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![]() | #1816 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Last I heard, even the Baleno was 3 star RATED (4 Star with the safety pack) by Euro NCAP. Don't know the situation with the Indian spec though. So calling the Baleno a tin can, can be going a little overboard though. Again the crucial word here is BALANCE. Cheers... |
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![]() | #1817 | |||
BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
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Your statements might not go well with the small but a growing number of people who are willing to pay extra for a 5* safety rating. Maruti cars are brilliant VFM, no doubts about it. Heck, I would buy one over an Altroz even if it offers 4* safety instead of 5. But the question is, being an informed buyer myself, should I buy one when the company plainly refuses to crash test it's cars with a verbal statement that it adheres to the Indian safety norms? This makes me ponder about the very ethics of the company. If a verbal statement about the safety rating of the cars from India's biggest manufacturer is enough to make millions of people buy the cars then I'll say Tata are fools to go the GNCAP route and waste millions which instead could've been spent on developing new colors, racier graphics, a Bose music system, better alloys and a 10inch infotainment system! Last edited by Porschefire : 5th March 2020 at 13:39. | |||
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![]() | #1818 | ||
BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Our lives definitely have more "value" than the "value" for money which Maruti offers, I believe ![]() Last edited by rajivtelang : 5th March 2020 at 13:30. | ||
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![]() | #1819 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Chennai
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Why should HBX not be your choice, when it is a massive improvement over whatever minimal safety features the Wagon R gives you? If you want a truly safe small car you can always go for the Mahindra XUV 3oo which isn't that hot a seller either. Or your choice of Fords / Volkswagens. Your choice, if you want a good car that has an adequate number of security features then you'll inevitably end up with a lesser selling model because people will still pay for more chrome and higher fuel economy rather than safety. Last edited by Aditya : 6th March 2020 at 17:24. Reason: Quoted text edited | |
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![]() | #1820 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mysore
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| ![]() The Wagon R isn't a direct rival to the Altroz but on the general point that unsafe tin cans sell more than safe well-built cars, let those people who are either uninformed or don't care about safety buy what they like. You should put your needs above following the herd blindly. |
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![]() | #1821 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Goa
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I won’t be surprised if the Glanza overtakes Altroz in coming months. We had also seen a similar hike in the Harrier sales for the initial 2-3 months of the release; but rest is history as we all know. I seriously hope that TATA considers this as an alarm before the new i20 hits the market & come up with a better petrol engine mated to a good auto-box in their Altroz. Last edited by ampere : 6th March 2020 at 08:46. Reason: removed dead link from quoted post | |
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![]() | #1822 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Good Blue Earth
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In my opinion, safety is not among the balance factors you mentioned, but service quality, reliability, ease of use is true. Last edited by SaiSW : 5th March 2020 at 21:52. | |
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![]() | #1823 | |
BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Mumbai
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But safety is one aspect, and the Ignis was better in almost everything else like engine performance, reliability, ease of use etc. But yes I was aware that the car I was buying was not as safe as the Tata Tiago so on highways I don't exceed 100 kph cause I honestly don't know if ill survive an accident at high speed in the Ignis. | |
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![]() | #1824 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Patna
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https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/suzuki/baleno/24497 | |
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![]() | #1825 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Noida
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![]() This correctly summarises a typical buyer's mind set. 95% people buy cars with this mindset. Don't get me wrong, i am not against this approach. I am a firm believer of safety, but i also feel that safety is just 1 aspect and you cannot expect it to be the sole criteria for each and everyone. It is good that players like Tata are putting emphasis on safety but customers are looking for a complete package which includes performance, reliability, after sales experience, resale value and what not. P.S.: Before the safety conscious bash me, i am a Tata Nexon owner ![]() | |
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![]() | #1826 | ||
BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Maruti: I have started hating them recently but need to admire their network, reliability and jack of all trades car nature. They do the job and that's where they win the race with Indian mentality. However now a days their service quality is going down and they cannot handle the bulk of load. And to add to it their service cost is NOT AT ALL CHEAP. Agree that TATA needs to improve on n number of things to survive/make an impact but it is us who should support them to improve. Quote:
![]() Last edited by vb-san : 6th March 2020 at 09:03. Reason: Back to back posts merged | ||
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![]() | #1827 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2020 Location: Bengaluru
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Swift VDi which was without Airbags/ABS costed around same price as Figo Titanium. While discussing with family, one point that sealed it in favour of Figo was a statement by my father "I hope we won't need Airbags, but when the situation comes Airbags will save our lives" After that it no brainer, we went ahead and chose Figo. | |
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![]() | #1828 | ||
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
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The Altroz was launched on Jan 22 and deliveries started on Jan 24, so there is no way they 'retailed' 4500 cars in 5-6 days ! Last edited by fiat_tarun : 6th March 2020 at 10:07. | ||
