TATA TIAGO JTP. AFFORDABLE HOT HATCH?

THE CHEAPEST INDIAN HOT HATCH?

We Indians were not lucky enough to have exciting cars. While world gets swift sports we had to settle with 1.3 DDIS, Though performance focused sports cars are available, you need to sell your home to get one. The tax laws could be blamed, Also the average living standard of Indians made them to buy a car with great fuel efficiency over excitement. In short only money could buy driving pleasure in India. This ensured impractical pricing for sports oriented small cars and also low sales, Which leads to not launching any of them here to not share the same fate of Abarth Punto.

Cars were not always boring tho, we had incredible beasts in early 2000s, Maruti had Zen, Esteem Baleno up its sleeve. Ford came with Fiesta 1.6, fiat with 100 bhp Palio were all decent affordable sports cars. But the markets demand for practicality and fuel efficiency pulled the plug on all of em.

Then comes the millennials, Their quest for individuality and freedom brought a new life for Indian cars. if they don't get good cars they convert boring cars to exciting modified beasts. This gave birth to the car culture in India or a wake up call to companies that "We are ready for sports cars?".

Tata heard this, and brought in the JTP twins. The Tiago and Tigor were entry level treatment by Tata Motors. Making them a hot turbocharged 114BHP beast sounds exciting. I was really excited about this and wanted to lay my hands on one, and finally had my chance.

Let me be clear, the Tiago JTP looks stunning. Its lower and gets much proportional looks which is sexier than already good looking Tiago,  Thanks to those hood scoops, small JTP badges new body kits, 15 inch sporty diamond cut alloy wheels, blacked out projector head lamps and black colour treatments on various parts contributing its appearance.

The hood scoop increases street cred and is not fake one

15 inch alloys are functional and is a beauty

JTP badges everywhere

The car looks much more propotional now

The car felt special just by the looks, But real deal is when you open the door. the door opens to a awesome sporty black seats with red stitching with JTP logo makes it irresistible. Sporty pedals leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob and adjust the seat to sporty position and it gives you feel that you are in a  sports car and that's something i never had from any car of this price point. The quality of interiors were top notch and attention to detail was impressive. the car infotainment system by Harman Kardon is fantastic too. They could have made steering adjustable for the reach tho and the infotainment system looked plain comparing to rest of the interior.

Sporty seats welcomes you fine

Aluminium pedals because Racecar! 

Talking about safety, Its a Tata and that is enough said. The car might only be offering 2 front airbag but that is not everything that makes you  safe. The car is sturdy and safe and is safer than your favorite Japanese brands. Also ABS EBD and all 3 letter abbreviation commonly found.

If you want to know if rear seat space and boot space etc are adequate, please stop reading as we are not reviewing a normal family car. Its a hot hatch.

The engine starts with a burbling exhaust note adds to the appeal. The 1.2 l 3 cylinder turbocharged petrol churns out 114 horses mated to a 5 speed gearbox which is decently tall, and the exhaust note shouts that its not a regular Tiago. The car starts in the city mode, Its like a normal  mode for everyday driving with great torque lower down. The car could pulls well seldom lag in higher gears even though the rpm is low. also the clutch is one of   the best one i have experienced. Even in city mode the car pulls decently on flooring it, the performance felt similar to a Honda jazz diesel, usable range of performance with enough oomph for overtakes. still in the first 2 gears in crawling speed the car feels bit jerky at certain parts.

Pops and Bangs

With great power should come great stopping power, and JTP stops fine. The brakes were perfectly to my liking that i actually forgot to check it as it felt so homely. Enough bite and feel you don't doubt if it will stop where you want. 

Push the right most switch in the central console with sport written on it and the beast awakens with a sound notification. The instrument cluster gets lit up with red sports indication informing you that you are about to get blown away. Small push on the accelerator pedal and you will feel the increase in throttle response. The car just rockets and the tachometer starts climbing like its fast forwarded. The car hits 100 km mark in 10 seconds and climbs effortlessly. And the stability is really phenomenal and inspires a great confidence in you. as the revs builds up the growl from exhaust and spooling up of turbos can be felt in a really refined quiet cabin and when we takes of from pedal the blow of valve makes that orgasmic music to which every petrol head gets high. The pops and bangs from the exhaust makes you wonder if its really a stock car you are driving

Neat instrument cluster

The Tiago is not all about straight lines. It can go around corners just like a hot hatch should. thanks to updated stiffer suspension the car just doesn't roll, The tyres are wider and that adds to the control too. The JTP just feel much more planted than a regular Tiago. I was surprised by the feedback and accuracy of the steering wheel, It feels great and genuinely what you want from  such  a beast. 

The leather wrapped steering is great to hold and is butter smooth and has decent feel and feedback. Steering feels very civilized giving everything what you want from the wheels and points it where you want to go perfectly. Treat the car good through the bad broken piece of road and it just goes fine.

The steering is good to look and hold. Great feel and feedback

Driving the Tiago JTP reminded me of the Maruti Suzuki Zen, which was absolute legend and great drivers car. It was a delight to drive and one of phenomenal handling car even to today's standards. Tiago JTP is what i expected from a update for the Zen. And they delivered it perfectly. Light and peppy it also makes a pretty decent city car.

I couldn't find much of a deal breaking issue with the car. The fuel efficiency figure of 10-12 km could give many a heartbreak but being a performance car its acceptable. Also a 6 speed gearbox and the reach adjustment for steering wheel were 2 features i would love  to have. But still offering a really safe, quick hatch for 7,45,000(on-road kochi) which is a lot similar and 2 lakhs cheaper to its closest 10 second 0-100 car. If your dads the one wanting a new car its bit hard to convince him to get a Tiago JTP. over other cars of the price point because its something normal brains don't understand.

The infotainment system could have been better and should have included automatic climate control 

This car is quick. I am not saying that it will eat more expensive performance cars on a race track. But on the road, on every day conditions this is pretty awesome and felt a very good package for a car enthusiast.

I wouldn't compare it to a Polo GT TSI because both are different. Also not mentioning Baleno RS because i haven't got chance to drive one yet. At present state Polo gt TSI has undoubtedly set the benchmark in affordable performance hatchbacks in India. the refinement, the gearbox, fueling, quality, fit and finish all of these cannot be matched. Yet for the money you pay, the Tiago JTP is of phenomenal value. Updated suspension, Brakes, Turbo blow off valve, sportier seats and pedals and sporty exhausts that too for price of a regular Polo, really makes you wonder if any additional mods are required to be worked on the car. To sum it all up, Tiago JTP is urgent, impulsive, fun sporty hatchback which resembles youth, something i want in my 20s. Polo gt is a matured, civilized, elegant and classy fast GT which I would have in my early 30s.

CREATED BY AMBADY ANIL