[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by rahulskumar

Tata should introduce diesel AT and the sales will skyrocket

Originally Posted by Strider24

I am eagerly waiting for its diesel AT variant as my father in law's i10 is due for a replacement soon.

A lot of people are waiting for Tata to get the AT box in the Altroz. I think Tata is worrying about Altroz AT stealing away sales from Nexon AMT/Punch AMT. What they miss to realize is that people are going to other brands because of the lack of AT in Altroz. A lot of people don't like the idea of Compact SUVs for many reasons.

Sunday Experimentation - Purely Highway Fuel Efficiency Check

Sunday morning is the only time I get to be relaxed and do other stuff rather than work. Decided to test highway fuel efficiency of the Altroz diesel in a rather very conservative sets of cruising speeds - 70 kmph & 100 kmph.

At Cruise Control set at 70 kmph

Distance driven : 32 km

Fuel efficiency (As per MID) : 28.4 kmpl!!



A breath-taking 28.4 kmpl! I should admit, it was boring as hell though

At Cruise Control set at 100 kmph

Distance driven : 32 km

Fuel efficiency (As per MID) : 23.7 kmpl



That's an impressive 23.7 kmpl. This run was pretty practical. 100 kmph cruising is perfect for the highways.

I should have topped up before the highway runs. Since I refilled just yesterday, I didn't top it up today morning. The car had run another 74 km excluding the 70kmph and 100 kmph cruising runs this morning. Of that 74 km, 30 was in city and 44 was in rural areas.

I refilled after the total run of 138 km, and the actual Fuel efficiency by tankfull method was a superb 23.59 kmpl



I was so glad that the MID figures were very close to the actual fuel efficiency considering that the 74km was driven on roads where frequent braking and gear changes had to be done and the average speed was no more than 30 kmph.

28 kmpl at 70 kmph on highways is stupendous!!
Even better than my Ciaz diesel. The best I had gotten from the ciaz was 25.6 kmpl. That too, altroz being 60 kg heavier than the ciaz.

Even 120 kmph cruising will return 21 kmpl!

All the more reason to feel happy to have bought Diesel altroz instead of polo/rapid tsi

My friend has taken delivery of his altroz XE petrol. The OTR price of 6.9 lakhs is amazing for a 5 star family hatchback! Heck my New celerio top end ZXI+ costed me 7.65 lakhs OTR!!

New addition to my garage. This car replaces my dad's 2016 53000 km Celerio ZXI(O)



The price difference between these two models of the same car is a whopping 4.25 lakhs!! XE petrol vs XZ+ diesel





Notice how wax treatment has given a distinctive advantage to my car vs my friend's brand new car.



Tata does not give an engine cover to petrol altroz



Meanwhile, the 5555 km milestone



Parked with the Vento. The fact that Altroz is 25mm wider than my ciaz, which itself was 30mm wider than the Vento is much evident in this pic



10 years of evolution. If you have to improve, improve like Tata





Signing off before the 2nd service update

[SavoyWalrus]

That's incredible fuel efficiency, far greater than the ARAI numbers too! Did you have to downshift much in this run? How does it fare when driven with a lot more spirit?

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

28 kmpl at 70 kmph on highways is stupendous!!
Even better than my Ciaz diesel. The best I had gotten from the ciaz was 25.6 kmpl. That too, altroz being 60 kg heavier than the ciaz.

Even 120 kmph cruising will return 21 kmpl!

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by SavoyWalrus

That's incredible fuel efficiency, far greater than the ARAI numbers too! Did you have to downshift much in this run? How does it fare when driven with a lot more spirit?

This was completely done in 5th gear with almost no gear shifts, except for a handful of times when I had to slow down in toll plaza, for barricades and for slower moving traffic.

