[batladanny]

Originally Posted by Govardhansupra

Tata Tigor JTP 115PS Special edition 2019 www.olx.in/item/tata-tigor-jtp-115ps-special-edition-2019-iid-1574137656
This is a Tata owned test ride vehicle, situated in Pune.

Thanks for the tip. I've already seen this listing but not interested in the Tigor tbh.

p.s. this is actually the same dealer who I talked with about the Tiago. He had 2x Tiagos and 1 Tigor. The Tiagos are sold.

[Govardhansupra]

An alternative to a Tiago JTP, a pocket-rocket, fun to drive hatch will be a Punto Abarth which I personally like more than the JTP twins. Maybe you should try that. It is similar to the Zen Carbon and Zen Steel back in the ol' days.

[Benoit]

https://www.rushlane.com/amp/2021-ta...-12385714.html

Is it coming back? I really want Tata to bring in the turbo petrol in all the cars.

[supremoo]

Tata had a head start and a lovely opportunity; by the time the new model is showcased the competition would have cornered the lion share of the market. The buyers of tiago and tigor will feel disheartened by the attitude shown by the manufacturers. It is very easy to loose the confidence of car enthusiasts in a buyers market.

[Cessna182]

Someone I know had a chance to meet the Jayem team and his review was fantastic. It was a passionate group of very skilled engineers.

If only they managed and branded this well. Such a great attempt by Jayem which led to nothing. The entire Jayem division would probably cost less for Tata to run than their infamous marketing division that puts out stupid ads like the one mentioned on a recent thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4952804 (Tata's new Nexon ad seems a little overboard!))

Tata was different but even they are now under the leadership of folks who don't get engineering at all. It is pitiable that a company that made the Nano, disbanded a performance arm that was world class and costed only a few million USD a year.

Off topic but a group that bids for a failed airline like Air India and shuts down a very good engineering team like Jayem with the same group CEO has some serious management issues.

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

shuts down a very good engineering team like Jayem with the same group CEO has some serious management issues.

Quick correction, Jayem is still well and running, and they're independent from TATA. It is only the JV between Jayem and TATA (JTSV) that has been dissolved, not Jayem.

[vik99]

This is my first thread on the forum here and it is about my first car. Hope you enjoy reading this...

Why buy a car?
For a long time it didn't seem necessary as i could make do with Uber/Ola/Auto/Activa. Things changed towards the end of 2018 a car had gradually become more of a necessity. This lead to the next question...

...which kind of car?
There is so much choice these days. I start looking at a car starting with whats under the hood and most cars available around 2019 which costed south of a million rupees didn't really have exciting engines. It had to be a petrol car, no diesels for me, thanks partly to the 10 year rule which i felt would gradually be implemented all across the country and also due to the fact that i don't drive enough to justify the extra cost of buying a diesel car. It had to be a hatchback, as i felt it would be easier to manage around narrow lanes. So i set out to find the most bang for buck hatchback preferably within 8 lakhs on road. This brought us to ...

...the usual suspects

1. Suzuki Swift - you could never really go wrong with a Maruti! My first attempt to take a test drive was on a Sunday, it happened to be a holiday for the showroom, the guard was kind enough to let me and some other people who like me thought Sunday was a good day to go car shopping into the showroom for a look around. The 3rd gen swift looks very different from it predecessors and to me it seems to be very expensive for what it offered.
   
   
   
   
2. Ford Freestyle - i visited Kairali Ford on the NH bypass at Eanchakkal, this time on a weekday. The staff was very courteous, i reached as they were closing up for they day. They still answered all my queries and we set up a test drive on one of the following days. The Freestyle felt well put together and was a good car to drive too. The meter console looked very dated though. It had impressive safety kit in the Titanium+ variant. However, rumours of the impending Ford-Mahindra arrangement for Ford's Indian operations meant that the Freestyle was out of contention.
   
   
   
   
3. Toyota Etios Liva - next up I headed to Nippon Toyota, this time with family in tow. The Liva was quite an VFM deal. It was very spacious, and even had a variant with an eye catching dual tone paint job, all this within ~6.5 lakhs on road. The interiors were just about okay. In short, it was a family favourite. The only fly in the ointment for me was the impending end of the model's sale here in India. Another thing was that it felt somewhat slow after the Freestyle.
   
