Tata Altroz Engine & Performance

The Tata Altroz comes with the choice of both, a petrol and diesel engine, both BS VI compliant. The petrol is a 1.2 litre cylinder naturally aspirated motor that puts of 86 hp and 113 Nm of torque. Throttle responses are good with a light foot at low and moderate speeds, which makes it nice to drive in city traffic. Where is lacks is the top end and the motor doesn’t like to be revved. Try revving it hard and the 3 cylinders make their presence felt even in the City mode. The 5 speed manual gearbox isn’t notch but isn’t the smoothest either. It doesn’t like quick shifting, rather slow and steady is more its thing. The light clutch however, makes life easy. Tata Motors is expected to bring a turbo petrol version along with a DCT automatic gearbox, and that will be worth waiting for. But again, Tata should have offered an automatic at launch itself.

The diesel Altroz gets the 1.5 litre four cylinder turbo unit from the Nexon but in a different state of tune. In the Altroz, it develops 90 hp and 200 Nm of torque. Even though its down on power, the engine still feels peppy with linear acceleration and a good mid-range. Keep it in the comfort zone between 2000 to 2300 rpm, and it makes for a great highway cruiser. Take it above the 3000 rpm mark and it gets noisy. What’s interesting is that Tata Motors had brought down BS VI diesel from Delhi for the diesel Altroz test drive cars. The clutch is light even in the diesel and the 5-speed manual works well, again with light inputs. Overall, the diesel feels more rounded and definitely the pick of the two. Tata Motors offers two driving modes on the Altroz: Eco and City but a Sport mode would have been a welcome addition.

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