[powerband_rider]

[Two nitpicks that I would like to share once again.[list=1]
[*]The underpowered engine. Enough said!!
The fantastic gearbox is let down by the underpowered engine. The box shifts smoothly and quickly, but the engine takes its own sweet time to get into the power band and push the car ahead. Plus the heavy car doesn't make it easy for the engine either.


Man this is hardly a nitpick! I realised this recently when I took the car to Oxford hill for a sunset drive. Steep inclines are a task and you need to plan your moves well. I was behind a mini truck (again a Tata!) which struggled to clear a steep bend and stopped abruptly, which made me stop halfway through the climb. Now, as soon as you lift of the brake, the car starts rolling backwards and the accelerator shove just isn’t enough to push it ahead. Had to jam the handbrake and mash the pedal then release it!
This happened on another occasion while reversing.
The least that Tata needs to do is provide hill-hold for this engine.
Not cool at all.
Other daily duties are carrying on smoothly.

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by powerband_rider

Now, as soon as you lift of the brake, the car starts rolling backwards and the accelerator shove just isn’t enough to push it ahead. Had to jam the handbrake and mash the pedal then release it!

This happens if the you shift the car in neutral. If it's in "D", then the hill hold function does work. But yes, this is the kind of scenario where you wish they had plonked in a better engine in the car, for that additional power!

[PerfectCar404]

Gents, I have booked a DCA
I would like to know what is the top speed of this if anyone has tried
Also, what are the Highway rpms in 6th gear manual mode used(this is an advantage over manual 5 speed)
At 100, 110, 120, 130, 140kmph

[W.A.G.7]

Our Altroz completed the second servicing in the last week of February. The Odometer stands at ~2758 km overall. The second service is only a general checkup, there is no "servicing" done as such. They will check and top up fluids and hand over the car. Our 2nd checkup bill came to around 1700/- INR.

The second service experience this time was average though. They forgot to adjust the windshield washer spray, in spite of having been told twice. The car was not washed too. The lady of the house did not take these things so kindly!

Within no time, a horde of technicians was all over the car. One vacuuming, two adjusting the wiper spray, one cleaning the interior and one cleaning the exterior. To summarize the experience, Garve Tata service centre could have managed the whole second service without all the 15-minute drama. But... some people only learn the hard way.

However, this was a learning experience for us as well -

1. We realized that that second checkup doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes. But service centre folks will call you only at 3 pm in the afternoon saying you can come now, the car has gone for washing. God knows how they can have so much idle time from 9 am in the morning and yet not get things done.
2. Unless you raise your voice, the general attitude of the service centre folks would be to avoid as much work as possible. At the same time, they will try to charge you for each and everything under the sun.
3. Read the service bill thoroughly to avoid them taking you for a ride! In our case, had we not checked the car and the invoice before paying, we realized that they would have charged us for "Nothing" done during the day.
4. If you want to make someone's day really really miserable in a horrible way (the service advisor) you can trust your wife to do it for you. I am sure he will not forget this Altroz for the rest of his life. While leaving, he was pleading with me to talk to her and not give negative feedback. I said "Why don't you talk to her directly?" to which he promptly replied, "No way, I have already been run over in the last 15 minutes; I cannot risk it again!" Those who know Marathi will understand - "tya ekdam angavar ch aalya, at mi kay bolu!"
5. Match the owner's manual and verify that whatever has been mentioned under the service part is done and nothing else has been added to the invoice. This I believe has been highlighted in multiple threads on the forum, but you have to push the SA really hard and stubbornly refuse to pay anything over and above what is actually done.

On other fronts, the car is performing extremely well. The engine seems to have settled down after 6 months of usage. The gearbox is slick shifting and we are loving it. The car is seeing the usual Nal Stop to EON free zone route twice or thrice a week and it is very much at home in dense bumper-to-bumper traffic. The average fuel efficiency is now up to 13-13.5 km per litre, which is still okay for an underpowered heavy hatchback in heavy traffic both ways. We don't expect it will go beyond this range, we are okay with it for now.

Usual nicks and cuts are in the order, the car was already bumped twice by two-wheelers in traffic, and multiple scratches now adorn the wing mirrors and doors. But it still looks nice and shining after a good wash. Here's a picture of the beauty at night.