   

At this point I was very disappointed with the then prevailing scenario in the hatchback space, the cars felt underpowered for the price. Safety features were reserved for the higher variants. It didn't make sense to buy a hatchback making ~80bhp for 10 lakhs or thereabouts.

The only car which I would have exceeded the 8 lakh limit I had set for myself was the Punto Abarth. I did visit the nearest Fiat/Jeep showroom and called a couple of times only to be told that the Abarth Punto was no longer available. The Polo GT Tsi is a relatively common sight on the road in this nick of the woods, being a bit apprehensive about the supposedly high maintenance costs i didn't want a German as first car.

Meanwhile, sedans and cSUVs made a comeback into consideration and I did take a test of the Honda Amaze. It was good, but I was particularly concerned about the fact that the SA had brought a customer car for the test drive with the ODO disconnected. To his defense, he said he was driving it from the yard to the showroom and had been asked to give me the test drive enroute. That didn't cut it for me, so I kept the test drive very brief. Another issue was that the Amaze Petrol MT V was going above 8 lakhs on road and the SA was very clear that he wasn't going to offer any discounts. Well, the Amaze didn't really Amaze me in the end.

Then when the world least expected it, Tata decided to get a JV (Jayem Tata Special Vehicles) going with Jayem Auto and rolled out the JTP Twins.

112 horses for under 7.5 lakhs OTR for the Tiago. Jayem's tweaks to the suspension, steering and what not! I was sold! Tata didn't make it easy though. The nearest dealership was over 200km away.

So I sent an email to JTSV, telling them that I really didn't want to buy a regular hatchback and whether they could save me from going down that well trodden path!

Soon enough I received a callback from Sachin who was looking after the state of Kerala for JTSV. They were in the process of onboarding a dealer in Trivandrum he said. So I had to wait and waiting isn't one of my strengths.

Meanwhile, I managed to take a test drive of Tiago JTP in Chennai while I was there on a short visit. Thanks to wonderful folks over at Gurudev Motors at Arumbakkam, Chennai. I was accompanied by some friends, it was great fun to drive, but most people pointed out the fact that there were larger cars available for a similar price.This was a valid point, it was a bit of head vs heart here.

Back home in Trivandrum, JTSV's dealer onboarding was taking longer than expected and it got to a point where i had to take call whether to wait further or to just buy a Swift like 20,000 other folks do every month and get done with it!

So I made a call, to the nearest JTSV dealership 200KM away and to my surprise they offered to send someone with a test drive car to my place.

The test drive
So Concorde Ernakulam, now Gokulam Tata sent their sales advisor Hari with a lovely red Tiago JTP. Hari, ever the friendly chap, he didn't have much selling to do, I really wanted to buy the car. Besides, he turned up with a lovely red number a lot like this

Now how could someone in their right mind say no to this!

So off we went on a test drive with my family in tow. A few observations from then:

1. The engine pulls and pulls once you are in the turbo zone
2. There is quite a bit of noise that makes it into the cabin, not all of it is sporty
3. The black interiors with red accents were a welcome change from the regular colors
4. The vents on the hood and fender look really cool
5. The ride quality is firm
6. The car is compact

I paid a token amount for the booking after getting back home and off went Hari on what should have been a 5 hour drive back to Ernakulam.

On-road price and discounts
The JTSV team was very helpful throughout the booking and delivery process and they made sure every step of the process was handled well. There were no discounts on offer, JTP floor mats and side beadings were thrown in by the dealership as freebies. The only area where I managed to get the dealership to reduce their price was insurance, this shaved off some 10-12k from the final on road price which was around 7.4 lakhs. This was in May 2019.

Extended warranties & service packages
These are not applicable JTSV products, they weren't applicable when JTSV was operational, they still aren't now that JTSV no longer exists and this is unfortunate!

