With the Tata Tiago now retailing in showrooms with a price tag that ranges from Rs 3.20 lakh to Rs 4.75 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol version, there’s a lot of buzz in the market. Prospective buyers have visited showrooms, and some have even bought the product. However, there are a lot of folks who’re interested in putting their money on the table but are confused about how this car fares in the face of the segment competition.
To clear out the dilemma, we decided to pit the Tiago’s petrol version against the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki’s Celerio. Needless to say, the Celerio hatchback is currently the highest selling car in its segment. However, we need to understand that Maruti’s little star gets that reputation by selling almost 60 per cent of those units in the AMT form. So, effectively, this means that the Tiago now gets its long awaited shot to eat into the available 40 per cent of the Celerio’s pie. But, does it have its guns loaded for the task? Let’s find out..
Viewed alongside each other, one doesn’t need a lot of convincing to admit that the Tiago has the fresher design that incorporates more appealing and modern lines. Tata Motors needs to be credited for infusing these expensive-feel traits into a product that serves this price sensitive segment. On the other hand, the Maruti Celerio’s exterior is detailed by a simple silhouette that houses a tall stance and less wider footprint. Everything about the exteriors of the Celerio screams functionality and it surprisingly feels bigger than it really is, both inside and outside.
In fact, when viewed at certain angles, the Tiago, with its thick C-pillar and angular window treatment does show some resemblance to the latest Figo and Grand i10. Exterior dimensions brought to light that the Tiago is 146mm longer and 47mm wider than the Celerio. But the latter is taller by 25mm and the wheelbase also benefits by an extra 25mm over the Tiago. While the little Maruti’s ground clearance stands at a steady 165mm, the Tiago’s ranges from 165mm-170mm, thanks to the 13inch and 14inch rims that vary depending on the variant one chooses.
A quick tour of both these cabins will put a few things in perspective. Tata has again done a great job of injecting various finishes for the shades of grey and black plastic which also include a fish skin texture. A special mention to the Tiago’s buttons and stalks which have now evolved to be of a better quality. These, coupled with the fresh dash curves and colour coded air vents impart a better feeling of quality throughout the interiors when compared to the Celerio. The latter, however, shows off its subtle, less inspiring grey and black plastics, and in the process does not stand out to attract the younger crowd, even though quality is up to the segment mark. Visibility out of the driver’s seat is better in the Celerio as it is angled towards the front end. It also feels bigger on the inside due to the larger glass panes and the taller roof. Getting in and out of the Celerio is easier too.
Though the seats on the Tiago offer better contours than the Celerio’s, they are just too soft. The firmer seats seen on the Celerio mean that there is more comfort, especially on those long drives. Having said this, rear seat occupants will have more legroom in the Celerio, and front seat occupants will enjoy more legroom in the Tiago. While thigh support is identical for both cars in the front, there’s more thigh support for rear passengers seated in the Tiago. Also, occupants in the Tiago will enjoy better shoulder room both in the front and the rear, which in the end, will translate into a little more comfort for the third rear passenger. Expect the front passenger in the Tiago to also admit that their seat is a tad too high. The Celerio will bring some relief to taller occupants who will find an extra 5cm and 2cm headroom in the front and rear respectively. While the Tiago’s boot can hold 242 litres, seven litres more than the Celerio’s, it is the latter’s boot that is more usable due to the overall shape of the enclosure. It can also be accessed without a key, unlike the Tiago’s.
A look at the features list of the Celerio ZXi (O) reveals two airbags, ABS, fog lamps, alloys, driver seat height adjust and a four speaker music system with USB AUX and Bluetooth operations. One also gets central locking with an external handle for the boot, power windows for the front and rear, electric mirrors, steering mounted controls and tilt adjustable steering. There’s also a trip computer with distance to empty and instant fuel efficiency indicator, rear wiper, rear defogger, turn indicators on the mirror and a 60:40 split rear seat. What the Tiago XZ gets over the Celerio are theatre dimming lights, a Harman eight speaker music system with navigation features, rear parking sensors, EBD and corner stability control, a cooled glove box and a gear shift display. However, the boot opens only with the key or through the internal boot release, and split rear seats are absent.
Tata’s new Tiago packs the Revotron 1.2-litre three cylinder motor that makes 85bhp and 114Nm of torque. Compare this with the Maruti Celerio’s 1-litre, three cylinder mill that spins out 68bhp with 90Nm of torque, and you may be hard pressed to believe that the Tiago would be better off at the job. Not quite though. Tata has some more distance to cover before it can catch up with the refinement offered by Maruti Suzuki’s engines. While you can hear the Tiago’s motor in the cabin even with the slightest hint of extra throttle, the Celerio’s cabin gets a filtered version of some suspension and most environmental noises. To get to the bottom of the performance test, we strapped both cars to our Vbox testing equipment and found out that the Tiago hits the 100kmph mark from zero in 16.32sec; a far-fetched cry from the Celerio that made it in 14.19sec.
We dug deeper to find out how these motors behaved while driving in real life situations like overtaking, and pulled out the in-gear acceleration times these cars registered. Maruti’s Celerio was markedly peppier and it turned out to be faster by 2.42sec in the 20-80kmph run, and held on to the medal for the 40-100kmph run by clocking it 3.89sec faster than the Tiago’s. Shifting through the Celerio’s gearbox was a smoother affair, and it has a more positive shift along with a light clutch. On the other hand, the feel from the Tiago’s gearbox was not trailing far behind, and it has a similarly weighted clutch too. We put both cars through a series of fuel efficiency tests. And finally got a city fuel efficiency of 13.8kpl for the Celerio vis-à-vis 13.1kpl returned by the Tiago. On the highway, the Tiago gave us 17.5kpl while the Celerio went slightly further by delivering 17.7kpl. What goes in favour of the little Maruti is the shorter gearing, refinement and a weight reduction of 120kg to start with.
The Tiago’s extra weight did pay off by turning into an advantage when we were checking out the ride quality of these cars. Tata’s new hatch conquers road undulations with the sort of poise seen on bigger, more accomplished cars. It also handles marginally better. Maruti’s Celerio is no match in this arena, and with the inherent stiffness, has quite an unsettled ride with suspension noise filtering into the cabin. Also, Tata has done a good job in lending a light but predictable steering to the Tiago’s package. It is more direct in comparison but tends to feel numb around the centre as speeds rise. Though the Celerio’s steering feels more responsive around the centre as you pick up velocity, it is still shy in all aspects of the overall feel from the Tiago’s steering. Our braking tests revealed that the Tiago, with its extra 180kg, is marginally better than its counterpart.
2nd
Tata Tiago
Final score: 357/600
Price: Rs 5.71 lakh, On-road Mumbai
Tata’s Tiago trails behind the Celerio in this comparison test. While the Tiago benefits from more equipment, superior feel of quality, better ride and handling, a generous warranty and the feel-special quotient at Rs 30,000 less than the Celerio. All these factors were just not enough to beat the Maruti Celerio which is a much more rounded product.
1st
Maruti Suzuki Celerio
Final score: 363/600
Price: Rs 6.01 lakh, On-road Mumbai
Maruti’s Celerio inches ahead of the Tiago by six points due to a more refined engine that’s more frugal and packs in better performance. It also has more space at both ends of the cabin, decent ride and handling, is easier to get in and out of, and has better visibility from within the cabin. The boot enclosure also has more useable space. In the end it is the Maruti Suzuki Celerio that wins this test as it is overall the more practical car to buy here.
Pictures: Kapil Angane
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