TMW - The Suzuki Ignis, another brilliant small car from Suzuki, the brand that specialises in small cars.

Well, today seems to be the era of SUV and small cars, an area that Suzuki dominates, the small car range is one of the best that you can buy, from the Celerio, Swift, Baleno and this the Ignis, a name that’s from its past, but placed onto a brilliant new car, and one that deserves to take the sector to new heights.

This car is not very big from the look of it, but it is really like a TARDIS, for those Dr Who fans, there seems to be so much room inside, that five adults CAN sit in reasonable comfort, or four adults for a longer journey, at less than 4m long and less than 1.8 m wide, you can quite clearly see that it is a small car, but that’s not just its IP.

This car can come with a mild hybrid system, and a four wheel drive set up too, with auto and manual, and a 1.2litre engine as fitted to our car.

Let’s start with the exterior, it is different, and vastly likeable, it looks chunky and capable, which it is, the oversized headlights, LED projector are like a pair of eyes, the lines of the car flow through to the back where there is a louvered look to the C-Pillar, it gives the car a different look and one that suits it very much.

it then follows around to the back where the boot is sharply cut off, which unfortunately gives the boot a small amount of room, an extra inch or two would have made all the difference, but this is what you get for the money, and at £14,464 for the top of the range with optional paint, you get a lot of car for that money.

The nice and well suited black alloy wheels along with the white paint really go together very well, once inside, the dashes of orange break up a dark interior, an interior that's well positioned with lots of toys and kit.

The seats we found are very comfortable, but our only concern is the side bolsters are not supported, they feel like they are just shaped foam, which over time will go flat and make the seat covers floppy, but as a loan car, they are very suitable and comfortable.

You can manoeuvre the seats and steering wheel enough to get you a near perfect position, once there everything is at hand, you do not need to stretch for buttons or switchgear, and the touchscreen tablet, which is similar to Mercedes, in the way it is just attached to the dash rather than be a full part of the dash, has everything near and handy, and very easy to use.

The sat nav is a little slow; well to be honest the entire tablet is very slow with PIONEER on screen for ages before it comes to life, once there all is good, with plenty of options onscreen to play with.

The rear seats are suitably comfortable, and four can sit there in comfort for longer journeys, with five able to sit for shorter ones, anything longer and the three adults in the back would get uncomfortable, quickly.

The boot space is ok, it can take a couples weekly shopping, or with the seats down you get far more room to put bigger amounts of luggage etc.

Once on the road the 1.2 litre can easily keep up with motorway traffic and can overtake with ease too, the car has a top speed of 106mph, but at 11.4 seconds to 62mph, it is a tad slow, but once wound up, it’s a great car, it has a raspy engine note that sounds very sporty, but once in top gear, and you are cruising, that note seems to disappear and it becomes a nice quiet environment, the fuel consumtion of the 1,2 litre is

·       Urban 57.6mpg

·       Extra Urban 70.6mpg

·       Combined 65.7mpg

Are these achievable, well, no, no matter how I drove the car I could not get the in-car display to get anywhere near the indicated figures, but I did get an over all of 50.4mpg, and that included local, city and motorway driving, as well as a long distance journey to the SMMT event at Millbrook.

The clutch is very, very, light, I struggled for the first couple of days to get the biting point just right without slipping it too much, but by the time it came to give the car back, I was able to change gear nicely.

The car has a vast array of standard kit and equipment, to make it a safe and easy car to drive, these include but not limited too

·       AllGrip Four Wheel Drive

·       16” Black Gloss Alloys

·       Rear Privacy Glass

·       Wheel Arch Extensions

·       Navigation System

·       Bluetooth

·       Steering wheel Controls

·       Auto Air Conditioning

·       Automatic Light

·       Automatic Wipers

·       LED Daytime Running Lights

·       Double height luggage area floor

·       DAB Radio

·       Twin USB Socket

·       Electric windows all round

·       Information Display

·       Keyless entry and start

·       TPMS

·       Engine auto Start/Stop

·       Cruise control

·       And far, far, more

The Ignis is a brilliant car; there is no getting away from that, Suzuki really does know what they are doing when it comes to design and implementation of small cars and SUV’s, the Ignis generated a number of comments from other journalists and even one of my neighbours come across to enquire about it, and thought it was a really nice car.