So what is like to drive?
I'll try to be as objective as i can here, it is a fun little car. The performance is accessible, its not scary fast. It loves corners, even on the straights it'll rarely run out of breath on our roads. It is loud, a calm cabin isn't something to expect here. The exhaust pops and bangs or so i am told. It is quite a tourer too, the longest i've driven is 6 hours straight, no issues there. The stock tyres are sufficient for most scenarios, some owners have upgraded to wider rubber, 205s even. There is a bit of learning to do to avoid hitting a flat spot while in 2nd gear. The power delivery can feel a bit jerky at times, i've barely noticed it once i got a hang of working the gearbox. The brakes do the job, i've noticed a bit of brake fade after sustained driving for say 3 hours. It again is something we adapt to and brake accordingly. The steering weighs up nicely, there is good feedback too,

All right, so i am having a bit of a writer's block here, to summarize - this is exactly how all hatchbacks should be, you can potter around town in city mode all day, or turn on sports mode and enjoy those long drives on the highway.

All right folks, it is time to let the pictures do the talking...

This was clicked in August, 2019. Sunday morning grocery run it was...

No i didn't splurge on PPF or even ceramic coating. I tend to calculate things in tankfulls these days, it seemed more fun to drive for the amount saved by not going for those two, I did give it Paint Protection Treatment from the 3M outlet here in Kazhakuttom. Leo and his boys did a real good job.

You didn't think it would remain that clean for long did you? So, here we are, dust and all, on our way up to Thiruvananthapuram's favorite hill station - Ponmudi.

Straight!

So what is like to own?
It has had its share of ups and downs, mostly ups. I had to have a couple of rust spots taken care of, the Service Centre - Derik, did a good job, and Aniket of JTSV was very helpful in coordinating the work. Random strangers have walked up to me and asked about how this car performs in comparison with it's competition, sometimes they want to know where i got the hood vent and the dual barrel exhaust accessories from...only to be pleasantly surprised to know that it is all bone stock. The car isn't exactly a fuel guzzler either, i've been getting approximately 14-15kmpl - tankful method, it would probably drop to 12-13kmpl if i were to spend more time stuck in traffic. The highway figures are pretty good actually:

All right, all right, the MID is optimistic by about 1.5-2kmpl...still not bad, eh? Of course, no one buys a car like this for penny pinching, but given the way fuel prices have been lately, getting the most fun out of every drop doesn't hurt either.


Tata Service has been exemplary. JTSV was equally good with customer care while it was operational. 4th Service was done recently.

So how do you run an out of production car?
It is not all that hard for regular servicing. Most parts are from existing models so it doesn't take time for the Service Centre/FNG to source them. That said, the JTPs have some 150 parts which are unique to them, these take time to source. A bumper, or even a grill could take over a month. There is a WhatsApp group of owners where we talk JTPs, there is also a Signal group now that WhatsApp is falling out of favour with the privacy conscious. We've even got one young bloke with a tuned Tiago JTP which supposedly puts out 140bhp in the group! The tuning scene is still nascent for Tata cars, there are a few owners who've got their cars tuned by some of the popular tuners and are enjoying the extra oomph. There is even a coffee table book on JTPs by one of owners.


Epilogue
Someone at Tata Motors deserves a pat on the back for thinking up of JTSV. There is also someone who could do with the exact opposite for shutting it down. They put out two good cars and then...well shut shop. Did Covid do it? Did BS6 do it? or was it our market which has never really taken to fast hatchbacks? or did Tata kill it themselves by having such a small number of dealers for a product that truly deserved better? I would think it is a bit of the last two, more of the latter. The JTSV team was a very sincere group, i wish them well wherever they are in their careers now.

I hope TML comes up with something like this in the future and this isn't a one off, till then i've got myself a limited edition Tiago JTP of which probably less than 250 examples exist and i intend to drive it for as long as i can.

A couple of parting shots...

Thank you for reading

Picture credits - all except the White Tiago JTP are from Team-BHP reviews of the respective cars

[TrackDay]

Congrats on owning a Gem of a car in which you can have fun on whatever roads you get to drive. Cars like these come once in a blue moon and one cant blame the manufacturers as very few folks end up buying it. Do post more pictures of your ride and journeys !