We do intend to get a dashcam though - it has become a necessity nowadays. There is also a long trip planned but we don't know when it will happen. Although it will surely be sometime in March or April.

Originally Posted by PerfectCar404

Also, what are the Highway rpms in 6th gear manual mode used(this is an advantage over manual 5 speed)
At 100, 110, 120, 130, 140kmph

We never tried the very top speed, and I don't think we will ever go beyond 100-105 km/h ever. However, it can cruise comfortably at 100-110 km/h. The drawback is the engine has a pretty loud raspy note at that speed, you will get used to it. I did not check the RPM though. This car is meant for the sedate driver. Push it too hard and the drawbacks of the 82ps power output become evident. The engine is not able to match the slick-shifting DCA gearbox and doesn't complement the beautiful chassis and surefire gearbox. In the city however it is a different story altogether.

Personally, I would not recommend going above 80-90kmph on Indian roads - they can be very unpredictable!

[Altrozed]

Good to see your car updates again.
So your car went to service based on Months rather than Kms. I own a Dark XZA + and now stands 3700kms. Planning to pen down but dont have too many pics to upload.

Also you were saying about the service cost. The service app tells you how much need to pay well in advance unless there are additional charges.

Exactly, 110-120kmph is best range for this car. Good mileage and easy control for surprises.

The car isnt so noisy unless someone stands on A pedal. The sound is plesant for my ears.

Mileage looks decent for this size and weight.

Yes, the service center waste a lot of time. Best is to book on week days and try spending 2 3 hrs there itself.

[condor]

Good to see the updates on your Altroz, and the FE you are getting.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

God knows how they can have so much idle time from 9 am in the morning and yet not get things done.[*]Unless you raise your voice, the general attitude of the service centre folks would be to avoid as much work as possible.

Always build a good relationship with the SA. Any brand, any dealership. My old SA's and even the technicians/mechanics are in touch with me

About the work, let's give them some space. Every dealership has the same issues - work pressure, internal relationships between the levels of hierarchy. I have been able to get onto the shop floor many a time, and heard the conversations. Due to my relationship with the people, they have shared what they go through. We cant change anything in there, but your SA can make a difference for you.

[W.A.G.7]

So yesterday, we took out our Altroz on a highway trip. This was a long pending trip to Akkalkot around ~290 km from Pune. We wanted to visit Akkalkot for a long time but could make it only yesterday due to work and personal commitments. This was also a good drive to test out the highway manners of the Altroz.

We started from Pune at 5.00 AM in the morning and reached Akkalkot at 10.00 AM, after having a breakfast break in Solapur around 8.45 AM. The Pune > Solapur > Akkalkot stretch is excellent and we could hold on to speeds of 90-100 kph. There was hardly any traffic on the road, possibly because of the ongoing SSC and HSC exams and also due to the fact that we started early. The only traffic we ever encountered was during the last one hour of the return leg. From Hadapsar to Nal Stop (a distance of hardly 19-20 km), we took an hour and 15 minutes, which was too much considering that we had done Pune to Solapur to Akkalkot in 4 hours and 45 minutes!!

Anyways, to come back to the car here are our observations -

1. The road manners are pretty good. In fact, the handling is exceptional and the car feels stable and planted on the road.
2. It can consistently pull on 80-90-100 km/h without breaking into a sweat. There's a caveat though - push it beyond 100 and the raspy note of the engine turns loud which after some time becomes an "ear-sore".
3. The comfort zone of the car is between 80-100 km/h. The power band is sufficient in this range and it can comfortably cruise all day long.
4. The fuel efficiency that we managed to eke out from the car was 17.7 km/l., whereas the maximum fuel efficiency we managed was 19.7 km/l. As I had mentioned in the previous post, the combined fuel efficiency in the city + highway driving cycle was 13.6 km/l - which I feel is pretty decent for a heavy car with a puny engine. We had to refill in Solapur while returning back to Pune.
5. The DCA gearbox worked perfectly for the whole drive. The shifts were not noticeable at all and they shifted precisely and perfectly for every occasion. There was not a moment where we felt that it was hunting for the right gear, it managed to stay in the right gear/powerband for the whole trip.
6. The suspension setup is good - in fact the layman will not be able to point any bounciness or thuds when going through potholes. The suspension manages to cover up anything that you throw at it, on the road.
7. The Goodyear ATM2 tyres are very nice - in fact, I am much relieved that a manufacturer is finally using better quality tyres; as compared to the OEM MRF ZVTv's or MRF ZV2K's in all our previous cars. There's hardly any road noise and they have a good grip on the road.
8. My wife drove the car for almost the entire trip and she didn't feel tired at all. We took breaks for 2-3 minutes after driving every 100-120 km just to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. She also didn't have any fatigue yesterday evening after returning back from the trip - which according to me translates as they (Tata) have got the ergonomics and comfort aspect correct.