CONCLUSION

Ok, it’s not short of issues, with the main one being the tablet, it is just far too slow, ignore that and you have a car capable of doing everything you need of it, even going off road, not in the style of a Land Rover but its able to take rough ground in it’s stride and just waft over it.

It’s a car that will suit a number of people, from the single person, couples, or even with kids, its not a full five up long distance cruiser, the rear seats passengers would not be that comfortable for long.

I have had a number of cars and the Ignis is one I miss, it was fun, even when the car stopped it’s self because some moron walked out into the road, the car braked and stopped before I had the opportunity to think about it, and that was amazing, all cars should have this fitted as standard, it would stop a lot of rear end shunts and pedestrian accidents.

The All-New Fiesta to be built at Cologne has started production with one every 68 seconds.

Production of right-hand drive Fiestas – the UK’s best-selling car – has begun in Cologne, Germany. 

“We have taken this iconic small car’s lovable, fun and sporty-to-drive character to the next level, with a greater choice of models than ever and with advanced technologies and features that small-car customers could only have dreamed of just a few years ago,” said Jim Farley, executive vice president and president, Europe Middle East and Africa, Ford Motor Company. 

The all-new Fiesta highlights Ford’s derivative strategy, with sporty ST-Line version, and sophisticated Vignale and Titanium variants available in the UK in the next few months – plus the Fiesta Active crossover and Fiesta ST coming next year. 

Ford is investing around €293 million in new production processes at its Cologne facility to build the car – already recognised as one of the world’s most efficient vehicle production plants – and where a new Fiesta will roll off the line every 68 seconds. 

The all-new Fiesta will be in dealerships in the UK in July. 

Smart announces pricing and specification for the Fortwo, Cabrio and Forfour Brabus trim range.

• Prices start from £16,320 on-the-road for the smart BRABUS fortwo
• Range features 898 cc turbo engine with increased power of 109 hp
• Choice between BRABUS or BRABUS Xclusive – smart BRABUS Xclusive available from £19,490

Prices for the new smart BRABUS range start at £16,320 for the smart BRABUS fortwo. The smart BRABUS forfour costs £16,815, while the smart BRABUS cabrio is available from £18,460.

The BRABUS range uses the existing turbo-charged 898 cc engine, with an increased power output of 109 hp (up from 90 hp). In keeping with its sportier engine and exterior, it also comes with BRABUS Performance sports suspension with specially adapted ESP, sports power steering, and a twinamic dual-clutch transmission with race start function.

Based on the existing passion model, the BRABUS models add significant styling updates including BRABUS badging; BRABUS sports steering wheel; BRABUS seats with dinamica inserts; handbrake and gear shift with BRABUS logo; BRABUS sports pedals; 16- and 17-inch alloy wheels (front – 16; rear – 17). Passion models come generously equipped as standard, including the smart audio system; automatic climate control; and cruise control. 

For £845 BRABUS customers can add the Premium package which includes height adjustable driver’s seat and steering wheel; heated and electrically operated door mirrors; rear parking sensors; and smart media system. The night sky option also adds a fabric folding sunroof for an additional £625 on smart forfour models only.

For an additional £3,170 customers can opt for the BRABUS Xclusive model, which adds BRABUS leather sports seats; a bi-fabric dashboard (leather and mesh); BRABUS floor mats; and Xclusive badging. BRABUS Xclusive models come standard with the Premium Plus package (£1,345 on BRABUS models) which includes ambient lighting; rear view camera; automatic window wipers and lights; fog lamps with cornering function; and a centre armrest. 

Prices for all smart models:

Model line	g/km - CO2	% - BIK tax rate	£ - P11D value	£ - Price OTR
BRABUS fortwo	102	16	16,265	16,320
BRABUS Xclusive fortwo	102	16	19,435	19,490
BRABUS fortwo cabrio	104	16	18,405	18,460
BRABUS Xclusive fortwo cabrio	104	16	21,575	21,630
BRABUS forfour	104	16	16,760	16,815
BRABUS Xclusive forfour	104	16	19,930	19,985
night sky BRABUS forfour	104	16	17,385	17,440
Night sky BRABUS Xclusive forfour	104	16	20,555	20,610

On 17 August 1966, the Volvo 144 was launched and it became the first Volvo to break the million unit barrier.

