Two months with a Tata Tiago petrol manual

Over the last two months, I have been using my sisters’ Tata Tiago since she moved on to a Kia Sonet Petrol DCT. The Tiago is a 2016 petrol XZ (manual) model.

BHPian aayusht recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Sharing a brief review of the Tata Tiago petrol manual version. 

I have passively been on the lookout for a second car for over a year. The need was not severe or urgent and I have been able to manage without a second car. A query was also raised and discussed on this very forum Link (Pre-worshipped car of the week : The cheap beater car)

Background of how I got hold of the Tiago:

Over the last two months, I have been using my sisters’ Tata Tiago since she moved on to a Kia Sonet Petrol DCT. The Tiago is a 2016 petrol XZ (manual) model.

Pros:

1. Unlike what the Team-bhp review says, the Tiago engine is not mediocre, rather it's fairly decent. Not racing material, but decent. I enjoy the mid range. In the second and third gear, it pulls and pulls. Most days, I am able to over-take traffic without breaking a sweat. The low range is not its strongest point. Sometimes when starting from a complete stop, the Tiago is not quick on its feet for a few seconds, maybe even in the low revs in second gear, but after that its pretty quick

2. The solid build is comparable to my Jeep

3. The suspension is comparable to my Jeep (ok, maybe not comparable, but much better than the Sonet that my sister got or the second gen Creta my dad has)

4. Really good Harman Kardon music system (but sometimes the Bluetooth connectivity is not great)

5. The small size lets me take the car anywhere in the city (have found parking spots in the narrowest of the places)

Cons:

1. NVH is not great

2. Driver seat does not go far enough back for my perfect driving position. Just a little bit more would have been great. For reference, I am 5'8

3. Headlights are not powerful (fortunately I need to drive the car within city limits and generally the roads are well lit)

4. When starting the car during winters, the car needs a little time to warm up before I can drive it smoothly. If I don’t give it time to warm up, it jerks a lot making it an unpleasant experience in the first few minutes of the drive

5. While I have personally not experienced it, my sister & dad who had been using the car over the past 7-8 years suggest that servicing will not be painless (but lets see) & it will only get worse as the car ages. So far I have not faced any issues.

Overall I am pretty happy with the car. 

Plan going forward:

Lately my wife and I have gotten too used to driving an automatic, however after a few minutes of driving the Tiago when I first took the car, I was comfortable with the manual again. 

My wife is not keen to resume driving a manual & not too excited about the Tiago. Besides, I like driving a car with a higher seating as well (spoilt after the Compass). We are still passively on the lookout of alternatives and have driven petrol automatic version of cars such as Kiger, Jimny, XUV400 (in absence of the XUV300). Preference is for automatic petrol cars with good suspension (maybe SUVish car), but until we decide on which new car (beater car), I will hang on to the Tiago. 

Since I have borrowed the car from my sister and not bought it, I need to figure out next steps in a few months at least, but until then, I'll enjoy driving this peppy car.

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