Tata is setting benchmarks with every single car they churn out in today’s time. Tata Tiago Petrol Review focuses on the same.
Enchanting –
- Upmarket styling inside out
- Superlative chassis and brakes
- Excellent ride quality
- Value for money
Unsatisfying –
- Engines can do with more power
- Space could be higher on the inside
There is no denying that Tata is on a roll in the passenger car segment. A segment where it was lacking since half a decade. The company has decided to come up stronger and harder and almost impossible to beat on paper. The Zest and Bolt were products which took the market by storm. The products were tech laden, powerful, designed really well and offered good amount of value to customers. Sure, there were some problems but they seemed to be solved here, with the new Tiago. Everything about this car is all-new. Based on the Vista platform it shares nothing but just one cycle part from parts bin. Tiago has a lot of things going for it. We take you in detail to tell you the same.
Design Styling is where the Tiago truly shines. The right balance of very attractive elements on the car and yet it has the grace and poise of a modern car with a very upmarket image. The front-end has the new honey comb grille which is minimalist. The almond-shaped head lamp with a large barrel on the inside just fit the bill right. The lower part of the front bumper is splited into two and has the sporty contours at the edge which make it stand out.
The large fog lamps also look swell with the overall design. The two-part gloss colored spoiler on each side give it a sporty appeal as well and should gel with other colors that are offered with the car. The hidden part and the best thing which Tata design team have done is given it a body kit without any one noticing it. Alloy wheel design could have been better as it ends up being way to conservative in its approach.
The caved in side skirt which runs all the way from the front, along the wheel wells also makes the car stand out from the crowd. The side profile has good glass area with a strong crease running from the front fender adds ‘power’ to the design package. The tail lamps looks like the head lamps were twisted 360 degree and they end up looking quite similar, not identical though. Overall, a slick job, nothing is over done and yet the car stands out from the crowd. Really something to look forward every time from Tata Motors when it come design in the future.
Interiors Another place where the new Tiago makes its case stronger. Good quality plastics all around, a well laid out dashboard and an almost bright interior make it an ideal place to spend time in. The plastics in the lower half may be a point of criticism. It is only because the expectations are high from the brand and the car seems like a segment from above and hence we demand it. Overall, the quality segment wise and slightly above is just fine and should impress buyer immediately. Fog lamp button is oddly placed below the screen. Meanwhile the menu button is on the stalks to toggle between fuel information and trip meters in the speedo meter console. We think speedo meter fonts could have been better though.
Features list is another reason the Tiago scores high. The sound system, it is easily the best in the segment. The connectivity options such as Bluetooth, Aux, and USB work really well. Fuel MID is available. Parking sensors do a great job and they are very precise too. The buttons on the infotainment system could be more reactive, but it is easily manageable. We end mostly using the steering mounted controls which work very well. We wish the phone and sound control button on the steering wheel were separate as they can confuse the driver while driving as receiving calls can be difficult at times because it ends up disconnecting the call.
Space in the front and back is really good. Seats are very supportive all around. We wish lumbar support was better but that is what is expected from this segment and Tiago surpasses that already, so no problem with normal height and weight drivers, which most journalist are not. Enough legroom at the rear, headroom can be a bit tight for taller passengers. Shoulder room is impressive as always with any Tata car. However, three can sit, but not for long road trips though. Boot space is on par segment wise too as it well-shaped and can carry a lot of luggage. Overall, a slick job by Tata, hardly anything to complain. However this is always room for improvement and little hard edges can be polished seen in one or two areas.
Read this too: Pricing, fuel efficiency and variant details here
Tata Tiago Petrol Review, 1.2 Revotron
Powering our test car was the all-new all-aluminum 3-cylinder petrol engine. The engine is naturally aspirated and makes 83 PS of power and 113 Nm of torque. The engine is smooth and refined. NVH levels along with wind and road noises are decently well contained. Engine does get noisy at the top of rev band. The engine has just about enough driveability in the city to potter around. However, the mid range isn’t that great and the engine makes most of its power at the top-end. You need to rev it to make quick progress. However, this is where the free revving and responsive acceleration comes into action.
Reaching 150 km/hr isn’t hard task once you start redlining. Redlining reminds us of the engine sounds very racy at redline. We are sure that was the idea of the racing driver that was spotted testing the car before launch. We thank him for the same. Gearbox is smooth, clutch is light, but the shifter is tall and the gates could be defined in a better way though. We managed to get 12.8 km/l in our city run and 19.3 km/l on the highway. The numbers slightly far away from official claimed one’s, but we think those numbers are possible if driven sanely. We had a moderately heavy foot at times. Overall, Tata has a good engine with good numbers in every aspect. Wish we could see a more the turbo petrol engine soon here as the chassis deserves it.
Dynamics
Speaking about the chassis. One of the part is that the Tiago brings the racing driver out of any normal person once you start attacking the twisities. The car turns in well, has enough grip from the very good tyres provided by Tata which are of proper size well too. The car feels agile and nimble and is taut at the same time. Even at max speed the composure of the car is so impressive with almost no vertical movement at the front and a bit from the rear makes it a massive hoot to drive.
The steering is very communicative and lock to lock and steering ratio too is very well calculated. Ride quality is good despite terrific handling capabilities is clearly icing on the cake. Braking is one the best in the segment we have witnessed after a long time. Pedal feel could be better, but we leave it to the wear and tear of this test ride car along with monsoons.
Tata Tiago Petrol Review, Verdict
Tiago then? It does a lot of things right. The pricing is spot on, the dynamics are even better if you ask us and the overall package is very intimidating for this price. Infact every single aspect of the car including design, space and performance are segment best. What’s the weak link here? Sales and Service.
However, Tata constantly assures everyone that it is improving and more positives stories of the same are in the market then ever before. Niggling quality issues and other bits are been taken care of very well. Our abused test car had almost no rattles or squeaks whatsoever. Sure, if you make a car as good as this and don’t offer the same level service will be a foolish decision. Something that Tata Motors learned the hard way and is now all set to take on its rivals easily with everything being near perfect.
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