Introduction
Our long term garage over the last three years or so has been filled with a variety of Tata cars. We’ve used everything right from the mighty Safari Storme, all the way to the Tata Tiago, taking our interaction with the Big T’s range far and wide. Now, we have jumped head-first into their latest creation, which is the Tigor compact sedan. It’s a new entry into the B-segment, which in itself is a relatively new creation. Till date, it mostly featured hatchbacks of similar sizes but different shapes, making the Tigor the first of its type in this part of the market.
What’s on offer?
Since it’s our first time with the car, here are some of the fact and figures to put into context what we are working with here. It’s powered by the same 1.1-litre three-cylinder diesel engine found in the Tiago which produces 69bhp/140Nm with power going to the front wheels via a five-speed manual.
Our Tigor is a Revotorq XZ (O) variant, which makes it the top-of-the-line diesel variant that is on offer and so you get a decent kit for a car priced at Rs 6.87 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). To put this into perspective, this is the price range for mid-level variants of the next rung of compact sedans.
The feature list comprises a 5.0-inch touchscreen system, climate control, rake adjustment for the steering, cooled glove box and a grey and black cabin which is dead similar to the one found in the Tiago. In addition to that, you also get decent smart phone compatibility in the form of a Connect Next suite which amounts to an infotainment tag on the feature list.
How do I plan to use the car?
Well, given that I am the Editorial Team’s chief photographer, it should be pretty obvious that the Tigor is my chariot to our various photo shoots. Its, USP, the 419-litre boot with gas mounted struts already looks promising as it comfortably swallows up my vast array of shoot equipment and with space to spare for additional bags to be accommodated.
My time spent behind the wheel indicates that this car has a decent ability to cruise. I should be able to paint you a better picture of it once I do a month´s worth of 50 km-long daily commutes from home to office and vice-versa. The Maharashtra monsoon madness means that a road trip to my home town with my family (dog et al) in Southern Maharashtra is on the cards, so expect some green and grey visuals from me soon!
I’ll be back next month with my first usage update on the Tigor and here I should be able to give you an idea of running costs as well as ride quality, so check this space again next month!