TATA ALTROZ HATCHBACK: A BOLD STANDARD

You know, when you’re least expecting for things to fall into place, they surprisingly do!

- Hari Kudchadkar

That moment is priceless. So is the moment when a car turns out to be exactly what you had imagined it to be. For once in my life, I just managed to trash every word thrown at me, by my friends and colleagues about ‘That Tata Car’, just so that I could see for myself, whether Tata had actually created a modern, fun to-drive, and practical hatchback for us picky Indians.

Any doubts whether the Tatas could make great cars were put to rest for ever with the Nexon and the Harrier. What about the Altroz? Could it match the products of its Korean and Japanese rivals? It was time to put the Altroz through its paces.

We decided to drive the Altroz from the heart of Pune to the roads that lead to Lavassa. I found this an Ideal setup to test the car, mainly because it lets me take it through traffic, highways, pothole infested roads, uphill and downhill setups and obviously more Rush Hour traffic on the way back. We were driving the BS6 Diesel Altroz in its top trim.

EXTERIOR

The BS6 upgrade did not come with any exterior upgrades, mainly because it did not need any! The exterior design is so modern and mature with lines stretching from the front, all the way to the rear. What I specifically loved was the somewhat aggressive shark-nose front end and the sporty looking rear end with the smoked taillamps and the black finish on the trunk. Who said Tata Cars cannot be sporty? Because I for one feel this exterior is very appealing. Yes, even when compared to the Hyundai Elite i20 and the Maruti Suzuki Baleno.

The 16-inch dual-color alloy wheels fit perfectly under the lightly puffy wheel arches adding to the striking design and porty stance of the Altroz. What you would notice is that the grab handle is integrated into the rear door pillar, which in terms of design flows pretty well. However, I feel it could have been a tad bigger.