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![]() | #1829 | |
BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Mumbai
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Regarding the speed limit of 100 kph is all about people's comfort levels. I find the tyres don't have the best grip at high speeds so unless I get better rubber I don't wish to push the car. My uncle has an Ignis and he regularly goes at 140-150 kph on the expressway though he has better tyres. That's one thing Maurti really has an advantage over the competition and that is extremely refined petrol engines be it the 800 cc, 1.0 litre and 1.2l engines. The 1.5l is somehow not that great IMO. Tata really needs to get some better petrol engines. If the Altroz has a 4 cylinder engine I am sure it will start doing better numbers. My friend chose a Baleno over the Altroz only because he liked the Baleno engine more. He loved the features, build quality, looks and even the suspension of the Altroz but he didn't like the engines performance. I told him multiple times to choose anything else but a tin can like a Baleno but he told me flatly that he wants a car to drive and the Baleno was a much better car to drive in the city. :( | |
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![]() | #1830 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Guwahati
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| ![]() Altroz 1.2 TD report Yesterday went to check out the Altroz & also took a longish TD. I went there in my 2006 Swift 1.3 ZXi, so direct comparison will be with that car. Among cars from that segment, we have an i20 in our family & a Baleno in my friend circle. My cousin (cum neighbor) owns a 2016 Tiago XT petrol & I get to regularly drive that car. Showroom Review The last time I visited a TATA showroom (properly) was in 2011/12 when we bought our Punto. First impression was good, we were quickly attended by a SA who seemed knowledgeable. Next up was the TD experience, I took a longish TD & never once did the SA complain. One more thing was the fuel level in the TD vehicle, it was almost full. Most TD vehicles I have driven over the years had the low fuel indicator on. Worst was the Punto TD, we had to fill Rs. 300 worth of diesel before driving the car ![]() Even the variants & on road prices of each variant were explained properly. It seems at-least in sales department, TATA motors has improved. Exterior The showroom demo vehicle & the TD vehicle were both in the Golden colour. My god, she looks absolutely stunning in that colour. After many years a hatchback has impressed me so much in the looks department. My Mom (who was with me) was also impressed with the looks, she normally doesn't get impressed easily, the last small car that my Mom found good looking was the Punto in Red. The low slung stance, steeply raked windshield, all of these make the Altroz a looker. Top variant gets projector headlamps, the rest of the variants get dual barrel headlight setup. Interior First thing that caught my attention was the solid thud on closing the doors, the thud is very reassuring & similar to some well built European cars. Ingress & Egress is very easy, owing to the 90 degree opening doors. The front seats are very supportive & are sufficiently big in size, though somehow the front seats on my Swift felt a bit bigger/better. The rear is sufficiently wide & has good legroom, siting 3 people over short journeys shouldn't be an issue. Seat width is actually better than our Ecosport. Baleno might have a slight advantage in outright legrooom, but the rear seat in Baleno is very flat with no contours. Hyundai i20s rear seat is also good, only slight issue is that it's placed a bit too low for the elderly. Next up is the dashboard with different color/shape textures along with a floating screen. The dashboard design looks quite contemporary & modern. The dashboard is long as well & I really love long dashboards. Only thing is that they could have given a slightly bigger screen for the HU. The Harman based HU sounds awesome, bass is good along with clarity. The sliding armrest works perfectly, even for shorter people. Most cars are equipped with fixed armrest, I have always found them useless for my driving position (I am 5'8" tall & like to pull my seat forward). The Drive First up the ergonomics felt good, everything fell in hand. The clutch was light & had a short travel, similar to the Tiago. The gearshift on the Altroz is better than the Tiago, almost Maruti Baleno/Swift like smooth. No vibrations as well on the gear knob, Tiago's gear knob keeps on vibrating. Next up the engine, initial low down torque is good, gearing is also not very tall. City driveability is good, even engine noise at low RPMs is very well controlled. Things start getting bad once you put your foot down, outright acceleration is decent enough, but the issue is how the power is delivered. Under hard acceleration (especially in low gears) the engine sounds really bad, even my Swift with the old 1.3 G series engine (which was designed in the 90s) sounds & feels better the Altroz's engine under hard acceleration. There is simply no comparison with the silky smooth units of the Hyundai i20 & Maruti Baleno. The engine for me is the biggest weak-link of the Altroz. The ride on the low profile 16 inch tires was very good, even on broken loads. I didn't get a change to take her to triple digit speeds, so can't tell how she will feel on the highway. I have a feeling though that ride quality will be good at highway speeds as well. I took her to a hill top during the TD & the body roll on the curves was very controlled, I was pleasantly surprised here. The car was fun to drive on these roads. Even the EPS unit on the Altroz is direct & has decent enough feel. Visibility through the steeply raked windshield is a slight issue, the A-pillars weren't much of an issue to me as I am used to the trunk like A-pillars in our (ex) Punto & Ecosport. Safety The best thing about the Altroz is the 5 star GNCAP rating, along with a stable structure. Given the number of road accidents in our country, it's a very good thing to be in a safe car. Kudos to TATA for providing a 5 star rated car in this price range . Verdict I went to check the Altroz as a potential replacement for my 06 Swift. After the TD, I came back home with mixed feelings. The Altroz is indeed a brilliant & well designed product. Looks stunning & is very well built, I was very impressed with the Punto like thud while closing the doors. The only issue was the engine, it seems out of place in the Altroz. It is neither refined nor fast, even my age old 1.3 G series engine feels better. Somehow the front seats felt a bit better in my Swift (Gen 1 Swift did have awesome front seats) & front visibility is better in the Swift. So, for now the Swift stays. Fingers crossed that TATA will bring out the 1.2 turbo petrol soon, that should take care of the weak engine. Though if I were forced to replace my Swift today, I would go with Altroz despite the shortcomings. Here is the price list for Guwahati: ![]() Last edited by chiranjitp : 6th March 2020 at 20:30. |
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