2017 Tata Tiago petrol AMT road test review

The Tiago has been doing well for Tata Motors. In fact, you can now see many Tiagos on the road and it can be safely said that the car has been received well. While Tata used to exclusively offer the Tiago with a manual transmission earlier, the car now is available with an AMT too. Besides giving the left foot some respite in dense traffic, is there anything which sets it apart from its manual sibling? We find out.

The 5-speed AMT in the Tiago is mated to the familiar 3-cylinder 85PS/114Nm 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. This one also gets the creep function which will move the car slowly forward or behind depending on the gear selector position. However, this takes a bit of getting used to as the motion isn't smooth and is a bit jerky. As is the norm with AMTs, it is essential that you either keep your foot on the brake or pull the handbrake for fear of the car rolling back. On inclines too, the handbrake has to be used as is evident from the sticker on the inside of the front door.

The usual way to coax a shift from an AMT is to build the revs and then slightly let go off the accelerator. With the Tiago AMT, even if the revs have reached a certain point and the foot off the accelerator, the gearbox wouldn't shift up immediately. This lag can get a bit annoying especially if you are overtaking. Better to shift gears manually at this juncture then with the '+' and '-'. Unlike the manual Tiago which gets a City and Eco mode toggle switch, the AMT offers a City and Sport mode. The latter is the mode to be driven if you're in the mood for a fast getaway. The 'box holds onto the gears longer before upshifting and also delivers a somewhat sporty exhaust note. In this mode, the 0-100kmph was done in 16.8s, 2.3s behind that of the manual. The Tiago AMT though at 15.88kmpl overall is 0.3kmpl more efficient than the manual.

Specification-wise the Tiago AMT is available only in the top-spec XZ trim and gets all the features like the manual. The only change in the cabin is the addition of the Tigor-derived eletric adjustment knob for the ORVMs.

The AMT-equipped Tiago is priced Rs 37,000 more than the manual, carrying forward the fantastic value for money proposition that the car was already known for. While Tata could have done a tad better with the AMT's software, the Tiago still makes for a compelling buy as of now.

Images by Akshay Jadhav