Exterior
Smooth body lines without undue creases and cuts, I feel the car has unique styling, looks clean and fresh. With its beautifully designed front fascia, complete make over at the back (unlike its ancestors: Indica and Bolt) car does manage to impress everyone. Nicely shaped headlights slightly bulged out from its body.
Night visibility is just OK, projector headlights of Tigor have better illumination.
Tall antenna that too over front part of roof was an eyesore, Tata should have given short stubby/shark fin antenna over back side of roof.
Minimal use of chrome looks better, one of my friends got Nexon and did huge chrome treatment over front grill area, it was horrible.
The rear windshield looks smaller and has semi circular shaped defogger. I'm glad that Tata gave up the tall tail lamps running from top to bottom and gave Tiago small funky tail lamp design. Rear part of Tiago has resemblance to that of Ford Figo, even latest offering from Hyundai, Nios has a similar rear design.
Interior
While sitting on driver seat 1st thing you'll notice is feature loaded center console, ODO meter, 2 trip meters, distance to empty, instant fuel economy, current gear, expected up shift/down shift, precise door as well as boot open indicator, LED fuel and engine temperature indicators, RPM pointer which turns red above 4000 rpm mark, enough features for a car in the segment.
If had an option, I would have chosen black colored plastic surrounding the dial. I always try to keep the car in stock condition, so no idols, no hanging teddies/air fresheners, no wraps.
I never used NaviMaps navigation on my Tiago, google maps connected via Bluetooth gives audio instructions and it works for me.
With total of 4 speakers 4 tweeters, Harman music system can produce excellent quality sound, non Harman music system car owners will realise it more. I recommend playing MP3 songs with 320 kbps bit rate for quality audio experience. Although specified, Speed dependent volume control is there in the car, I haven't noticed how exactly it works, or it's just a marketing gimmick.
At times music system show few glitches, specially when some new phone is paired or when you put reverse gear, the system gets disconnected from Bluetooth and it restarts. My humble Moto Z2 play works perfectly, apparently music system doesn't agree to work with my wife's Samsung, it just disconnect itself after playing few of her favourite songs (attaboy!)
Body colored AC vents look pretty awesome (sunburst orange and berry red colors only). Piano black finish near music system and near hand rest area looks perfect. There are plenty of storage spaces which include AC cooled glow box (not so useful as AC itself is weak, at least in my car.)
There is small carry bag holder hook near passenger foot well, also coat hook at rear side which are handy at times (I never used them even once)
AC struggles to chill the car, rather I'll say, it can cool the car and not chill. Had few embarrassing moments with friends when AC couldn't show its performance. With my experience, getting beige colored jute/cotton type seat covers helps AC to cool the car more efficiently. (Previously I had black colored leather like material seat covers which use to give me sweat-bath on a daily basis.) I noted, AC works better in lower gears and in City mode. Suppose If car was sunbathing for some time then better lower the windows for a while than asking AC to cool. I haven't installation any kind of sun film on the windshield and windows, that could be a supportive factor for poor AC performance.
I had cleaned AC filter last year (with 3M car shampoo) located near passenger foot well. It's a simple DIY, four small screws to remove the filter.
Before After
AC performance has slight improvement after the clean up.
Seats are very comfortable, they are neither too hard nor too soft. Maximum I have driven 700 KMS in a day and not faced fatigue at the end of the journey. Front two seats get adjustable head rest, nice touch for a mid segment hatch. The driver seat gets height adjustment unlike other cars in the segment, nifty feature indeed.
With taller driver/passenger in the front, Rear seat faces the crunch and rear passenger get lesser leg room. But one can not expect much from a mid size hatchback. The rear seat is better for smaller adults and children.
Very basic pull up type door knobs in otherwise nicely designed car is beyond my understanding. Those knobs have screw type fitment at its base, which tend to get loose over the period, few clockwise rotation makes them tight again. I have seen many owners with loose knobs eventually leading to ejection from its base. Not that it's hard to repair but simple rotation maneuver prevents a service center visit
Engine and gear box
I have driven both petrol and diesel variants, it's not like petrol is super silent, both engines make descent sound. 1049cc Diesel engine produce enough power for day to day city commute, with nice low end torque one can drive at 2nd/3rd gear in city traffic. Many owners including me, found power lag in second gear.
At highway car can cruise at 80 to 100 Km/h without getting exhausted. Car does struggle while overtaking at the highway, It's better to plan to overtake rather than flooring the A paddle (some may not feel the same, maybe it's because of my sedate driving nature)
Gear box is one of the best in the segment. Small gear stick is well within reach and has Buttery smooth gear shift. It's not rubbery or hard feel like some other cars in the segment. Compared with its elder family member Manza, I feel Tiago has better gear box.
In reverse gear car has whining sound (which is normal), giving first time car buyers a reason to worry.
Sometimes reverse gear doesn't get engaged properly, trick is to apply 3 second rule.
Some owners complained about gear stick vibrations (can be easily fixed at the service center), my car has no gear stick vibrations at all.
Ride and Handling
Steering is definitely the plus side of this car, it's precise, light to handle at low speed (not as light as Hyundai cars), once car picks up speed, steering gains considerable weight, feels steady at high speed, return to center works perfect. Turning radius of the car is bit large, unlike some of its competitors.
With disc brakes in the front, I have not faced any problem about braking, for me it's adequate.
As mentioned earlier car has that diesel clutter, even when you are standing a bit far from the car, Once you are in the car with all windows rolled it gets reduced to some extent. Thanks to the neatly done bonnet and firewall insulation, Engine sounds reduction is noticeable. Of course, you can hear the engine running but to diesel car that's acceptable.
One strange thing I would like to mention here, After long distance traveling, lugging like situations at low speed, engine makes this strange sound (Knocking sound), you have to downshift the gear to vanish that strange sound. I have noticed it many times.
Suspension and ground clearance
Tiago has a bit bouncy and stiffer suspension, Car manages small potholes and bad road patches well. I like Hyundai cars softer suspension (maybe grass is greener on other side of the river).
Ground clearance is okay for day to day speed breakers. Till today, the car had touched the under body twice or thrice. I have seen people with kwid complaining about ground clearance (which has more ground clearance than Tiago), but it's not just cars ground clearance, it depends on road conditions as well as suspension setup of the car. Overall it's good and more than enough for Indian road conditions.
Safety features
Equipped with safety features, dual front airbags, Antilock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Corner Stability Control (CSC), and rear parking sensors.
Thick sheet metal, feel of doors while closing are pretty solid, unlike MSIL, TML has not done cost-cutting in safety department and it speaks for itself in NCAP test results.
Fuel Economy
About 3 years back, my workplace changed to a 25 KMS far location, with pretty much straight but not so good road with moderate traffic.
City driving is very less, with bumper to bumper traffic, the car has FE around 13 to 15 km/l. The highway runs can give better results ranging from 20 to 24 km/l.
MID has very optimistic way to exaggerate the fuel economy on display, sedate driving ~80 to 85 km/h on the highway with AC, it reaches up to 28 km/l (even 30 km/l without AC), in reality with tank full method FE comes around 4 to 5 Km lesser than the display figure.