Evo Fleet: Tata Tiago
Words: Gaurav Thombre
Let me be honest, I was bit skeptical when taking over the Tiago as my long termer, but the car has pleasantly surprised me. The smart styling convinced me to take the keys, but it’s been a great city car and performed equally well on the highway, without any fuss. From the day we got it, the Tiago had a solid feel to it unlike Tata cars of the past. In previous reports, we praised the lost costs of running this diesel version and even after all these kilometres clocked, it continues to be easy on the pocket. The Tiago has been in our garage for some time now, but even after constant use and going past 25,000 kilometres on the odo, there are not many signs of wear.
The doors shut with a nice heavy feel to them, giving you a sense of security you wouldn’t get from too many other cars in this segment, proof that Tata has focused on improving build quality. Even after a rather hard life at the hands of motoring journalists and being the support car on many shoots, the Tiago still feels good. One of my favourite bits is the quality of the roof liner and dashboard. The nicely textured dash, black trim on the centre console and nicely integrated Harman sourced music system, which offers great sound quality, making this top-spec Tiago XZ, a nice place to be in.
The diesel engine does the job well, providing sufficient grunt in the city, while not running out of breath on the highway. Fuel efficiency has always been a strong point, with the figure rarely dipping below 18kmpl. However, being a three-cylinder unit, it does have a few minor issues. There is a fair bit of vibration, especially on cold start and the power delivery could have been more linear. A bit more power and torque too would have been nicer to haul around what is actually a pretty heavy hatch, weighing more than 1 ton; one of the heavier cars in its class. But that’s what ensures its best factor is taken care of, the great ride quality. Irrespective of surface, it’s pliant at speed, giving you a big car feel. While on city roads it manages to iron out the potholes on my daily commute.
I have enjoyed driving it in the city, it feels the right size to zip around in traffic. The clutch has gotten a bit heavy with age, but the steering is light, making manoeuvering it a breeze. Add to that the fantastic all-round visibility the car offers and it also makes parking in tight spots easy. We did initially have some issues with the air conditioning, but the choked filter was replaced and things have been better since. The faulty glovebox however, still remains an unsolved issue. It continues to open every time you hit a bump on the road, slightly spoiling my experience in what has been an otherwise very happy term with the Tiago. It has kept me happy and given me little reason to complain, it’s no wonder that you see so many on the road these days, expect the numbers to grow.
Date acquired : March 2017
Duration of test : 10 months
Total mileage : 25,950km
Mileage this month : 18.5kmpl
Costs this month : Nil