On 17 August 1966, the Volvo 144 was presented in the midst of an ongoing manhunt. With this new model series, Volvo could develop into a considerably bigger car maker. In eight years, no fewer than 1.25 million cars were produced – creating Volvo’s first million seller.

Almost four hundred journalists were in attendance at the Lorensberg function rooms in central Gothenburg on 17 August 1966. The new Volvo 144 was to be presented, unveiled by raising a dividing wall behind which three pre-series models of the new Swedish car were waiting. 

Rumours about Volvo’s new model had been circulating for several years and what the press now finally got to see was an austere and modern vehicle. Parallel to the unveiling in Gothenburg, the new model was also revealed in Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki.

The cars used at the press show in Gothenburg had been lifted into the premises the evening before by crane, hidden in large wooden crates. Naturally, the entire procedure was supposed to be as discreet as possible, but this proved difficult since a major manhunt was underway to catch two police killers. 

A nationwide alert had been issued and as the wooden crates were being lifted into the function rooms, the police received a tip-off that both fugitives may have been in the audience at the adjacent cinema, which had to be evacuated.

Back in June 1960, Volvo’s management – with CEO Gunnar Engellau at the helm – made the final decision on the basic directive for the new car. The P660, as the project was designated, was to be larger than the Amazon, but of the same weight and price class. 

It was to fulfil strict safety requirements and comfortably carry four or five people. Moreover, the car was to have the same wheelbase as its predecessors, the PV 544 and the Amazon. 

Unlike when the Amazon was developed, several different chassis versions were planned from the start.

With the 140 series, Volvo introduced a naming scheme in which the first digit designated the model series, the second digit the number of cylinders and the third digit the number of doors.

Mass production of the 144 started two days after the presentation, on 19 August 1966. In 1967 the two-door 142 was launched, and in 1968 production of the 145 estate began. A closely related model was the 164, which was launched as the 1969 model. 

It shared many chassis components with the 140 series, but had a 10 cm longer wheelbase and a longer front to fit the straight six-cylinder B30 engine. Yet another chassis version was launched in 1970. 

This was the spacious load-carrying Volvo 145 Express, on which the roof was raised from the B pillar and back.

Chief Designer Jan Wilsgaard was also the man behind the Amazon’s elegant lines and, despite the differences, likenesses can be seen between the models. There was a strong desire for a grille design reminiscent of the Amazon’s. 

The shoulder that widened the doors below the side windows was also similar to that on the Amazon, although on the 144 this feature was even more pronounced. Like the Amazon, the 142 and the 144 had vertical tail lights.

The 140 series was well suited to the ideals of the 1960s, giving precedence to function. It had a spacious interior and large windows. Scandinavian design, with its clean and simple lines, is a popular approach today and the 140 series is a prime example of its expression.

The 140 series entailed several important advances in both passive and active safety. The chassis was extremely resilient to twisting and was fitted with crumple zones and a protective roll cage. 

The brake system was advanced with disc brakes both front and rear together with a dual-circuit system with twin hydraulic circuits at the front. 

This provided a three-way partitioning of the circuits, so that if one circuit failed both front brakes and one rear brake would still function. 

What’s more, there were reducing valves to prevent the wheels locking during heavy braking, a solution first employed by Volvo. A split steering column and a dashboard with a collision-protected frame were other safety features. 

Later, the 140 series was also fitted with headrests, retractable seat belts and seat belt reminders as standard.

The Volvo 140 series had a conventional design with a front-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. Initially, the series employed the tried and tested 1.8-litre four-cylinder B18 engine from the Amazon, producing 75 hp DIN – or 96 hp DIN with twin carburettors. 

The 1969 model had the 2-litre B20 engine, producing 82 hp and 100 hp DIN respectively. As of the 1971 model, there were also versions with electronically controlled fuel injection, producing 120 hp DIN.

When production of the 142, the 144 and the 145 came to an end in the summer of 1974, 1,251,371 cars had rolled off the production line. The model series became the company's first million seller and helped further Volvo’s position as an international player. 

The legacy of the 140 series is, however, greater than this, stretching all the way to 1993. Its replacement, the Volvo 240, borrowed much from the 140 series chassis and went on to become Volvo’s most mass produced model, with some 2.8 million cars in 19 years.