Suzuki Ignis practicality and boot space

• Basic safety kit as standard
• Poor crash-testing scores
• Rival cars offer better packages

During Euro NCAP crash-testing in 2016, the Ignis didn’t do well. While the SZ5 version gets five stars for its added features, the other two trims (that we’re expecting to be far more popular) get a lowly three. It’s unusual for a car to score that badly these days.

Standard safety kit on all Suzuki Ignis model includes:

• Six airbags
• Speed limiter
• Stability control
• Follow-me-home lights (that stay on for a pre-determined time after locking the car)
• A tyre-pressure monitoring system

To gain the five-star Euro NCAP rating, higher-spec SZ5 cars also benefit from a brake support system that can warn of an impending collision, prepare the brakes for optimum retardation or even operate them automatically if the driver doesn’t react sufficiently.

Lane-departure warning also features, vibrating the steering wheel if the driver drifts out of their lane without indicating. The car will also warn you if it senses you’re swaying while you drive, just in case you haven’t felt it.

Pick an Ignis with the AGS automatic gearbox or any SZ5 and you’ll also get hill-start assist as standard to prevent rolling back when setting off on an incline.

Vehicles with the Allgrip Auto 4x4 system additionally get a hill-descent control function to prevent the car going out of control and a system called Grip Control that uses the brakes to prevent wheels from spinning if traction is low.

• Boot size varies with version
• Rear seats slide and recline on some
• Adequate in-cabin storage

At a very basic level, SZ3 versions of the Ignis get five seats and all others get four, but the rear two slide forwards or back 165mm, meaning you can vary either rear seat space or boot size according to your needs. These sliding seats also recline at two angles.

The Ignis’s trump card is headroom, because all occupants get huge amounts. Legroom is slightly less generous in the rear, but four adults should be able to travel a fair distance in something resembling comfort.

Boot space depends on whether you’ve got the Allgrip Auto 4x4 system installed. The extra under-floor packaging this requires means the luggage area capacity is 204 litres with the rear seats up and 490 with them folded.

The largest boot size comes in SZ3 cars with their five-seat configuration, measuring 267 and 501 litres respectively, while the other four-seat models in the range have 260 litres behind the rear seats, expanding to 514 if you fold them away.

Its boot is a useful shape but does have a lip to lift heavier items over, and the rear seats don’t fold down flat, instead simply folding over on top of their bases, which creates a high wall between the boot floor and the extending load area.

Inside the cabin there’s a decent-sized twin-level glovebox, bottle-holders in each door and four cup-holders.