This winter, most European governments are planning on cutting off the electricity supply for multiple hours a day as a means to save energy. Politicians are telling us to “get ready for blackouts” and I’m not sure why that should be the case. We have plenty of nuclear power stations, so let’s get them running and here you go, the problem is solved.
Nuclear reactors do not produce air pollution or carbon dioxide while operating. We’ve also found a way to create more energy from nuclear waste. It is the most effective way to create energy, and it has the smallest carbon footprint of all energy sources while doing so. Every first-world country on earth could literally be energy dependent without dropping an ounce of pollution in the air if only they got their acts together and threw some money towards their nuclear programs instead of solar panels and wind turbines. Crashing atoms into one another was the future of power before, and it still is the future today.
However, our government’s latest obsessions are electric, or at the very least hybrid, cars. The thinking is that they use little to no petrol and therefore they are better for the environment.
But if not for nuclear power, how is electricity going to be made? Because solar is unreliable, and wind is just as bad. Well, Germany has figured it out, they have coal miners back at work now because their former chancellor, Angela Merkel, decided to close their nuclear power plants and buy most of the energy they needed from the Russians. Obviously, with the whole war thing going on they couldn’t keep giving money to Russia, so they had to find a solution: Coal. Not to worry, coal is great for the environment, it really helps the trees grow, makes the air clean, it’s easy to breathe and the open mining just adds to the beauty of the countryside…
They are at the same time forcing car manufacturers to make fuel-powered cars as efficient as bicycles, slowly fading them out in favour of electric vehicles. In a nutshell, our governments are making less electricity at home with safe and green sources like nuclear, asking us to use more electricity now that they are either buying it elsewhere or burning coal to make it, all for the planet’s sake.
Suzuki is tackling these restrictions by making really small engines paired with a little electric motor to help the focile fuelled engine during moments of high fuel efficiency. The Suzuki IGNIS has that technology. They call it hybrid but, unlike the Prius, the IGNIS can not drive solely on electricity. With the two power supplies combined, the power output is 86bhp and 107Nm of torque. This whole hybrid thing sounds like a good idea but the 1.3L engine relies on the electric motor so much while engaging the clutch that the transition from the electric to the petrol power supply is not smooth. It feels like the torque output of the electric engine is not the same as the petrol one when they are transitioning, causing the car to jolt when the clutch engages first and second.
I was truly looking forward to this test drive, the Suzuki IGNIS is a quirky little car that advertises All Wheel Drive with a little four-door body, much like the Fiat Panda. Sadly, it isn’t permanent AWD, it’s Front Wheel Drive until the IGNIS deems it necessary to send some power to the back wheels. With so little power, the IGNIS feels slow, lazy and truly underpowered. This car is definitely targeted to a more senior audience in need of a little car to get around town safely, even when there’s a little snow on the road. The seating position is upright so you feel tall, much like driving a minivan. A mini, mini, minivan. The clutch is as connected to the transmission as our politicians are connected to the real world. The gear lever goes right into a pot of stracciatella, you even feel the chocolate chips being crunched when you change gears. The steering is not very precise and communicates as much as a rock.
This is, however, precisely what you need in a car designed for the elderly. I’m criticising it because I enjoy doing so, but economically speaking, that was the right move from Suzuki if seniors were the targeted clientele. It just makes the car boring and unremarkable to drive.
The only cool thing about this car is its name. IGNIS, in Latin, means fire. Though, that’s an odd name-tag for a car that lit as much fire in my heart as dumping water on a BBQ
It’s a car that wears many hats. It is small enough to whizz around town without feeling too close to sidewalks or other cars, it’s easy to park (even though sometimes the backup camera freezes), and it’s good on gas. It can handle mild off-roading thanks to its wanna-be AWD system. It has a trunk in which you can put stuff: like me, I fit in the trunk, and I’m 6’2. Finally, it’s a car with a hybrid system. All these hats earned the IGNIS the category of Compact Urban SUV. The trade-off for all this headgear is a small underpowered engine with a poorly managed hybrid system, causing uncomfortable driving experiences.
What Suzuki needs is the freedom to make cars that can have enough power to move without the help of a drill strapped to its front axle.
My theory is that if you gave the IGNIS a 3-cylinder turbo, say like the one in the Seat Ibiza (that averaged 51mpg on our 1146km trip to Stuttgart), many of the complaints I have about the IGNIS would go away while still being eco friendly (once again, 51mpg). For starters, the launch would be smoother because the engine has enough power to pull the car without that overcomplicated hybrid system. Secondly, the brake pedal would be intuitive and feel natural because it wouldn’t have a regenerative battery system to deal with. Thirdly, you could overtake a car on the highway without feeling like too much front-facing wind will throw off your overtaking manoeuvre. I’m getting slightly carried away here. But the powertrain was the biggest downfall of this car. Yes, the infotainment system is slow and laggy. Yes, the interior is made out of cheap glossy black plastic. Yes, the doors feel like they are made out of cardboard and would not protect you at all in case of an accident. But I can live with all these things a lot easier than with an underpowered engine. I don’t use the infotainment system much, I only see the bad plastic quality when I look at it but I’m usually looking at the road, and I only notice the safety hazard of the doors when I open and close them. The powertrain, however? I’m interacting with it as soon as my butt touches the seat, right until it gets off. It’s there as a constant reminder that no matter what, you won’t be able to get to your destination smoothly and comfortably because you chose to have a hybrid car with a smaller engine than a LEGO Technic, all in the name of fuel economy…
I get it, we need to help Mother Nature. But there are more trees in the northern hemisphere than 100 years ago, and the holes in the ozone layer are closing up, so get the nuclear power stations up and running to power the cities and get petrol engines back into cars. If we keep forcing car manufacturers to downsize their engines, soon we will have bicycle pedals in our cars to save fuel. Let’s not trade comfort for fuel economy, when clearly, the real waste of energy comes from politicians closing nuclear plants, and not our cars.
Max,
I would like the thank Favret Automobile in Domancy for lending me the car for the afternoon. If you are looking for your next Suzuki, Subaru or Ssangyong, don’t hesitate to contact them.
The Pit Lane - Blog 
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