Here are a couple of pictures from the whole drive/trip -

The combined fuel efficiency for the city and highway driving cycle.


Here is the light spread from the stock headlamps. I am happy with the spread and reach of the lamps. As a comparison, this needs to be checked in rainy season / foggy weather to find out if it is as good as this one in clear weather.


Looks nice, doesn't it?


Another good-looking angle!


I feel this is the best view of the car, the black accents look good, and from a distance, you can hardly make out any swirls on those.


Here's a view of the 90-degree opening doors. There's a practical difficulty though - You can't stretch and pull those towards yourself if you have your seatbelt on.
Trivia - What do you find inside the door once it is opened? Stickers!!


Here's a shot of the maximum fuel efficiency that the Altroz managed on the trip.


The sunglass compartment/holder is not lined - the result is that the sunglasses keep rattling and shifting position in the tiny space. Possibly a lid would have also helped here.


Here are the reflections on the windscreen in the hot sunny weather, somewhere between Solapur and Akkalkot.


Beautiful roads - these deserve a more powerful engine!


One more observation - while the centre screen is pretty bright and nice, it still has a lot of reflections due to the wide front windshield. Lots of glass area means a lot of sunlight filters in through the front!


Another ergonomic nitpick - the elbow rest in the front door fouls with the cap of your water bottle. If the cap is loose, it will be knocked off into some unknown corner in your front footwell! Good luck finding it in the moving car then!


Here's the final pic of the odometer when we ended the trip yesterday.


The odometer stands at ~3600 km as I write this post. We are very satisfied with the DCA gearbox so far. The automatic takes a whole load off your mind when you go for a drive and we are loving it so far.

Another thing - while the 82ps engine is definitely underpowered and is the only weak link in an otherwise complete package, it is still livable for 95% of the populace. In fact, for most people (for example, my non-automotive-inclined Mrs) this may not even be a consideration. Don't get me wrong, this is an engine which will do 90% of the things correctly and will be sufficient for the habitat for which the car is designed - the cityscape.

For purists like us, though; the shortcomings of the 3 pot motor are evident and the yearning for more power to complement the beautiful gearbox and planted chassis is something that you keep on asking - "Why in the world do they not offer DCA with the i-Turbo version?" Heck, if they had one; we would have got the i-Turbo+DCA combo without even batting an eyelid.

So, just hoping that Tata listens to the feedback and offers this combination; as an option at least.

[condor]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Another thing - while the 82ps engine is definitely underpowered and is the only weak link in an otherwise complete package, it is still livable for 95% of the populace..

Just checking for DCA feedback even as I called my cousin in Akkalkot, and I come to your post.

The power rating of the engine is what's holding me back, but I am going to try the DCA soon. Again, this would be for my wife as possible replacement for the A-Star, but not decided when at the moment. Btw, what's the city FE ?

[W.A.G.7]

Originally Posted by condor

Btw, what's the city FE?

We are getting anywhere between 11 and 12 km per litre in the city. This observation is from the display on the dashboard only - we haven't used any app (e.g. Fuelio) or the tankful-to-tankful method.

Our car sees heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic for the better part of its weekly to and fro journeys, so we don't expect that the city F.E. will increase beyond 12-12.5 km per litre.

[W.A.G.7]

Some 2-3 weeks ago, my wife was travelling to her office and the TPMS system showed a low tyre pressure warning. She stopped mid-way and checked; the front left tyre was really low on air. Thankfully there is no dearth of puncture repair shops on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway, so she limped over to the first available shop.

The guy checked the tyre and said it was okay, but diagnosed the problem as a bad valve. The valve was leaking air and when they checked, the pressure was down to ~22 PSi only. He changed the valve right away- since he didn't have the correct one in stock, he put in an MRF valve as a replacement. Net damage to the pocket - INR 350/- and an hour on the hot and dusty road.

