Tata Altroz DCA: First thoughts & driving impression

The driving experience is overall smooth & jerk free. Do note that this DCA variant weighs approximately 20 kgs more than its manual counterpart.

BHPian karan561 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

In continuation of an in-depth review from Team BHP / Omkar, I'd also like to contribute my thoughts as I too had the opportunity to spend a day with the Tata Altroz DCA & here are my driving impressions in the form of a video review.

For those who prefer text here's a quick review:

Altroz DCA driving performance:

The driving experience is overall smooth & jerk free. Do note that this DCA variant weighs approximately 20 kgs more than its manual counterpart. The deal breaker however is the non enthusiastic engine up front which is not really enjoyable for the enthusiasts & even for the gearbox there’s not much power & torque upfront for the gearbox to take advantage off. I think this was the 1st time me driving a DCT gearbox paired to a non turbo "3 cylinder engine", however this engine contributes upto 85% of Altroz's total sales hence Tata Motors decided to pick this engine to be paired with the DCA. Another reason for the seamless driving experience is thanks to the shift by wire technology & also because this gearbox comes equipped with a Machine Learning technology which optimises transmission behaviour. Overall it was a interesting combination of a fast gearbox paired to a slow engine, good for non enthusiastic sedate drivers but for people who love to drive my pick still is the Altroz 1.5 diesel manual.

Will It be India friendly?

This transmission is equipped with a wet clutch with Active Cooling. (Allows better cooling for our Indian conditions v/s the Dry clutch gearboxes where both the plates are packed together.). Overall with this wet-clutch design, the transmission should offer stress free performance on inclines and in stop-go-traffic situations. Also if the transmission detects debris or dust then its equipped with a Self Healing system of sorts which prevents build up of dust or debris through an Automatic vibration technology decreasing the need for active maintenance.

Will it be reliable?

Tata Motors claim that this DCT box utilizes 35 % less components. For example, This DCA has only 1 layshaft as compared to 2 - 3 layshafts found in conventional DCT's. Another example is that this Belgian DT1 DCA Uses the World's 1st Planetary Gear System. (Only 13 Gears instead of 20 found in conventional DCT's). Hence, overall fewer moving parts is always a good thing which means that this gearbox might turn out to be reliable for the long term.

S.W.O.T. analysis:

Strengths:

• Design (Exterior & Interior).
• Space, 90 Deg. opening doors (Spacious cabin & boot).
• Safety (5 Star Global NCAP Rating is still a strength & a USP).
• Pricing (Prices revealed last week suggest that this might be the most affordable DCT in India).

Weaknesses:

• The 1.2L Revotron petrol engine is not fast. (Enthusiasts will be disappointed).
• No paddle shifters (Would have engaged the enthusiasts a bit & provided better braking control).
• No sunroof (Tata Motors could have finally offered a sunroof to distinguish this variant. Though I'm not sunroof hungry but most Indian car buyers today are. Hence a missed opportunity).

Opportunity:

• Gain back the lost sales (After 2 years the Altroz finally gets an A/T hence its a good time to attract back the customers who always wanted an Altroz but could not buy one in automatic).

Threats:

• Hyundai i20 N Line 1L DCT (Enthusiasts might stretch their budget and pick that).
• Punch DCT (This engine gearbox combo may soon be available in the Punch and that will cause an internal future threat for this variant).

The above video, review & thoughts are based on driving the the Altroz DCA on city roads, bumper to bumper traffic and also the open highways.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.