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An end-user’s review of TATA Tiago

After sleeping pretty late last night, I woke up at 5.45 in the morning!! No, I didn’t on my own but because the reception guys gave me a wake-up call!! I am still looking for the person who requested that wake-up call. I really want to kill him once I find him!! I never slept after that and after freshening-up, checked-out and headed for the lavish breakfast at about 8 AM. As we were in team D-9, one of the last teams, we still had some time to have our breakfast. A lot of photos and selfies later, we were finally in our car and at the entrance of the resort, ready to be flagged-off. Needless to say, I was excited.

Flag-off tata zica from the resort - Alila Diva Goa
Flag-off from the resort – Alila Diva Goa

Now before I share my experience of the car (and the drive), let me tell you that even though I love riding and driving and this love has been there for a while now, I will score a perfect zero if someone asks me about any technical aspect of a vehicle. So this review (if I may call it one) will be purely from an end-user’s point of view.

tata zica goa review
The car I drove through Goa – TATA ZICA Tiago

End-user Review of Tata Tiago

When I first saw the Zica Tiago, the first thing I liked about it was the fact that TATA had finally managed to come up with a hatchback that did not look like the Indica. The Zica Tiago was totally a new design altogether. It’s a fresh and brilliant change in my point of view. I absolutely loved the way it looked. With its below the bumper lights and all. Another thing that was something new to a TATA hatchback was the brilliant dashboard. TATA has also managed to create a lot of utility spaces (22 in total) for storing bottles and stuff like that by optimizing the space available inside.

The spacious boot of TATA Zica
The spacious boot of TATA Zica Tiago

It also sports a bigger and almost square boot which is enough to comfortably fit-in those big suitcases comfortably. I also liked the fact that a hatch of this class also was equipped with GPS with maps being provided by MapMyIndia. Another great to have feature was the jukebox app which can easily pair-up with the onboard entertainment system and then everyone can add their favorite songs to the playlist from their own mobile phones.

Front view of Zica
Front view of Zica

The car has a much better ground-clearance in comparison to the cars it will be pitched against. A higher ground-clearance generally means it being obvious in the looks as well but the design team seems to have done a great job here. The curved design of the rear-end and the tail-lights work perfectly and make sure the higher GC does not look out of sync at the wheels. If you leave the slightly flimsy-looking plastic that seems to have been used for the knobs and switches aside, I absolutely loved all other visual aspects of the car.

tata zica test ride
Our team with the Zica Tiago

TATA Tiago Diesel Review

I was given a diesel version of the car. In my team, neither Maintreni nor the other member of my team knew driving, a fact I was really happy about ;). Only I get to drive the entire stretch :). I found the leg-room to be pretty good even after I had pulled the seat towards the front to the maximum. The tilt-steering was another nice to have, a feature which I really liked. The first couple of kilometers through the winding and beautiful roads of South Goa, I drove slow. I wanted to first get a feel of the car first before trying anything fancy with it.

Holy Trinity church south goa
This church was our first stop – Majorda

The music through the much-improved stereo with its 8 speakers ideally placed all over the car for great listening pleasure made the drive very enjoyable right from the first song. As I negotiated the narrow roads of this part of Goa, I realized how accurate the steering was. Both at slow speed and while being quick. I am not a fan of a light steering but I was half expecting it to have one. To my surprise, it was not the case with the Zica Tiago. It did not have a steering like the ford hatch-backs which give you a solid feel but was not very light either.

Driving through the beautiful roads of Goa
Driving through the beautiful roads of Goa

A couple of times during the drive we had to make U-turns where this big-looking car actually felt much smaller. Tight corners and short-radius U-turns were easy. The one thing I did not like about the car was the air-flow. One hour or so into the drive with the AC running, I felt a bit sweaty. Directing the airflow towards me did not work as expected.

The well-finished interiors of the Zica
The well-finished interiors of the Zica PC: IndiBlogger

During quick curves, I found that the car had almost no body-roll. Talking about the power delivery, the 70bhp diesel engine does pack a punch but flattens-out at the mid-range. The top-end again has some power but I did not get any place to push it uphill the point I would have liked to. But overall, I hardly felt I was driving a diesel vehicle and not a petrol one. There was hardly any lag which is synonymous to diesel motors.