My driving style is 60% fast and 40% of the times sedate. The car has never returned less than 16 kmpl. Overall fuel efficiency so far stands at 19 kmpl

Yes, 28 is more than the ARAI number of 25 kmpl for Altroz diesel. I have obtained better numbers in my other cars too,
Storme Varicor for example has an ARAI figure of 13 kmpl while I have gotten 17.9 kmpl at best

Kwid has an ARAI figure of 23 kmpl while my kwid has returned me 26.25 kmpl actual fuel efficiency.

It's all about driving style. Keeping the engine running at lower RPMs, anticipating braking, gradual acceleration and coasting whenever possible.

[SavoyWalrus]

That's pretty impressive!

Which driving mode do you usually use on your highway runs on the Altroz?

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

This was completely done in 5th gear with almost no gear shifts, except for a handful of times when I had to slow down in toll plaza, for barricades and for slower moving traffic.

My driving style is 60% fast and 40% of the times sedate. The car has never returned less than 16 kmpl. Overall fuel efficiency so far stands at 19 kmpl

Yes, 28 is more than the ARAI number of 25 kmpl for Altroz diesel. I have obtained better numbers in my other cars too,
Storme Varicor for example has an ARAI figure of 13 kmpl while I have gotten 17.9 kmpl at best

Kwid has an ARAI figure of 23 kmpl while my kwid has returned me 26.25 kmpl actual fuel efficiency.

It's all about driving style. Keeping the engine running at lower RPMs, anticipating braking, gradual acceleration and coasting whenever possible.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by SavoyWalrus

That's pretty impressive!

Which driving mode do you usually use on your highway runs on the Altroz?

Thanks!

I always use City mode, on highways, in city and in rural areas.

I hate the eco mode. Honestly eco mode is unnecessary in an engine like the 1.5 diesel of Altroz.

[PrasannaDhana]

Bidding goodbye to 2021

Odo: 6003 km

Altroz has completed 2 months of flawless, pleasurable service with me.

The 6k milestone



December was not hectic with respect to Altroz usage as I drove all 3 other cars of mine, storme for 500 km, kwid for 300 km and new celerio for 300 km this month.

Altroz saw slightly shy of 2600 km usage in December.

The overall fuel efficiency for the month of December 2021 as per MID is 18.6 kmpl



While the figure from tankful to tankful for the month is
18.3 kmpl. Not bad at all



I have started to love Android Auto, though it is not wireless.

Wishing everyone a Wonderful, Prosperous and Joyous New Year 2022!!

Looking forward to clocking more pleasurable miles on this red beauty!

[chaksjr]

This ownership review pushes me more and more towards the Altroz and more so the diesel every time I read through. Have a great 2022 Prasanna!

[daspranab]

A naïve curiosity: How long can the BS 6 diesel Altroz be kept idle at home (you mentioned 4 days)? If one doesn't drive (due to pandemic) for, say, one month, there will be no accumulation of particles in the DPF: am i right? Only when driven at city speeds for long duration, the need for regeneration arises, isn't it?

In this respect, driving only in city speeds apart, BS 6 diesel and petrol are equivalent, can I say?

[daspranab]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Bidding goodbye to 2021

Looking forward to clocking more pleasurable miles on this red beauty!

Congratulations on your precious possession

[PrasannaDhana]

2nd Service Completed

Odo : 6530 km

The Altroz was left for 2nd service today. Just routine inspection and fluids top up if necessary.

The car was delivered back in the evening. The wash was shabby. I have come to peace with the fact that all manufacturers have started to do a very shabby job of washing the cars after service. Be it Maruti or Renault or Tata, wash is something that leaves me wanting.

Another very irritating thing that they do at the service is applying dash polish all over the cabin I usually inform them not to. This time, I forgot to do so.



Tata service is busy!!



