[prajakt_23]

Originally Posted by aniketi

One stupid question - If one has to choose between Altroz or Nexon, which one is better? As price difference between both is not much, just want your opinion on this. I know its not correct comparison, but still both has many similarities like both are from Tata, both good looking, 5 seater, similar boot space, good for city use (4 m), safe car with safety rating, engine is more or less same, good interiors & few more.

I think Nexon is a much better proposition than Altroz. SUV styling and better engine are definitely two points which makes this decision easy in my opinion. Also I think if you opt for manual transmission, Nexon has a 6 speed gearbox. Just my observations..

[Rhik94]

Amazing review GTO!! As always!!

Have been spotting quite a few Altrozs on the road here in Kolkata off late. Though it has always either been in a Gold or White shade.
The car looks the part too.

I had noticed it in the full review as well as in this one, that the tachometer is neither a 'C' shaped design nor a proper curve. Is it the camera angle which lends this view or is it in fact a little quirky that way? Did it tick you off somewhat during your weekend blast? It sure bothers me looking at the pictures and will surely make me uncomfortable whenever I look at it while driving.

[desertfox]

The way trends are in India right now I thing a substantial part of this market is moving over to entry level compact SUVs.
And the taxi / cab market remains strictly Swift / Wagon R.

[Arjun Bharadwaj]

Excellent and objective review as always GTO sir.

Questions that remain are:

- How does the new diesel engine fare compared to the previous fiat MJD engines that they used say in Vista?
- 0 to 100 timing and in gear acceleration figures compared to competition such as i20 crdi
- State of engine tune is less than Nexon, as long as the engine components are the same, would it not be possible for aftermarket tuners to bring it to Nexon levels? would make it a much better car!!

On the Figo, performance apart, it's size/presence/interiors competes more with Grand i10 or the Tiago rather than anything bigger such as the Altroz.

[fiat_tarun]

I think the Altroz is the hatch to buy if you want diesel. The Figo maybe more fun but the Altroz is a better all rounder. The huge price premium over the petrol is hard to justify but I think this has been done to slot the upcoming Turbo petrol in between.

I don't think there is any difference in the engine hardware compared to the Nexon. This is basically the Nexon engine without the Sport mode - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4369601 (Tata Nexon : Official Review)

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by GTO

. On the other hand, the Altroz is way more modern (Figo feels terribly old & outdated), has a 5-star safety rating, more solid build, far nicer cabin, sound system and German car-like high speed manners. Of course, if Tata brings the Nexon's higher power & torque to the Altroz, the discussion is over .

We'll create a poll next week in the "What Car" forum.

Reason a lot of us stay away from the Figo is because it feels like it is from a decade ago, while seated in.

Altroz is a better all rounder if you don't prioritize performance over everything else.

Altroz looks much better, built better, equipped better, is more spacious and has a much better ambience inside.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by Arjun Bharadwaj

Questions that remain are:

- How does the new diesel engine fare compared to the previous fiat MJD engines that they used say in Vista?

- State of engine tune is less than Nexon, as long as the engine components are the same, would it not be possible for aftermarket tuners to bring it to Nexon levels? would make it a much better car!!

This is not a new engine. It is a detuned version of the 4 cylinder 1500cc turbo diesel of Nexon. The engine is a workhorse and is known for its strong and punchy performance, frugal economy and good reliability. It is an excellent engine, much better than the 15 year old 1.3MJD.

While this engine is very much tunable, (some people claim as much as 150bhp), the limiting factor is the torque handling capacity of the gearbox. Altroz gets the old 5 speed manual which is limited to about 200Nm, while the Nexon’s 6 speed unit is good for 300Nm+. Of course you can bring it to Nexon levels, perhaps even more. But you are doing it at your own risk.

It’s an Octavia 1.8TSI kind of situation where the engine is capable of much more but is limited due to gearbox limitations. People still remap it, and are happy with it. But they can’t blame Skoda if the DSG fails.

[saion666]

I really like the Altroz. How much I wish that there was a petrol engine like the 1.2s of Suzuki or Hyundai under its bonnet.

Hopefully this car gets its true due in the diesel market.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by saion666

I really like the Altroz. How much I wish that there was a petrol engine like the 1.2s of Suzuki or Hyundai under its bonnet.

Hopefully this car gets its true due in the diesel market.

One must not forget that Suzuki’s 1.2K Series petrol engine powers featherweight tin cans masquerading as cars. They are 25-30% lighter than the Altroz. This weight advantage is massive and plays a big role in the kind of performance and efficiency people are able to extract. The same engine when powering a heftier car will feel a lot less impressive. It’s a decent engine, but not one I’ll sing praises about.

Why was the 1.3MJD more potent in the Swift and Dzire and not as much in Punto or Vista or Linea or Manza? It was the weight advantage enjoyed by the Marutis.

Hyundai’s 1.2NA is another lame duck engine that has been soldering on well beyond its expiry date. It is neither punchy nor efficient, the only good thing about it is it’s refinement. Honestly, the new turbo petrols from Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra and VW and Ford’s 1.2 Dragon have shown just how outdated most of our small capacity NA petrols are.

[saion666]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

One must not forget that Suzuki’s 1.2K Series petrol engine powers featherweight tin cans masquerading as cars. They are 25-30% lighter than the Altroz. This weight advantage is massive and plays a big role in the kind of performance and efficiency people are able to extract. The same engine when powering a heftier car will feel a lot less impressive. It’s a decent engine, but not one I’ll sing praises about.

