jpor

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

Currently own both an 03 STi PPP and a Renault Clio 1.6 16V RSI. The Clio is my run-a-bout whilst the STI I use for weekends.

At the moment the Clio is starting to cost me money (Air-Con has packed up will cost me > £400 to sort, suspectected blowing exhaust, MOT due August 2006 etc..), and after reading about problems with them, have consider chopping it in for something Japenese like a suzuki Ignis Sport. Which I hope will be reliable. Has anyone had one of these? Are they reliable?

Due to space on the driveway it needs to be a small car.

Thanks.

Jon.

AllanB

Canot comment on the Igis but I can verify Renaults especially Clios are not that robust. Friend of mine had one from new and lots of wear and tear problems developed and needed lots of bits replacing after fairly low miles. She then swapped this for her Mums Clio that had light use and now shes got lots of problems with the suspension, electrics etc and whilst it hasn't broken down shes not totally confident in it.

If Suzuki are like other Japaense manufactuerers such as Toyota, Daihatsu etc you should find reliability good.

Not sure how the Ignis compres to the Swift which has certainly had some excellent reviews and seems to be becoming quite popular.


AllanB

staffs Mike

you will probably get a mixed review from people about this car.

I have an ignis sport and think its a lot of car especially for the money. The handling is generally the thing that causes controversy, it does roll around a little bit and has a fair bit of understeer especially in the wet but its always progressive and easily controllable. Im not sure how old that model of clio is but my brothers old car was a 02 1.2 dynamique and handling wise i would say that was probably better due to the lack of roll (i assume the dynamique is on some sort of sports suspension as other clios have proven worse).

All in all though i love the car the bits, the handling keeps me entertained, the power is modest but you can embarass far more expensive cars especially poorly driven civic type r's...you know who you are.

Ive currently done around 10000 miles and I havnt had a single problem and as you will probably pick one up with most of the warrenty left i should probably mention that the dealers are amongst the best and most friendly you will encounter. Another plus point against renault im sure.

Basic spec just in case is, Recaro front seats (with the yellow netting ), clarion mp3 cd player (sh!te rear speakers though), enkei alloys (known to bobble and replaced under warrenty), air conditioning, trip computer, average/top speed counter on the clock.

Gearbox is very closesly stacked...90 mph is around 4500rpm so it gets a bit noisey on the motorway but not too intrusive.

As i say for the money you wont get much more car and its also very rare, only a few thousand in the country so you can have two special cars lol

hope that helps...was a bit long winded

staffs Mike

oh and theres a pretty good forum for them to

http://www.sisoc.co.uk/forum/

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info Guys.

Thanks for the in-depth report Mike. That is the sort of info I'm after.

The RSI clio I have is a 2000 X Reg model. And does have the stiffer suspension. Although I feel that car is a little un-safe around dry corners at times (Maybe due to owning a Scoob). And the tyres are practically brand new Goodyears alround.

Mike, What are the Recaros like in the Ignis? They don't look very supportive.

JTaylor

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...ighlight=ignis

staffs Mike

the recaros arent that great for hugging..very comfortable and good material though.

another thing to watch out for is if you are tall you might struggle for comfort, i did at first but got used to it (im 6' 1")

i can guarantee you wont drive something quite the same from any other manafacturer...that might be a good thing..might be bad lol

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Cool. Just added that to my favourites.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

I'm about 6' so will see. Sorry to keep asking questions from you. But what are the service intervals on these?

staffs Mike

9000 miles.

no problem at all

jpor

iTrader: (1)

9000 miles or 1 year service intervals?

Just had a look at the Suzuki forums. It appears that Driveshafts are a known problem and were part of a general recall by Suzuki. Any other recalls or problems I should be looking out for on these?

staffs Mike

yeah 9000 or 1 year.

yep there was a...the name fails me...

some sort of clip on the driveshaft, they should all have had it sorted but i'd make sure with the owner.

if it hasn't it took about 10 minutes to get mine done, straight in straight out.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Thanks again.

SC008Y_MAD

iTrader: (5)

Theres a member at the HERTS SUBARUS how owns one of these fun cars.

www.hertssubarus.net

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Cheers!

jpor

iTrader: (1)

How much are they to service?

Andy M3

http://www.sisoc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2456

£4500 for a 2 y/o car. Worth the gamble IMO.

tallsteve

I had one, and fitted in it (6ft 6 - just about!) and everything that has been said is true. Decent power, zippy (not fast), good handling, decent seats and if you don't give it the redline all the time 40mpg.

