ignis is no exception. Owners report very few problems, and the simple mechanicals mean there's less to go wrong. From new, Suzuki provides a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, so many used examples will still have some of that cover remaining for extra peace of mind.
Safety
Safety features
This is an area where it pays to check the exact specification of the car you’re looking at. When tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP, the basic Ignis scored a disappointing three-star rating.
However, models fitted with the optional 'Dual Camera Brake Support' system (Suzuki's name for autonomous emergency braking) were awarded the full five stars. This system was standard on the top-spec SZ5 trim and an option on others. It’s definitely worth seeking out a car with this technology fitted for the extra safety protection it provides.
Trims & Engines
Trim levels
The Ignis has been available in a few different trim levels, all offering great value.
SZ3: The entry-level model is surprisingly well-equipped, with air conditioning, a DAB radio with Bluetooth, and automatic headlights all included as standard. It’s the only version with five seats.
SZ-T: This popular mid-range trim adds the touchscreen infotainment system with a reversing camera and smartphone connectivity (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto). It also gets chunkier styling with roof rails, 16-inch alloy wheels, and the brilliant sliding rear seats.
SZ5: The top-of-the-range model gets all the goodies. It adds satellite navigation, cruise control, keyless entry and start, and the all-important Dual Camera Brake Support safety system as standard.
Engines
The engine lineup is refreshingly simple.
1.2-litre Dualjet Petrol: This 89bhp engine is the only one offered. It’s a peppy and incredibly efficient unit that suits the car’s character perfectly. Most versions since 2020 come with a mild-hybrid (SHVS) system as standard, which helps to boost fuel economy even further. It comes with a five-speed manual gearbox, with an automatic available as an option. Some SZ5 models are also available with Suzuki's ALLGRIP four-wheel-drive system, a rare feature on a car this small.