Tata Zica at the Verna Industrial area - Goa
Tata Zica at the Verna Industrial area – Goa

Another aspect of the car I liked was its suspension. I drove almost on all kinds of terrains during my close to 4-hour long drive but not once did any jerk from outside the car managed to reach me. On the wide open stretches of the Verna Industrial area, I pushed on the gas for a while only to find that car actually felt a tad heavier. But on the other hand, because of this heaviness, the car felt very much planted. The double assurance of safety came from the twin air-bags for the driver and the front passenger and the ABS.

The open stretch at Verna - Goa
The open stretch at Verna – Goa

Last but not the least, the driver seat’s height-adjustment feature was something which I was really happy to find. I am not sure if any hatchback in the market has that, let alone in its class. For someone like me who is 5.4” the height adjustment feature allowed me a better view ahead.

All that now remains to be seen is how TATA sets the pricing. My thinking says that if they get the pricing right, somewhere in the +/- 5L range for the variant with all the features, they will give the market a product which will leave others in its class way behind.

UPDATE: Now that the price of TATA Tiago has been declared and I must say the prices are even better than what I had expected (5 variants – XB, XE, XM, XT and XZ – with prices ranging from Rs. 3.20 lakh – Rs. 5.54 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), I am sure this car is going to take the image of TATA Motors to newer heights.

What do you think of the ZIppy CAr (ZICA) Tiago? Do you want to ask me anything in particular about the car? Leave me a comment below.

55 thoughts on “An end-user’s review of TATA Tiago”

    1. Thanks Ankur bhai! Zica is surprisingly very unlike other tata hatchbacks. Not very powerful but for someone looking for his first car, this undoubtedly stands way ahead of others in it’s league. Now let’s hope TATA does the pricing right!

  1. I am almost with you with a difference. I do not understand the technical aspects of a car but I know to drive. However, you have to bribe me to drive! I so do not like to drive.

    1. Haha..! Mridula mam, so good to hear from you here.

      And yeah, I know you love ‘anything on 4-wheels as long as you are not driving it’. I on the other-hand enjoy riding and driving as long as all I have to do apart from driving is fill the gas and shut-it!

    1. Hi,

      If you ask me, its a good hatchback. But you have to decide as per your requirements so I would suggest you go and take couple of test rides and then decide.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  2. Hai Rajeev

    Excellent Review. Congrats! This review will help people like me since I have booked a petrol version just by the look of it. I was using a Ford Figo. Because of age and lesser running the figo was sold out and was looking for a small machine with lesser efforts. I was on the wheel.But could not get on to the throttle because the Tiago was in the showroom. As I have noticed the seating with FIGO the only thing I noticed was the clear vision ahead. I am 5.6 guy. Should it pause any confident driving. Regards

    Please Reply

    1. Thanks Rajan, so glad that you found the review helpful. I am 5.4″ and I had no problems viewing so I think for you too it should be good. Figo is slightly better in this aspect but otherwise Tiago is superior in my point of view. By the way, which model did you book?

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  3. I drove this Tata tiago petrol version car, While starting and taking revarse it makes huge noice at the engine side, and vibrate inside when driving the car

    1. Hi Yatheesha,

      Thanks for your inputs about the Petrol version. I drove the Diesel one so it’s good to know about the other version.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  4. Are the rear seats foldable, in case we want to packin more luggage? Which version of Tiago is this? And pls mention it’s price. I’ve heard negative comments regarding Tata’s after sale service. Any comments on the same?

    1. I don’t think the seats are fold-able however I did not try that out so I am not pretty sure.

      The version I drove was the top-end diesel version (XZ). The price of which is 5.59L (ex-showroom Delhi). The final price will depend upon where you are located.

      Because I have not owned a TATA vehicle, I am not pretty sure about how good or how bad they are.

    2. Hi …. Im using petrol version of this car TIAGO-XZ, since June’2016 – Yes, the rear seats are foldable, enough space to carry luggages, Recently I travelled from ooty to Chennai – with all my luggages weighing around 70kgs – good storage & cabin space provided

    3. Hi …. Im using petrol version of this car TIAGO-XZ, since June’2016 – Yes, the rear seats are foldable, enough space to carry luggages, Recently I travelled from ooty to Chennai – with all my luggages weighing around 70kgs – good storage & cabin space provided.
      cons : vibration & cabin noise is more, In chennai city 8-10kmpl mileage, In higways (100 – 120kmph speed) – Econo mode – 15kmpl mileage.
      Avg 80kmph speed – with econo mode gives around 18-20kmpl.
      I love this car for features / specs & pricing.