The driveshaft clip is taken car of by warrenty, and a previous owner should have had a recall notice to get it fixed. Servicing was about £140-ish (London prices)

Bad points:

Paint is thin and collects stonechips very easy
Build quality isn't the best, rattly seats can drive you nuts!
Suspension, very stiff and crashy over bumps (even taken slowly)

Only real reason I got rid of mine was due to a load of bad luck (Keying, hit and run, hideous stonechips all within a few weeks)

Good little car - should be able to pick one up easy for 5K, watch out for modded "boyracer" mobiles..

staffs Mike

yep like steve said the first service is around £140 depending where you go the second is around £180 - £200 I believe.

I occasionally get some rattles none seem to stick around though. Theres one that seems to start at around 100mph...errrr so im told lol

THe interior plastics are hard and cheap but very solidly put together so nothings going to fall off in your hands. Bit of fake carbon fibre in there to....lovely

I didnt really mention performance before, like steve said its zippy...very good in 1st and 2nd gear. The gears are so closely stacked its hard not to drop below 4000rpm (where pretty much all the power comes in) if you are remotely trying to go fast. Dont expect it to go much faster than 110 though.

The suspension is VERY unforgiving over speed bumps, certain ones make the rear jump and I mean jump lol but it smooths out nicely once you get moving.

If you go for a drive in one let us know how you get on...be interesting to see what a scoob driver thinks of it.

p1doc

how about a ford ka good handling understeers on limit and good economy costs peanuts to own and good laugh to drive
martin

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the extra info guys.

Staffs Mike:
Still on the look out for one to test drive. So when I do will report back to let you know.

TallSteve:
Thanks for the info about the suspension. Currently have the Prodrive Suspension on the Sti at the mo. Took it work (with plenty of speed bumps around the site) and I got a feeling what i might be in for. Although saying that the Clio I have as a run-a-bout suspension is pretty damend hard as well.

P1doc:

Both my sister and mother have Ford KA Luxuries. Not really for them, I'm afraid, think there a little under powered.

As a matter of interest, I have noticed some Ignis Sports have the Scooby type Fog lights and some others don't. Are these a Suzuki add-on option?

staffs Mike

yeah the fog lights were a dealer fit option. I didnt really like the look of them and they were pretty expensive as i remember. I got the "swt" mud flaps though. Finishes the rear end off quite nicely i think.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...ht=ignis+sport

theres a couple of pics of mine.

As you're getting it as a run around i doubt this will interest you...but if you're loaded and want to modify one you could start here

http://www.suzukisport.com/english/s...ist/index.html

theres also a company in sweeden who do a supercharger but i wouldnt dare run that on standard suspension and wheels

If a normal KA is underpowered how about a sportKA? I thought about one but the didnt like the driving position.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Nice. Goes well with the STI in the Garage.

SportKA! Nah.. It's still a Ford. And girly looking.

The idea about the Ignis is that it's Japanese, and hopefully more reliable than the Clio RSI I have now. Talking of which has now developed a blowing exhaust And the MOT is due on it in August this year. More expense if I can't find an Ignis Sport to replace it with before then

staffs Mike

doesn't it just

How much were you thinking of paying for one? Personally i wouldn't pay much more than 6k even if it was next to new. The last few red ones sold for something like £6500 brand new ( I got the last blue one ) so use that as a haggling point if you come across a tight stealer.

These are supposed to run on 98 RON by the way, so careful with ex demos...my dealer used 95 in all of theres. Im not sure not much damage it would do if any at all but just thought i'd mention it.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

On the look out for a 03 or 04 reg one. Budget is around £4k. That's if I can get a good trade in off the Clio. Which I'm hoping for at least £3k for. Didn't know the Ignis Sport had to be run on Optimax. Are they not U.K spec cars then?

staffs Mike

They are UK cars but I guess they are'nt UK spec in terms of fuel and the bloody indicator stalk being on the wrong side lol

4K seems to be the starting price on autotrader but i bet you could easily haggle a £4500 one down to that, they really dont seem to sell well.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Is it best to buy off a Suzuki dealer? And how much warranty comes with the car from new?

staffs Mike

Im not sure, obviously you will get them cheaper privately but it comes down to what you are more comfortable with I guess. Most people who have bought them will be an enthusiast im sure so it might be better to go private to make sure the car has been properly looked after.

The amount of times i've had the suzuki salesmen tell me how they have thrashed the sports they have had in takes the p!$$. Im sure they can take that kind of punishment...im not exactly nice to mine but you never want to hear that when you are thinking of buying a car do you. So i made a note of my milage before i had it serviced

It comes with a 3 year warrenty from new.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Need to trade in the clio. So unfortunately it looks like the stealers. Thanks for the extra info.

staffs Mike

no problem at all