Yes, you are right there. However considering that factor too ,the 1.2 k series will be a better one than the petrol in Altroz. Having driven a Tiago(with the same engine in a light car) extensively it is no match to the Swift.

Yes the turbos are modern and do take the level a notch higher but they are invariably always priced higher than expected. So in my opinion having a 'decent' NA petrol option in the portfolio at a VFM pricepoint should be a must for a mass market car like the Altroz unless ofcourse they price the turbo competitively.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by saion666

Having driven a Tiago(with the same engine in a light car) extensively it is no match to the Swift.

Disclaimer - I'm a fan of the K12 (and K10 also) myself & I don't think the 1.2 Revotron is the right engine for the Altroz.

However - the comparison between a Tiago and Swift to define which is a better engine is a bit skewed. The Tiago maybe lighter than an Altroz but its still around 80-100 KG heavier than the Swift (based on the information I could find on renowned sources like CarDekho etc). Thats like carrying 1 heavy built extra person onboard all the time as ballast. The engines can be compared realistically only if in the same car. Or on the dyno. Dyno seems to be giving both engines have pretty identical numbers for power & torque on paper.

Anyway - I think this is going off topic into petrol on a thread dedicated for the 1.5 Diesel Altroz review.

[charanreddy]

I wish Tata would just plonk the Nexon Diesel Engine and Gearbox combinations in the Altroz. The city mode in Nexon which is the same as the Altroz is definitely adequate, but the sport mode will take it to next level. For all it’s bad perception the AMT gearbox isn’t bad either.

Tata needs a winner / segment leader. Altroz has the potential but won’t get there without game changing features.

[Karthik Chandra]

TATA should change this strategy of phased launch. Had they launched Altroz with a Petrol/Turbo Petrol, Diesel, AT & MT, it would have been doing double the volumes it does now.

TATA Motors has been proactive in the recent past launching Nexon and Harrier mid variants with sunroof and there is something happening with the Nexon EV as well. I hope HBX is launched with all guns blazing right from the word go. Learn how to launch a car from Hyundai & Kia

Originally Posted by GTO

• Our test car had an absurd flat spot that reared its ugly head at some points. I saw it in 2nd gear @ 31 – 33 km/h where you’d feel like the fuel delivery is interrupted, accompanied by mild jerks. This gap in power seems to be some kind of mapping issue in the ECU. Solution? Increase or decrease the speed / rpm until Tata fixes it.

• Don’t know what it is with Tatas & bugs - The main ICE touchscreen froze up. It ended up displaying a song name & clock time that was long done with, but the MID was showing the correct, current track name + time.

Originally Posted by GTO

Look closely and you'll notice that the logo's position is a bit off-centre when compared to the rest of the car, especially the antenna. This lack of attention-to-detail isn't cool, Tata

I don't understand why TATA isn't able to get these small things right

Originally Posted by GTO

• Punchy mid-range. This car has almost double the torque of the petrol variant and it shows. Where the petrol is flat, this one’s mid-range is fun.

Low end driveability and a punchy mid range makes any diesel fun to drive. I like diesels with punchy mid range - I drive the Ecosport TDCi with the exact same characteristics.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Diesel variant carries an insane premium! Works out to ~2 lakh rupees on the road

Originally Posted by vishnurp99

I think this is a terribly overpriced car but maybe I am missing something here.

Actually no. Altroz diesel isn't overpriced. The price premium over petrol variant is higher but the pricing is in line with competition.

I had prepared the below chart when pricing was announced.



This was before BS6 implementation and the price of BS6 Altroz was on par with BS4 competition.

Post BS6, the only competition is i20 - Jazz, Polo and Baleno don't get BS6 diesel. i20 in BS4 from costed 9.41 before it was discontinued - so until the nextgen comes with BS6 diesel Altroz is the only premium hatch with a diesel option.

Currently Altroz XZ (O) costs 9.35 lacs and nextgen i20 BS 6 diesel Asta (O) might breach the 10 lac mark considering BS6 premium + premium for nextgen variant. But Hyundai will/might price it below the 10 lacs mark for obvious reason. Nextgen i20, when launched, will be the only competitor for Altroz in diesel form and it will be expensive by ~60k and of course it will have more features.

Since TATA priced the petrol competitively the price premium between petrol and diesel variant is higher.

Altroz petrol has the lowest starting price


* Polo base is NA petrol & top spec is turbo petrol

Had TATA launched Altroz with the Nexon tune it would have made the pricing value for money and I hope TATA will launch a sports edition with Nexon's tune.

[Ashwinbr]

What an Amazing 5star review!! I just dont need to go elsewhere to understand the nuances while test driving a car except for some videos. I have been reading reviews here and ours (Team BHPs) is supreme, is a benchmark and puts every other reviews to shame

Is there a possibility of introducing video reviews with this kind of detail?

[navpreet318]

I think Tata has a habit of missing the target purposely.
Along with the variants launched, they should have released a top end model with the full power of the 1.5D unit matched with a good torque convertor automatic transmission.
This would have been the Go To car for a lot of enthusiasts who want a quick car but to make it a daily driver they need an automatic to have a hassle free city drive.
The most ideal vehicle. And price it competitively to ensure good sales.