[Palio_2005]

As usual this is turning into a Tata bashing thread. I wonder what draws such emotions specially in Torquedo. He claims to be a Tata customer. Could you state if you have had a bad experience? If you dont like a vehicle state facts and not go all over the place. Lets focus on positives and negatives of this model and not general about Tata

[SaiSW]

Originally Posted by RideRanger

Wish that wearable key band had a time on it.

This is the most annoying bit and if I had to compile a list of the few cons it has, this would be in bold. Honestly, they had a genuinely brilliant idea, of a wearable activity band type key which would certainly interest the younger audience, but then they didn't provide any other function in it. This i think is not provided by any car from the competition, and would have been a standout feature.

I think they expect me to look like a Power Ranger, with my normal watch on one hand and a weird looking one, on the other.

Please don't mistake me for a basher because i am genuinely interested in the car and a activity band type key is in my wishlist, like the one for creta.

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

As usual this is turning into a Tata bashing thread. I wonder what draws such emotions specially in Torquedo. He claims to be a Tata customer.

This is not the first time he's posted such comments. If you turn the pages a bit back, you'd see this is the same guy who called the altroz a "dud in the making" when nobody even correctly knew the features or specs it had.

[Dieselritzer]

Diesel cars are not yet available in the showrooms for test-drive. In city, people are interested in petrol but an automatic, which they don't have. When I went to their showroom, the sales advisor mentioned his frustration of customers walking out coz of lack of automatic.

Originally Posted by SaiSW

In my opinion, Tata has tobring in the turbo petrol fast. They've put their money on the diesel but 100% of the people I know are only interested with the petrol, for some reason. Also, a lot of the test drives I see here from members are also of the petrol. Is it because diesels are not yet in dealerships for test drives or is it because there is an actual lack of interest?

[freakmuzik]

Took a short (~6km) test drive of the Altroz Petrol from Gurudev Motors, Chennai.

Dealership experience:

Had called the showroom one hour before I headed for the test drive. They took down my name and immediately received a call back from an SA who gave me the directions and asked me to contact him once I'm there. Just a couple of minutes before reaching the showroom, the SA called yet again to confirm if I have any issues locating the dealership. I got into the showroom and met the SA right away. He asked me to wait for 10-15 minutes as the car was being driven by another customer. He explained me everything in the meanwhile, asked for refreshments, tried to know what was I looking for, etc. I got to spend some good time observing the 'Gold' Altroz in display. The new Nexon facelift and the EV was also displayed so I took a few minutes to check them out too.


The Test Drive

Soon, the test drive car was available and I got in to drive it. The doors close so nicely with a reassuring thud. Since the drivers seat was set to the comfort of the previous customer, I spent a minute adjusting the seat, steering, mirrors, etc. while I also noticed the entire dashboard is set a little high. But I got into a comfortable position soon. The dead pedal was usable (I have pretty wide feet). The ergonomics was pretty good as I recollect not feeling this comfortable in the Nexon in the first go. Also, the quality was better and let me put it this way - it is better than the Nexon facelift. I don't know if its just me who's feeling this way but the entire feeling of how the things were put together in Altroz felt more solid than in the Nexon. The fit may not be as good as a Polo and the materials may not be as good as a Hyundai i20 but they definitely are way ahead of the Marutis and other relatable cars.

On firing the engine, it is indeed slightly audible. Let me make it clear, it is no way as noisy as a Tiago. It is neither as silent as the i20. We can guess it is a three cylinder engine. Driving it was pretty nice indeed as I felt comfortable with the car right away & the visibility was good overall. I kind of liked the low end response and the car pottered around pretty easily in 3rd gear around 20kmph as well. In the City mode, the power was decent and with three people on-board, I never found it under powered. But it never felt 'powerful' though. There was a noticeable difference between Eco and City mode though I feel the Eco mode is usable in regular city drives without any major hiccups. A majority of drivers may not find any fault with the engine is what I feel. The car easily revved till 4k rpms without me noticing it and once the Sound System was turned on, there was no more engine noise intruding into the cabin. And I did like the sound system a lot.

I initially felt the instrument cluster to be bad by looking at the pictures online, but surprisingly I kind of liked it in real. A change I would've preferred is a clearer needle/marking for the RPM. The fat digital arrow makes it a little vague and difficult to understand the RPM in one go.

The Ride was stiff in low speeds but as the needle climbs, it was very much comfortable. The max speed I could touch in the short drive was 80kmph and the car was supremely sure-footed. A 6km test drive can nowhere give me enough room to comment on many other aspects sadly.

Coming to the seats and ingress, I absolutely loved it!! 90 degree opening doors make such a difference (my Wagon R 1.0 has a pretty wide opening and I loved it) and ingress was super super easy. Only problem is that, if you open the door upto 90 degrees by yourself, enter the car and then try to close the door, you will really have to s-t-r-e-c-h yourself to reach the door handle. But the grandpas and grannies and anyone who need assistance to get in will bless Tata Motors for this feature. The front seats are comfortable and aren't too soft. The seat base could have been a bit wider. The rear seats are a little upright but I loved the position and the solid support it gave for the back. I tried the rear seats of Nexon and Altroz back to back. Nexon has splendid under thigh support, is more relaxed and the cushioning is on the softer side whereas Altroz has firmer seats, has lesser under thigh support but the back support seemed better and more even. I might feel more comfortable in the rear seat of the Altroz in a long drive though I would have liked more under thigh support. Rear legroom was good with the drivers seat set for my height which is around 5'9. Armrest, Headrests were all comfortable and we can easily slide from one side of the rear seat to the other thanks to the flat floor! It is such a boon and my mom would love it (She cribs about this in every test drive we take). Rear Headroom is tight so tall people, do check if it would be enough.

