Photo: Stefan Baldauf/Guido ten Brink
He's old; he intends to retire in a few years, and he really likes small, slow cars, especially the Dacia Sandero and Fiat Panda. So you can bet that James May has a few jokes to tell about the Suzuki Ignis, but he also likes it.
One of his first reviews for Drive Tribe, certainly the first we've read, is not about the latest Ferrari AWD supercar or lightweight Lamborghini exotic. No, it's the little Suzuki Ignis that's the focus of attention for the artist formally known as Captain Slow.
May opens up about being a "starving freelance writer" and doing the press brochure for the Suzuki Liana, which later went on to become the Top Gear reasonably priced car. We think that's cool and very honest of him.
Whenever Jeremy Clarkson writes a review, all he does is make fun of other people or argue that SUVs are stupid. But James is genuinely insightful.
The "fart" thing comes from the name of the little Suzuki. Ignis is Latin for "fire," but there's also something called ignis fatuus, a soft light appearing in marshes from bubbling methane. Hence the connection to human flatulence.
James also notes that all Suzuki interiors smell bad, something we wholeheartedly agree with. It's little wonder journalists say they are held together with glue, because that's what they smell like, especially the ones made in Hungary.
Captain Slow once said that skinny tires and soft suspension are a recipe for fun. You can drive at the edge of performance, even at legal speeds, and it's there that you get to enjoy a car. Suzuki engines are really rev-happy and punch above their size, so May loves the 1.2-liter Ignis. It also costs from £9,600, so he could probably buy ten of these with the money he makes per episode and still have plenty left over.
You can rid the rest of his short Ignis review here, but be warned; it's nothing like Top Gear or The Grand Tour.
May opens up about being a "starving freelance writer" and doing the press brochure for the Suzuki Liana, which later went on to become the Top Gear reasonably priced car. We think that's cool and very honest of him.
Whenever Jeremy Clarkson writes a review, all he does is make fun of other people or argue that SUVs are stupid. But James is genuinely insightful.
The "fart" thing comes from the name of the little Suzuki. Ignis is Latin for "fire," but there's also something called ignis fatuus, a soft light appearing in marshes from bubbling methane. Hence the connection to human flatulence.
James also notes that all Suzuki interiors smell bad, something we wholeheartedly agree with. It's little wonder journalists say they are held together with glue, because that's what they smell like, especially the ones made in Hungary.
Captain Slow once said that skinny tires and soft suspension are a recipe for fun. You can drive at the edge of performance, even at legal speeds, and it's there that you get to enjoy a car. Suzuki engines are really rev-happy and punch above their size, so May loves the 1.2-liter Ignis. It also costs from £9,600, so he could probably buy ten of these with the money he makes per episode and still have plenty left over.
You can rid the rest of his short Ignis review here, but be warned; it's nothing like Top Gear or The Grand Tour.
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