Tata Tiago launching in India on April 6, 2016
Tata Motors has finally decided to launch the Tiago (earlier named Zica) on April 6, 2016. The Tata Tiago will be placed below the Bolt hatch and will be offered with two three-cylinder engines. The petrol variants will be powered by a 1.2l Revotron engine that makes 85PS/114Nm whereas the diesel models will make use of a new 1.05-litre Revotorq motor that churns out 70PS/140Nm. Both the engines will be offered with a 5-speed manual transmission.
We have driven the petrol model and found that the power delivery is quite linear and the Tata Tiago revs freely and strongly. Even in higher gears at low speeds, the Tata Tiago petrol easily accelerates away if you mash the throttle pedal feeling almost like a diesel with its strong responsiveness. It's not zippy, mind you and while we have yet to test the car to acquire its performance ratings, it's quite possible that the Tiago might outrank the competition where outright acceleration performance is concerned. However, its 1,012kg kerb weight is rather high for this category.
About the diesel motor we found it is linear and torquey. The 5-speed transmission could do with a bit more precision but shift quality is impressive. Read our detailed review on both the models
Tata Motors has worked on the exterior design to make it look different from its existing offerings. The Tiago is the first car from Tata Motors to use the company's newly introduced 'Impact' design language. Inside, the Tiago comes equipped with a Harman touchscreen infotainment, similar to the one in Zest and Bolt. However, the one in Tiagio comes with two unique applications â€" Juke car app and turn-by-turn navigation system. The Juke car app creates a cellphone hotspot and lets all occupants connect to the master device and stream music while the turn-by-turn navigation app makes use of the phone's map services.
We expect Tata Motors to price the Tiago competitively at around Rs 3.8 lakh making it rival the Maruti Suzuki Celerio and the Hyundai Grand i10.
Also from OVERDRIVE on the Tata Tiago:
Tata Tiago first drive review (India)
Tata Tiago: Details of the petrol and diesel engines
Tata Tiago features and specifications revealed
Five things you'll like about the Tata Tiago and two things that could have been better
Image gallery: We drive the Tata Tiago hatchback