Long Term Review - Third Report
Our humble long term Tiago has been munching up miles ever since it’s gotten into our fleet. We’ve clocked over 2510km with it till date. Now with the majority of our last review covering its city repertoires, we decided to put it through the test of long distances for this review. We give you the gist..
We begin with what we liked..
Well-moderated springs and dampers, along with large profile tyres translate into a very flat ride on the highway. Even large undulations are overcome with only minimal shocks filtering through. The suspension goes about its duties without any noises whatsoever.
Rear wipers kick into action as soon as the reverse gear is activated. Of course this happens when the front wipers are already activated, but it is really a nice touch.
And then to what we didn’t like..
Even though the steering is light and predictable overall, it does have some slack around the straight ahead position. This means that there’s a tendency for it to feel numb around the dead centre when the car picks up speed.
Furthermore, the absence of an external boot release button can bring some inconvenience. We also noticed that the boot lid needs more than usual force to have it shut, every time. At least two tries are required to get the boot shut.
With the onset of the monsoon season, the wipers have become the most important feature for me. However, a flimsy mechanical noise from the wiping operation at any speed over ‘intermediate’ has restricted me from using its entire potential.
Silly as it sounds, especially on a new car. One of the fog lamps is decidedly dimmer than the other one. At a time when the car maker is working hard to make their product attract attention, these aspects give away the wrong impression.
With a few shoots lined up outside Navi Mumbai, the little Tiago, had loads of chores to accomplish. On a lighter note, our Tiago had its hands full while playing catch up with the Audi R8 on a shoot errand! That same day our photographer: Kapil, shot the Kite5 alongside the R8, while driving from the open boot of our long term Tiago. We have spent some quality time in this hatch. In the end, all I can say is that it has the competence to make it big.
Now time for some of our stats..
Date acquired: 19th May 2016
Odometer reading when acquired: 540km
Current odometer reading: 3050km
Fuel efficiency: 15.48kmpl (City), 18.27kmpl (Highway)
Pictures: Kapil Angane and Santosh Nair
Long Term Review - First Report
Long Term Review - Second Report
Tata Tiago Road Test