I've been looking for a car under 10 lacs at the moment (fuel undecided) and the Altroz makes a strong case.

My requirements are:
1. Should be good to drive
2. Spacious for four and good ride comfort
3. Good Boot Space
4. Solid feeling and sure-footedness in highways
5. Sufficient power and torque
6. Reasonable Maintenance costs
7. Good Ground clearance

The Altroz ticks almost all the boxes though aspects like the real world ground clearance (165mm looks low on paper) & maintenance costs are unknown and I surely would like to try the diesel too in order to come to a conclusion on point no.5.

Though the diesel is priced 1.7 lacs above the petrol, I would like to Test drive that as well to know how much a difference would it make in terms of driving pleasure. The polo is too old and cramped though it drives amazingly, I surely don't want a Baleno or a Swift as I want a car that feels solid. I looked at some used Figo twins as I love the 1.5D but they feel outdated because of which I don't wanna plonk 8 lacs on a new Figo. I haven't had a great experience with Hyundai in the last 6 years of owning my Eon so I don't want to consider the i20. I did drive my friends i20 Sportz + (hope the variant name is correct) around Chennai a week before and it was smooth but not exciting. I absolutely love the Ecosport but the CSUVs are way above my budget as I want a middle or top end model (Ecosport Titanium+ and S cost over 13 lacs).

Waiting for the full blown T-BHP report to come up

[SaiSW]

Originally Posted by freakmuzik

Though the diesel is priced 1.7 lacs above the petrol, I would like to Test drive that as well to know how much a difference would it make in terms of driving pleasure.

I haven't driven the diesel yet, but i am pretty sure it is the pick among the two engines. If you TD the diesel, i am 101% sure you won't go back to the petrol. From the YT reviews I've seen, the diesel is extremely driveable with almost zero lag and there is strong power delivery till about 4k, making overtakes effortless. Just point and shoot.

If i had to pick one, atleast until the turbo petrol+DCT comes, the diesel would easily be my pick. I will TD the diesel as soon as it's available, but i already know how it will turn out to be. The diesel is superior.

[freakmuzik]

Originally Posted by SaiSW

I haven't driven the diesel yet, but i am pretty sure it is the pick among the two engines. If you TD the diesel, i am 101% sure you won't go back to the petrol. From the YT reviews I've seen, the diesel is extremely driveable with almost zero lag and there is strong power delivery till about 4k, making overtakes effortless. Just point and shoot.

If i had to pick one, atleast until the turbo petrol+DCT comes, the diesel would easily be my pick. I will TD the diesel as soon as it's available, but i already know how it will turn out to be. The diesel is superior.

Same thoughts echoing in my mind! Was going through all the reviews and everyone has been mentioning the same. I have asked the SA to let me know as soon as the diesel Altroz is ready for a test-drive. A good automatic will be fantastic too but it will be sometime away I believe. I will surely wait for a couple of months more before making a purchase though. Man, choosing a car isn't easy at all!!

[Nanolover]

Main reason for not having diesel might be non availability of BS6 diesel pan India now. Post April only I feel deliveries will actually start for the diesels. Tata might not want to take any chances on this.

Hyundai aura BS6 diesel also I heard will initially be sold only where BS6 grade diesel is available.

[OSH]

Here are some walkaround videos of the lower variants and various colour options.

XM variant

Altroz XM

XT variant

Altroz XT

Altroz XT

Altroz XT

XZ variant

Altroz XZ

Altroz XZ

Altroz XZ

Other colours apart from the white,silver and gold seen above.

Altroz Red

Altroz Grey

[evoker]

The XM variant looks so bare-bones, they could've put black wheels with hubcaps instead, looks more like an XE variant.

[gururajrv]

I won’t be surprised if Altroz gets into taxi fleet as well with its basic variants because of its strong build making it safer with affordable maintenance with Tata cars (Ex Indica, Bolt) and this could very well get inside the taxi fleet also.

All aside, this car is damn capable and potent to be a wonderful car from all the sides. I only hope it doesn’t have any niggles in the long run that could affect the sales chart.

Good luck Tata.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by evoker

The XM variant looks so bare-bones, they could've put black wheels with hubcaps instead, looks more like an XE variant.

I may be the minority here but I like those non-blacked steel wheels rather than black one which feels like the wheelcaps have fallen off. They also don't lose color by peeling off when tyres are changed.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by RavSam

I may be the minority here but I like those non-blacked steel wheels rather than black one which feels like the wheelcaps have fallen off. They also don't lose color by peeling off when tyres are changed.

I agree with you. I also initially thought that the black inserts below the headlamps would look hideous, but they do not. I find the tiny screen, instead of the infotainment system, on the dashboard to be an eyesore. But anyway, credit to this design that it looks quite nice in lower trims as well.

[shivamk11]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

I won’t be surprised if Altroz gets into taxi fleet as well with its basic variants because of its strong build making it safer with affordable maintenance with Tata cars (Ex Indica, Bolt) and this could very well get inside the taxi fleet also.

All aside, this car is damn capable and potent to be a wonderful car from all the sides. I only hope it doesn’t have any niggles in the long run that could affect the sales chart.

Good luck Tata.

Tata hasn’t been allowing yellow plate registrations of their cars since Tiago now. So, only use this car will find other than private use will be in self drive rentals such as zoom car etc.

[volkman10]

TATA starts its innings in the Premium Hatchback segment. The leader ( Baleno )grows in volumes and probably the best seller for the month.

[avingodb]

Originally Posted by evoker

The XM variant looks so bare-bones, they could've put black wheels with hubcaps instead, looks more like an XE variant.

I am sure it will have wheel caps/covers. Agencies don't fix those until the point of delivery in most of the cases.