Page 37 - Motoring World (January 2020)

have to work it too hard in most What was outstanding was the ride
driving conditions, and I found quality — I gunned the car through
that overtaking manoeuvres were all manner of rough and broken
easy to execute; I have no idea tarmac, and all I felt were minor
how it will behave in city traffic, rumbles.
because I drove on open expanses When it’s launched next month, TATA ALTROZ
of highway throughout. There’s a the Altroz is going to have its task
certain amount of turbo whine and cut out for it — a new entrant in POWERTRAIN
an overall drone that comes into an extremely difficult market, up Displacement 1.5-litre 4-cyl diesel
the cabin, however, along with a bit against tough competition in the 1.2-litre 3-cyl petrol
of tyre noise. The petrol is... gruff. form of the Suzuki Baleno, the Max power 88.7 bhp@4000 rpm
Again, it’s useable, but refinement Hyundai i20 and the Honda Jazz, 84.8 bhp@6000 rpm
levels could have been worked upon all stellar vehicles in their individual Max torque 20.39 kgm@1250-3000 rpm
further, and the 1.2-litre turbo- ways; it’s going to have to undercut 11.5 kgm@3300 rpm
petrol from the Nexon is just crying the lot in terms of price as well, Transmission 5-speed manual
out to be plonked into this particular which means a tag of under ` 5.5 SUSPENSION
car. The gearbox works smoothly, lakh for the basic petrol variant.
but lacks a certain crispness in As things stand, there will be four Front Independent MacPherson
dual path strut with coil spring

the throws. variants on offer (XE, XM, XT, XZ) Rear Twist beam with coil spring
I barely found any corners on the with further customisation available and shock absorber
arrow-straight roads I was driving via Rhythm, Style, Luxe and Urban
on, so I can’t yet comment on the options. Only a shootout with its DIMENSIONS
Altroz’s true handling abilities; what rivals will determine whether the L/W/H (mm) 3990/1755/1523
I can say is that it felt very stable, Altroz is a superior product, but Wheelbase 2501 mm
both in a straight line and around for now, I will end by saying that Ground clearance 165 mm
the odd sweeper that I encountered. this is a good-looking, spacious and Turning circle radius 5.0m
The steering wheel offered adequate comfortable car that deserves to do Kerb weight 1150 kg / 1036 kg
feedback, and the brakes were well (and hopefully they’ll sort out Fuel capacity 37 litres
excellent; I knew exactly what the some of those niggles before they PRICE TBA
car was doing as it slowed down. launch it). ■

JANUARY 2020 | MOTORING WORLD 37