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Turrrb0

Quick correction, Jayem is still well and running, and they're independent from TATA. It is only the JV between Jayem and TATA (JTSV) that has been dissolved, not Jayem.

How disheartening. Altroz JTP would have been fantastic. Not just looks but power to match.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by amol4184

How disheartening. Altroz JTP would have been fantastic. Not just looks but power to match.

Well technically the Altroz i-Turbo is already here anyway with the power. And the handling characteristics of the stock Altroz itself are rather good, diluting the need of further tuning / lowering the car via Jayem inputs. Being a low-rider already, the Altroz had little scope of further lowring the suspension setup on our questionable roads IMO.

So while the JTP badge might be missing, I think the desired performance (sans exhaust note / pops and bangs) - is accessible.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Well technically the Altroz i-Turbo is already here anyway with the power. And the handling characteristics of the stock Altroz itself are rather good, diluting the need of further tuning / lowering the car via Jayem inputs. Being a low-rider already, the Altroz had little scope of further lowring the suspension setup on our questionable roads IMO.

So while the JTP badge might be missing, I think the desired performance (sans exhaust note / pops and bangs) - is accessible.

True, Altroz i-Turbo already came close to what personally I expected from the Altroz JTP, still I wished it existed with bit more power and different tuneup ,sporty body kit, a sport exhaust,a different alloy and a premium Tyre, some unique color touches and off-course the JTP badge.

[skyocean]

Originally Posted by vik99

i've got myself a limited edition Tiago JTP of which probably less than 250 examples exist and i intend to drive it for as long as i can.

Beautifully composed. Thanks a ton @Vikram.
As a proud owner of Tiago JTP I concur with all the points you've meticulously described. They joy when you step on the pedal is unparalled in this segment. Not to forget the surprise element this little car casts on those who least expect it to on the highways

TATA/Jayem did a great job on this car, most manufacturers cant even dream of drawing such a product let alone launching it. Its sad they shut JTP down. JTP products, infact hot hatches in general were ahead of their time in a feature/mileage centric industry.

TATA is busy expanding their market reach now and it deserves a performance line up. I wont be surprised if they relaunch JTP in the near future.

[Moroder]

Congrats on owning a gem of a car. I couldn’t buy one due to budget constraints initially and by the time I could Tata pulled the plug. Wish you many more happy miles.

[vik99]

Originally Posted by skyocean

Beautifully composed. Thanks a ton @Vikram.
As a proud owner of Tiago JTP I concur with all the points you've meticulously described. They joy when you step on the pedal is unparalled in this segment. Not to forget the surprise element this little car casts on those who least expect it to on the highways

...

Thanks, glad you liked it! This car sure can spring a surprise or two on unsuspecting bullies.

Originally Posted by Moroder

Congrats on owning a gem of a car. I couldn’t buy one due to budget constraints initially and by the time I could Tata pulled the plug. Wish you many more happy miles.

Thank you. I know exactly how that feels, by the time i could manage an Abarth Punto, it went out of sale.

There are some JTPs available in the user car scene nowadays, mostly in Delhi & Chennai. Haven't come across any in Thiruvananthapuram yet. Hope there'll be other options in the market soon. Good luck!

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Congrats on owning a Gem of a car in which you can have fun on whatever roads you get to drive. Cars like these come once in a blue moon and one cant blame the manufacturers as very few folks end up buying it. Do post more pictures of your ride and journeys !

Thank you...
The roads, they are narrow and winding. Me? I am not complaining

[Lemonysnicketz]

Hey guys, I own a red 2018 tiago jtp. Lovely car. Shame about the brand. My ordeal with Tata would require was essay that I plan on adding here but most of it was because I bought a demo car :(

I've been servicing my own car. I'm used to it from my days in Germany so I'm doing a pretty good job. I didn't get an owner's manual though and I'd find it very useful if you guys could point me to one. There's no digital copies online on Tata website. Also a repair manual would be invaluable.

I've also blacked out the chrome emblems except for the jtp logo with plastidip

Yes. It does have a name: Medusa