However, I am not sure how the TPMS will work correctly with an MRF valve and a Good Year tyre.

Here's the TPMS warning - the photo was taken today - because my wife hadn't reset the warning on that day! For me, this was a new discovery though. I don't know why, but till now I had always thought the TPMS was available only in the XZA+ version and not in the XZA (ours). I am happy that we got this system enabled by default.


And here is a photo of the new MRF valve. Trivia - what do you find inside the disk brake? Stickers! This car is really overloaded with stickers!!


The other update is that the car is nearing 4000 km on the odometer. We are happy with the way the car is progressing. I will keep posting the updates as and when they happen, a couple of trips are planned in the coming year. The third service will happen sometime in August 2023 - so we hope to complete around 7000 km till that time; 10000 km seems a bit of a stretch.

[W.A.G.7]

So, we crossed the mileage figure of 4000 km. Admittedly a puny amount of kilometres compared to what some of the cars here on team-bhp do, but for us it is one of the highest mileage in a span of 10 months - our previous cars had seen much less mileage in their first year of ownership. I will put up some pictures of the car tomorrow. But overall, just the standard things to report.

• The car is performing its daily duties efficiently. To and fro commute must be around ~40 km round trip from home to office.
• The overall average fuel efficiency is hovering between 11 and 12 km/l; which is understandable as the air conditioner is being used full time and also the trips to the office are in peak traffic conditions.
• The DCA gearbox has made us converts - our future cars would be automatics only. It's probably the feature of the car, that we have come to love a lot.
• We have been diligently shifting the car to 'N' when we stop at signals. Given the fact that this is a DCA gearbox and so far, the reports for any dual clutch gearbox on the forum are to tread with caution; we are also being quite careful.
• The other thing that we follow with the gearbox is - after starting the car, move the gearbox from 'P' to 'N', release the handbrake and then shift to 'D' or 'R', as the case may be. I honestly don't remember why we started doing this, but now this has been the norm for both of us.
• The jerky behaviour on shifting to reverse that we had noticed some posts back, is now non-existent. We have tried multiple ways of replicating it, but so far we haven't been able to simulate the jerky behaviour again. So, if your car has the behaviour, it is best to get it checked from the service centre.
• The Harman system is excellent. Neither of us is an audio person, so we are satisfied with the "default" audio quality from the system.
• The replaced tire valve hasn't given us any problems so far. It has held on well. The TPMS system has not shown any warning after it was reset. I can now say that the Good Year ATM 2 tires are much better than the oem MRF ones that we had experienced so far.
• The interiors are put together well and we haven't seen any loose bits or rattling till now. The only problematic thing that we observed so far is the driver height adjustment is off. If we set it at the highest position, then we notice that in a couple of days the seat "sinks" back to the lowermost position. We had raised this query in the last free checkup but the service centre folks brushed it off as saying they were not able to replicate it. We will get it checked once again in August, not a deal breaker for us.
• The air conditioner is excellent, and we have to tone it down to speed 1 or 2 after 15-20 minutes. The automatic climate control system works well and cools the cabin down in no time even if used during the the afternoon sun. So much so, that we have to divert the air vents from the hands on the steering else, they start getting cold!

10 months later, I can now say that this is a very good urban commuter and is extremely comfortable to drive in the cityscape. The car looks fab, has a small footprint, a decent engine till 100 kmph and none of the head bobs of an AMT gearbox. Some pictures will follow soon...!

[condor]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

[*]We have been diligently shifting the car to 'N' when we stop at signals. Given the fact that this is a DCA gearbox and so far, the reports for any dual clutch gearbox on the forum are to tread with caution; we are also being quite careful.

Dont remember the specific post, but remember watching a video about the dual-clutch gearboxes and such traffic. These gear-boxes can withstand the signal-type stops, but it's the bumper to bumper traffic where one inches ahead in inches, is where the DCT's take a beating. Dry clutch DCT's take a beating. I think the DCA was a work around for this, plus the wet-clutch setup.

[ashutoshb]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

10 months later, I can now say that this is a very good urban commuter and is extremely comfortable to drive in the cityscape.