Total bill amount was 590 rupees. The next service will be the proper service involving engine oil replacement and replacement of filters. It is at 15000 km or say, in the month of March


Service bill



I always document service records properly. This is how 5 years and 134000 km of maintenance records of my Ciaz were kept



The same will be done for the Altroz



Meanwhile, I drove the new Celerio to work today



The lifeless vague steering of new celerio made me realize how much I miss Altroz's lovely steering. But the new celerio is a champ in its area of expertise - Fuel efficiency . Returned an awesome 21.1 kmpl even in dense rural traffic



This is how altroz greeted me in the evening at the dealer



Now some pics











And a small clip of how cornering fog lamps work

[Shanksta]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Odo : 6530 km

The Altroz was left for 2nd service today. Just routine inspection and fluids top up if necessary.

Happy New Year Prasanna.

Always a joy to read your regular updates. The Altroz is a champ, my friend's white XZ which I had mentioned regarding the DPF getting clogged has run 17k kms now and is doing perfectly fine. He too got his 3rd service done recently and was all praises for Kaveri Tata.

When his car was brought in for the 15k kms service to Kaveri Tata, they noticed a minute oil leak near the transmission when the car was hoisted on the car lift. Kaveri Tata replaced his crankshaft oil seal under warranty and also delivered his car home(~120kms away) free of cost.

The job took them 2 days to complete. Now my friend is a careful driver however he guesses this might be due to car bottoming out(which he never even heard or felt) during one of his earlier trips to Ooty. However there were no traces of impact observed on the housing. Looks like we need to try and source or fabricate an engine guard for the Altroz.

[KPR]

Very good to see your diesel Altroz is frugal and niggle free. Closely following your updates and maybe this could replace my Punto in 2022. Altroz straight away is winning premium diesel hatchback segment in India with nil competition .

My wishes in Altroz:
1. Among diesel Altroz-es Red and White colours are good and neat looking. Red no doubt is great but I wish Tata had given a Polo/Rapid/Punto's bright Red for the top variant diesel. The gloss black roof in such a red will be more sporty. Current red is more elegant looking and less sporty.
2. Tata should bring that dark edition to the top most diesel variant.

How is the GC behaving when fully loaded? Any incident of scraping?

[Autobots]

Hi Prasanna, Happy new year!!

Your articles are really informative and even played a big part in my decision to buy Altroz. I have got my white diesel Altroz on first of January and have only driven 340 kms. Will share my experience and photos after my first service. The experience has been good so far however would like to have your comments on the below

1. The gear shift is very rubbery and I have great difficulty in smoothly slotting in 2nd gear. I have been previously driving Toyota Liva for 9 years (diesel)
2. There is bit of jerk or loss of power between 1500 and 2000 rpm (speed of around 25-30 km)

Would like to hear from you. Thank you

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by Shanksta

Happy New Year Prasanna.

He too got his 3rd service done recently and was all praises for Kaveri Tata.

When his car was brought in for the 15k kms service to Kaveri Tata, they noticed a minute oil leak near the transmission when the car was hoisted on the car lift. Kaveri Tata replaced his crankshaft oil seal under warranty and also delivered his car home(~120kms away) free of cost.

The job took them 2 days to complete. Now my friend is a careful driver however he guesses this might be due to car bottoming out(which he never even heard or felt) during one of his earlier trips to Ooty. However there were no traces of impact observed on the housing. Looks like we need to try and source or fabricate an engine guard for the Altroz.

Happy New Year!

I met your friend on the D-day of my Altroz at Kaveri Tata. He was a nice guy. Great to know his car is munching miles fast. IIRC he was at 10k km in October 2021.

Kaveri Tata is doing a good job in all areas. They are also expanding to newer locations. Right now they have Tata dealerships at Madurai, Trichy, Perambalur and 15 days back, they started one at Ariyalur too.

Originally Posted by KPR

Very good to see your diesel Altroz is frugal and niggle free. Closely following your updates and maybe this could replace my Punto in 2022. Altroz straight away is winning premium diesel hatchback segment in India with nil competition .

