Driving a manual car after 2020: Tata Altroz diesel is a little rocket

It's a baby Jetta or a toddler Jetta in terms of driving feel. I have driven a VW Polo earlier but this car felt far more confident inspiring and planted to drive around.

BHPian VW2010 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Lorry owner's view of this little rocket. Thanks, Prassy for allowing me to drive this. The last manual car I drove was a Jetta in 2020.

Quick summary of the Altroz:

• Rock solid behavior
• Baby Jetta, probably toddler Jetta in terms of driving feel
• Excellent steering and manoeuvrability
• The availability of power in all gears
• Suspension is not soft and is definitely on the stiffer side which makes it very stable filtering between cars at good speeds
• Easily crosses 3-digit speeds and there is no feeling of delay in experiencing that power
• Ergonomics is great for drivers and passengers. Ingress was not as bad as the Jetta which was low and too sporty a seat
• The brakes are good enough
• Clutch was not heavy and easier to handle
• Gear slotted well but I can't generalize as this could be because of how Prassy maintains and drives that car

Cons

• Engine grunt aka noise inside the cabin
• The lack of a 6-speed gearbox. This car deserves a 6-speed transmission. You know the car can do more that cannot upshift anymore.

I cannot call out any cons in that short drive but can only say it has motivated me to pick some manual gearbox and sell one of the ATs in hand. And bang they announce the 6-speed MT Petrol.

Lovely car maintained well by a gentle giant. I have driven a Polo earlier as well but this Atlroz felt far more confident inspiring and planted to drive around.

Here's what BHPian PrasannaDhana had to say about the matter:

Thank you, brother, for your impressive observations from a 30-minute highway drive, while I was having a blast flooring the XUV7OO AWD diesel. That story is for another day.

Altroz is one underrated car when it comes to driving dynamics. I will blame Tata for giving the sluggish 1.2L NA in the Altroz (which makes up for 90% of Altorz sales). The Altorz diesel is one brilliant package which only those who have driven it know.

As you rightly pointed out, the engine NVH can be better. Oh, how I miss the refined cabin of my Ciaz DDIS200. The Altroz definitely deserves the 1.5L turbo diesel mill in the Nexon's 115 PS and 260 Nm tune with a 6-speed MT.

I am glad they are at least selling the 120 PS / 170Nm 1.2L turbo petrol with 6-speed MT as the Racer variant now.

If you liked the Altroz diesel (I know you did), you will like the Altroz Racer too. Probably, you can exchange your Endy 3.0 with this little hatch.

I just got a message from Kaveri Tata Trichy that the Altroz Racer test drive car has arrived. I will do a test drive and will let everyone know how it is.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.