Thanks for calling it what it was supposed to be. An urban commuter with a smooth, jerk free transmission.

When people heard 'dual clutch', they immediately assumed performance and missed the point, that the purpose here was completely different.

[W.A.G.7]

So, a couple of pictures here. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Starting with the fuel efficiency. The highway runs are not the Altroz's forte, but strangely enough the car returns decent fuel efficiency even when pushed hard! And funnily enough, its area of expertise is city traffic, where it returns a comparitively lower 11-12 kmpl (for a hatchback). I would have expected 13-15 in the city and slightly higher than 18-19 on the highways. But... the DCA gearbox more than makes up for lower fuel efficiency! Oh, the irony!
Here is an example run from Pune to Satara (~110 kms) done over on Saturday.


Continuing with the above, here is the combined fuel efficiency of Pune+Satara city driving and highway run (both to and fro). Just for the record, I returned today morning. We used the car on the weekend in Satara. Another thing to note is the TPMS warning. Guess, I spoke too soon in the previous post. This one showed up today while coming back. I stopped and checked all tires at Shirwal, but all of them were in perfect condition. I think it may have to be reset, but if it shows up again, then I think we can attribute it to the tire where the valve was changed and redirect an investigation into that.


One of the best looking angles. One wash and the paint shines through. Looks really beautiful.


This is another angle that I really love looking at. It looks beautiful.


Front view.


A close look at the swirls on the piano black finish. While they are not visible much from a distance, every wash and dry cycles seems to aggravate the situation!


Another thing that we noticed is that the Tata logo on the alloys, has faded. Or rather the plastic cover on the logo has faded. There's brake dust as well, but still the logo looks rather dull. And yes, there's a sticker as well! They didn't forget the alloys too, from stickering them up.


On the story of stickers, here's the VIN number pasted inside the driver side door. Can you imagine how much paper must have been wasted just to print all these stickers?!! And that too for all the Altroz's running around in the wild!


A close up of the logo on the steering wheel. The centre pad is made up of hard plastic


A close up of the chunky flat bottom steering wheel. It is a delight to hold.


The left volume and phone control buttons. They work well and have a good tactile feedback. My only nitpick here would be - when you press any of the surrounding 4 buttons, the entire island moves. Its basically a small button in the centre surrounded by a plastic plate.


And the cruise control buttons on the right. Similar to the previous, but we hardly get to use the cruise control feature. It worked really well the last 2-3 times we managed to use it. Possibly a trip on the Samrudhhi Expressway would do justice to this feature!


Another nitpick is with the bonnet release button. Looking at the button from the driver's seat, you tend to pull it "up" towards yourself. In reality, it has to be pulled in a "downward" manner. Otherwise the bonnet doesn't open up.


The now redundant toll ticket holder, not getting used due to the Fastag.


A close look at the seat pattern and cover. The seats have held up very well, and we haven't yet put any seat covers.


A close look at the centre console buttons once again. Great tactile feedback and do the job really well. We are not fans of touch screen buttons. Notice the round dummy button - someone had pointed this out in the Dark edition thread of Harrier/Safari. Maybe its for an older 3.5mm jack?


A look at the right side of the steering. The blanks look terrible, but our car has only one button for the fog lamps. I wonder what else would there be, here in the higher XZ+ DCA variant.


A look at the footwell. The dead pedal is sufficiently wide - not too big and not too small either. The other two pedals have sufficient space between them.


So these are the updates as of today. The odometer is at 4324kms as shown in the photos. The Altroz will return to its daily duties in the next week, till then it is rest time for the car. I will share some more updates in the coming weeks.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

And funnily enough, its area of expertise is city traffic, where it returns a comparatively lower 11-12 kmpl (for a hatchback). I would have expected 13-15 in the city and slightly higher than 18-19 on the highways. But... the DCA gearbox more than makes up for lower fuel efficiency! Oh, the irony!

Always enjoy your updates on the thread. But I think you are getting fine city FE. Even the famed Suzuki K12B doesn't give upto 15 in current Pune city traffic. I hover around 12-13 generally. Not more even when trying to baby the throttle. So - you are doing well with FE of 11-12 kmpl, with a far heavier car than what the K12b usually pulls. I'd be happy. Our city has become something, where expecting 15kmpl with a petrol car, is only for midnight drives on odd days . Cheers!