My wishes in Altroz:
1. Among diesel Altroz-es Red and White colours are good and neat looking. Red no doubt is great but I wish Tata had given a Polo/Rapid/Punto's bright Red for the top variant diesel. The gloss black roof in such a red will be more sporty. Current red is more elegant looking and less sporty.
2. Tata should bring that dark edition to the top most diesel variant.

How is the GC behaving when fully loaded? Any incident of scraping?

Altroz diesel definitely will be a worthy & perfect replacement to your Punto.

It is more spacious, more refined, faster, more economical to run, has a shorter clutch travel, lighter clutch, equally impressive steering and suspension making it as much fun to drive as the Punto. Looks & 5 star safety are bonuses.

I totally am with you with the shade of red. I am fanatically in love with the Flash red of VAG cars. Heck, even their own Tiago and Nexon are being sold in that shade of bright red.

But then, the current red isn't much different from it though. Here is a pic with a Montecarlo Red Rapid. The latter definitely is more sporty(a bit "in your face" for conservative types, which I am absolutely not lol).



Regarding dark edition, Tata may not do it as it will increase the price by another 20k. They don't give 2 tweeters (diesel top end gets only 6 speakers while petrol top end gets 8!) and 195 mm tyres to keep cost in check. With both these additions + dark shade, the diesel top end will retail at 11.5 lakhs OTR (now it is at 11.2). I mean, we won't mind paying 30k extra but Tata board rooms think differently.

I have fallen in love with this red from day 1



I have had no issues of scraping so far, even when loaded with 4 adults + 1 kid and 2 large luggages. Tata recommends 35 psi. I maintain 34 psi if 4 are going to be traveling in it. Otherwise 31 psi is optimal for my usage.

I drive over some bad rural roads with mega speed breakers. Not once has it scraped the underbody. I had only one instance of mild scraping, where a speed breaker had a pothole at the end of it. Even then the part that scraped was the front bottom flap, whose function I am not sure if it's guarding engine from debris or aerodynamics.

Here, this flap part scraped once



Luckily no damages whatsoever. From then on, I navigate that particular speed bump/pothole with extra care at slower speed avoiding any scraping at all.

Originally Posted by Autobots

Hi Prasanna, Happy new year!!

Your articles are really informative and even played a big part in my decision to buy Altroz. I have got my white diesel Altroz on first of January and have only driven 340 kms.

1. The gear shift is very rubbery and i have great difficuin smoothly slotting in 2nd gear. I have been previously driving Toyota liva for 9 years( diesel)
2. There is bit of jerk or loss of power between 1500 and 2000 rpm ( speed of around 25-30 km)

Congratulations on the new car & Happy New Year!!

1. I think it will improve with more mileage it clocks. That being said, I had no issues with gear slotting since day 1.

2. This issue was indicated in the official review of diesel Altroz by GTO too. Fortunately I haven't had any such jerks or loss of power. I specifically tested it at 2nd as well as 3rd gears today at 1500-2000 rpm after reading your post, in both eco and City modes. Mine has no such jerks. The only thing I noticed in my ownership was the EGR flap noise that comes at 1400-1700 rpm, only when the foot is taken off the A pedal. Upon discussing with my friends who work with Engine R&D department, it is said to be normal. I have documented it in the first few posts of this review.



I got the TeamBHP stickers delivered today. My favorite is the new LTD sticker, which found its way to the beautiful rear of the Altroz.



The beautiful new LTD sticker







The remaining stickers



LCLC sticker will go on to my friend's new Baleno and the ever famous/favorite LTD sticker is reserved for my brother's Dark Harrier

[PrasannaDhana]

Just passing by with a fancy odo : 7070 km








With the big boys






Altroz with my friend's Nissan 370Z. Drove that beast for a while. I don't think I could say anything about it here without getting infracted It was awesome to say the least.





Also contemplating 7D floor mats. Reading reports that 7D mats provide some level of insulation from road noise. Will be helpful specially that the goodyears are vocal.