The premium hatchback segment in India had stagnated without any new developments. Tata Motors changed that with the launch of Altroz facelift. Prices are out already with Rs 6.89 lakh (Ex-sh, introductory) base price. It features a bunch of exterior and interior updates packaged in new colours and finishes. After driving Altroz facelift in Bengaluru as part of the national media drive, here’s what we think.
Tata Altroz Facelift First Drive Review
Not only does Altroz rival other premium hatchbacks like Hyundai i20, Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Toyota Glanza, it has to fight the urge in buyers to just buy a sub 4m SUV. To capture this audience, Tata is offering many first-in-segment features and a striking design to stand out and draw buyers. The colour options and design changes certainly work in that regard.
Starting with colour options, Dune Glow is the Hero colour, but Ember Glow looks the raunchiest and most photogenic. However, I personally grew fond of Pure Grey which was offered with Altroz Racer before and is also seen with Nexon and Curvv. For the first time in sub 4m segment (any genre), we see flush doors on offer. We wish these door handles popped out on their own for convenience.
The fascia is all new and Tata is offering much sleeker lighting elements this time around. LED projector headlights and LED fog lights are thin horizontal units. LED DRL is also a part of the unit now and looks quite premium. While some Rs 25 lakh SUVs are skimping on cornering lights, Tata promptly offers this feature in Altroz facelift. Rear gets connected tail lights for the first time and LED turn indicators.
Even the wheel design looks quite sharp and Black finish it gets, blends very well with Black beltline, Black roof and other elements. Overall, the exteriors look a lot sportier now and Tata has taken the right steps with exterior styling. Altroz facelift features a sharp and aerodynamic design, excellent safety proposition, fuel efficient powertrains with innovative dual-cylinder i-CNG tech, new features and more.
New Interiors
While exteriors look sporty, new Altroz’s interiors look more mature and sophisticated than before. Soft-touch plastics like seen with its predecessor, the Indica Vista, would be nice, but none of its rivals offer it anyway. New layout for dashboard looks visually pleasing than what was seen in pre-facelift model. Like most other Tata Motors vehicles, Altroz facelift gets the 2-spoke steering wheel with illuminated logo.
New touch-and-toggle FATC control also makes its way to Altroz facelift along with a more sophisticated automatic gear selector from Nexon. 10.2-inch infotainment screen is slick to use without glitches and it supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wirelessly. This system is paired with an 8-speaker Harman audio system which is on the boomy side that Indian audiences tend to prefer.
Setting it apart from rivals is a 10.2-inch instrument cluster that is capable of projecting full-screen Maps and blind-spot monitoring feed. 360-degree camera feed continues to be projected on infotainment screen. New Altroz gets upgraded ambient lighting that can be configured for different colours and even has dynamic themes to choose from. There’s a single-pane voice activated sunroof too.
Seats have been improved and Tata has added extended under-thigh support which adds to the comfort factor. Front armrest is slidable adhering to most body frames. Both front seats are manually adjustable and there is a decent amount of space on offer for both front and rear occupants. Even the boot space is best-in-segment at 345L and 210L with i-CNG. Seat upholstery is fabric and there’s no ventilated seats feature. Rear AC vents, fast 65W USB chargers for front and rear occupants are notable too.
Tata Altroz is India’s only premium hatchback to score 5 Star crash safety rating in GNCAP tests. With Altroz facelift, Tata has made 6 airbags and ESP as standard fitment along with other safety features. Some premium hatchbacks lack 360-degree cameras and all of them lack blindspot monitoring. Both of which Tata Altroz facelift offers. Altroz is the only one in its segment to offer auto headlights and rain-sensing wipers. One glaring omission is load sensors on seats that trigger rear seat belt alarm even though there’s no one on these seats.
Performance and Dynamics
Where powertrains are concerned, there has been a major streamlining process with new Altroz. So, no more i-Turbo variants with Altroz. The 1.2L 3-cylinder NA Petrol engine (87 bhp, 115 Nm) and 1.5L 4-cylinder Turbo Diesel (89 bhp, 200 Nm) are carried over. i-CNG is also present and that’s what we primarily drove in Bengaluru and it only gets a 5-speed manual gearbox option and same is the case with Diesel.
Tata is offering three gearbox options with NA Petrol – 5-speed MT, 5-speed AMT and 6-speed DCA. Diesel buyers usually tend to do a lot of highway driving and they gravitate towards manual gearbox options for lower up-front costs and running costs. Diesel not getting an automatic is understandable, but we wished i-CNG got an AMT at the least as it is apt for city applications. Tata is already working on i-CNG AMT and we wished Diesel also got AMT.
Both 1.2L NA Petrol and 1.5L Turbo Diesel are reasonably smooth and vibe-free. i-CNG continues to offer unique features like CNG start and seamless CNG-Petrol (or vice versa) switch. All powertrains drive the same way as they did before because there hasn’t been major updates to driveability and even the dynamics are identical. Altroz is not designed to go corner carving and when used as intended, it delivers on most things it promises.
These include great comfort on straight stretches and decent rough-road ability. Suspension feels robust and it can take some beating before thudding or bottoming out. Breaks are decent and perform as expected with good progression and reasonable initial bite. Even the 165 mm ground clearance didn’t pose any issues even when scaling tall speed bumps. These characteristics are retained from pre-facelift model and it is a tried and tested formula.
Wishlist for New Altroz Racer
Altroz Racer is also expected to get an update and we wish it packed all the missing features in the standard model. These features include rear disc brakes on the outside along with few interior updates like leatherette upholstery, ventilated front seats, auto-dimming IRVM and maybe an upgraded audio system with a subwoofer. If Tata offers ADAS with Altroz Racer, it will be welcome as well.
Where powertrains are concerned, we wish new Altroz Racer gets Tata’s new Hyperion GDI Turbo Petrol engine seen with Curvv. This engine packs 123 bhp of peak power and 225 Nm of peak torque to truly win over performance enthusiasts. Even if it gets 120 bhp and 200 Nm, it is still very welcome. There could be a 7-speed DCA or at least a 6-speed DCA option, this time around.
There are no real negatives to talk about the new Tata Altroz. We just hope the missing features we mentioned are part of new Altroz Racer and then trickle down on Altroz Accomplished+ S. New Tata Altroz facelift builds upon an already well-laid-out formula and features a striking new design and improved equipment list. If you’re in the market to buy a premium hatchback, Altroz facelift is probably the best-looking and the most kitted-out. A step in the right direction when compared to its predecessor.