Tata Tiago hatchback is a less talked about car when compared to other models like Nexon, Altroz or Punch. Now, Tata Motors has gone back to where it came from and has fully levelled up their hatchback game by introducing a new fuel option and calls it – the Tata Tiago iCNG. The iCNG, as the name suggests, it is a CNG powered car, a first from Tata Motors and the “i” stands for intelligence. In this review we will be learning more about Tata Motors’ all new Tiago CNG model.
First Impressions & Design
The Tiago iCNG is a decent looking small car and the one which was offered to us for testing came with Midnight Plum paint. The car looks neat and humble – it is a small hatchback, pretty much well fits and drives through the narrow roads in your neighbourhood. The car’s piano black grille gets chrome inserts and features LED DRLs and projector headlamps in the top XZ+ trim.
The Tiago iCNG’s interiors gets black and beige color scheme. The car gets 14 inch alloy wheels which makes it look premium.
Talking about the cabin, the car features a 7-inch floating infotainment system, features automatic AC and gets Harman Music system. It is pretty neat and feels comfortable to be seated inside the car. The car offers you connectivity features like Android Auto and Apple Car play (to be connected via USB) which comes quite handy to navigate to your destination via Maps app.
The car gets a dedicated CNG button to toggle driving from Petrol to CNG and viceversa. The digital instrument cluster of Tata Tiago iCNG features a dual fuel gauge system to keep an eye on the fuel levels of Petrol tank and CNG Cylinder.
Performance and Driving Experience
We got an opportunity to test the car with full tank fuel (both CNG and Petrol) and we were fully able to explore the car to its limits. The CNG Cylinder which is placed in the bootspace can accommodate upto 9 Kgs of CNG which is comfortable enough to drive for more than 250 Kms. It is interesting to note the Tiago’s impressive fuel efficiency of 26 kms per Kg of CNG. It costs you a mere Rs 500 for a fully filled cylinder that drive you for about 250 kms – A flat Rs 2 per Kilometer.
And when you are done with CNG, the car automatically (intelligently!) switches to petrol mode without your intervention. The Tiago’s petrol tank capacity is 35 litres and the car’s engine is more peppy when on Petrol mode than on CNG. The intelligentCNG (iCNG) microswitch senses if the fuel lid is unclosed and doesn’t let you start the car. This is a very good safety feature, pretty much necessary for dual-fuel option.
We really liked the sportiness of the car, the 1.2 litre Revotron engine is powerful enough and outputs 73 bhp of power when on CNG mode and 83 bhp of power when on Petrol mode.
We visited a hill station nearby called “Ghati Subramanya” at the outskirts of Bengaluru, and the car worked as promised in Ghat section. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox. I liked how the gearbox worked by down shifting itself whenever the brakes were applied at high speeds on highways – this is an amazing intelligent feature to have – this frees you up from frequent gear shifts.
The engine is pretty sporty and climbed up the hills pretty decently. The steering and manoeuvrability is great – The steering is not light, its on harder side. The suspensions and brakes are responsive. I almost felt like driving a sporty Volkswagen Polo. We started our journey from Bangalore, managed to crosse the borders of Andhra Pradesh ( Lepakshi city) and headed back, all under 1 full CNG cylinder!
Space and Comfort
The automatic AC keeps you cool inside the car. The car is quite spacious – even being a small hatchback. The seats are designed well and gives a good driver’s view. There are many seat adjustment options available for the driver. The rear seats are good as well for a small-sized family. The only trade-off with CNG is you get higher mileage (pocket friendly) but a slightly compromised boot space capacity and access. Other than bootspace issue, there are more positives in this car than negatives.
Variants and Colors
The all new Tata Tiago iCNG is offered in 4 different trim levels XE, XM, XT and XZ+ starting from Rs 6.09 lakhs to Rs 7.64 lakhs. There is a new color introduced (Midnight Plum) which is quite similar to Espresso Brown. Other colors on offer are Arizona Blue, Opal White, Flame Red and Daytona Grey.
Verdict
Should you buy this Car? Absolutely Yes! The car solves a problem – It gives you more kilometers for the rupee you spend. It is a lakh costlier than the standard Petrol Tiago – but you can recover this extra investment soon as you save BIG on fuel. We recommend that you buy a Tata Tiago iCNG if you are in the market for small hatch and need a product which is trust worthy, fuel-efficient and premium in nature and performance.
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