      TATA has to improve their service networks – not even a ssingle call received from Showroom / service centre after i received my vehicle.

      1. Hey, thanks a lot for the detailed input. The mileage seems to be a bit lower that what I had expected it to be. The features are great, no doubt.

        How have you been your experience at the service center, cost and otherwise?

  5. After going through entire review it covers maximum information but I didn’t found anywhere what was the exact mileage?
    For a true Indian who is purchasing car at first time abiously it matters more.

    1. Hi Gopalkrishna,

      There’s no info about the mileage because we were given cars which were tanked – up to the brim. Having said that, based on the mileage I periodically saw on my dashboard, I would assume it to safely return something around 20kmpl on the diesel version.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

    2. Petrol :
      city : 8-12kmpl
      highway : 13 – 16kmpl (>100kmph)
      highway : 18-22kmpl ( 60-80kmph) : Econo mode

      Econo mode : power is less to overtake vehiccles : if you travel in hillstations use city mode for more power – mileage 12-15kmpl.

      Im not satisfied with mileage committed vs mileage recvd.

    1. Hi,

      I drove the Diesel version so can not say about the Petrol version. I suggest you go ahead and take a test-drive yourself.

  6. It looks balanced review, at one point you mentioned that AC wasn’t up to the mark. If you can grade it out of 10 marks in respect of AC only, please reply.

    1. Thanks!

      Well, I would not say the AC was bad but could have been better for sure. If you ask me to put a number on it, I would say 6 or may be 6.5. I personally would not rate it anything above that.

      Thanks,
      Rajiv

  7. Hi Rajiv,

    It was a good review indeed. However you drove Diesel variant, I am looking for Petrol XE variant basis my monthly run. I have doubts such as –
    a) The a.c even with highest blower speed was not effective for the rear seat passengers.
    b) For long run the rear seats are not comfortable.
    c) Even though everyone is praising for Tiago , we are not seeing the cars running on road.
    d) You do not get spare parts for Tata cars offsite, however for Maruti , MGP are available at various locations eg. Karol Bagh , Ashok Vihar.

    Pls advise.

    1. Hi Naveen,

      I too wanted to test drive a Petrol variant as that’s the one I would have been able to relate to more as well but I got the Diesel one 🙁 . Having said that, I haven’t heard anything significantly bad in the Petrol version. I suggest you take multiple test-rides if you haven’t already.

      Comfort is a subjective thing so I would not say much about that.

      You are right when you say that there are not many Tiagos on the roads. As a matter of fact, I haven’t myself seen more than a couple of them here in Bangalore. Not very sure what’s going on that front.

      I am not very sure about the spare parts thing, neither I have a TATA vehicle so can’t say anything here with authority. But my personal point of view is that, it should be my choice about where from I buy the spares or where I get my vehicle serviced and not the company’s who is selling it to me.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  8. Based on all reviews in multiple sites including BHP, Diesel scores better than Petrol in power, vibrations, sound from outside etc. I heard Tata have done some tweaking in last 2 months to reduce vibrations and community will benefit to hear from recent purchasers to confirm if true. It is certainly feature rich except for engine / 3 cylinders. Recent news that Tiago Plus will retain 3 cylinders only with turbo. BHP says AC is excellent (both petrol and diesel) while Rajiv observation points to AC effectiveness. It is very surprising not to see many vehicles on the road in Metros as by now 20000 vehicles would have been delivered. Also, one user in BHP said he was given Jan 2016 model in June after 6 months while normal delivery wait time is 2 months. Something fishy here !! It will be great to receive user reviews from real owners who have used it few months.

    1. Hey Ravichandran,

      Thanks for your inputs. The observations about the AC is my personal point of view. I am not a very car person so I did not compare it with other models in the same segment.

      I too feel more and more ownership experiences would be helpful to paint a more accurate picture.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  9. BHP forum also strongly recommends to go for additional 2 years warrantee offered by Tata as the engines are new and untested

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