As of now, Maruti Suzuki Baleno is the only one that lacks a sporty version to rival Tata Altroz Racer and Hyundai i20 N Line
The premium hatchback segment is not the flashiest in India. With Honda pulling the plug on Jazz, there are only three offerings left – Tata Altroz, Hyundai i20 and Maruti Baleno. However, sportier versions of these premium hatchbacks are getting popular and i20 N Line was the sole hot hatch. It is now challenged by Altroz Racer.
At the media drive event held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, we got to drive and experience the new Altroz Racer on city roads, outskirts, highways and even on a proper race track. India’s first F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan himself, showed us the true potential of Altroz Racer on CoASTT High Performance Centre. But just how good is it? Should this be your next hot hatchback? Let’s find an answer to that question, shall we?
What is Altroz Racer?
Tata Motors is no stranger to launching high-performance versions of their regular cars. We had Tiago JTP and Tigor JTP with Nexon engines, developed by Jayem Automotives, discontinued in 2020. Tata is re-igniting the spark in petrolheads with a new performance umbrella called Racer and Altroz Racer is the first vehicle to carry this new name.
In essence, Racer is to Tata what N Line is to Hyundai and we can expect more Tata vehicles to bear a Racer tag in the future. Looking at you, Nexon. If we’re being honest, Racer sounds nicer than JTP as well and is more likely to catch on with the target audience. Altroz Racer is targeted at a young and tech-savvy audience that keeps up with trends and prefers to stand out and flaunt their success.
How different is it from standard Altroz?
Visually, Altroz Racer stands out, especially in the Atomic Orange shade. Less so, with Avenue White and Pure Grey shades. It is to be noted that Orange highlights on the inside and Orange ambient lights are standard, irrespective of exterior colours. All colour options get a black dual-tone roof, blackened C-Pillars, sportier roof spoiler, sporty side skirts, Racer badges on front quarter panel, blackened wheels, and best-of all, a black bonnet and white racing stripes.
Quoting esteemed motoring journalist Richard Hammond, “Only cool cars get a black bonnet”. Objectively, this has to be the coolest mainstream hatchback sold in India. Period. When compared to the recently launched 2024 Altroz with a bump in features and creature comforts, there are a few attributes specific to Altroz Racer. We’re talking about 360 camera, leatherette upholstery and ventilated front seats, apart from the aforementioned changes.
Main change is under the black bonnet, where Tata Motors is offering a higher-spec 120PS and 170 NM i-Turbo+ 1.2L 3-cylinder Turbo petrol powertrain, mated to a 6-speed gearbox. It boasts similar performance metrics as a Tata Nexon. With the launch of Altroz Racer, Tata has discontinued the 110PS i-Turbo lineup offered with standard Altroz. So, if you want an Altroz with a turbocharged engine or a 6-speed gearbox, you have to buy the Racer.
Where pricing is concerned, Altroz Racer starts from Rs 9.5 lakh (Ex-sh) and goes till Rs 10.99 lakh (Ex-sh) as of writing this review. There are three trim levels – R1, R2 and R3. Base R1 trim packs almost all necessities, while mid-spec R2 and top-spec R3 trims add a few niceties as you go up the hierarchy.
Mechanical upgrades!
According to Tata Motors, Altroz Racer has had a lot of mechanical upgrades over standard model. Tata collaborated with India’s first F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan, for inputs to develop the sportier version of Altroz to achieve the desired ride and handling characteristics. Tata Motors has thoroughly worked on a new and throatier exhaust muffler and a new hydraulic clutch control system, re-tuned car’s suspension and fine-tuned car’s steering for nimble manoeuvring, sporty performance, fast build-up of pace and accurate feedback.
So, Altroz Racer is not just a pretty face. It has the works and there was only one way to find out if they work, a track session with none other than Narain Karthikeyan, himself. Pushing it to the limits, Karthikeyan demonstrated Altroz Racer’s capabilities around CoASTT High Performance Centre in Coimbatore. We got to experience how much more fun the car was, first-hand, at the track. According to Karthikeyan, Altroz Racer was benchmarked against i20 N Line on the same track and it surpassed the Hyundai in performance.
There is a sole 6-speed manual gearbox on offer and it makes the whole experience more engaging. Not exactly quicker, but more engaging. We wish Tata had offered Nexon’s 7-speed DCA with Altroz Racer. On the track, we felt that gear ratios on Altroz Racer between 2nd and 3rd gear were on the taller side. In many instances, 3rd gear would lack grunt and 2nd gear just slapped me with torque.
Drive and Handling
Tata Motors claims a 0-100 km/h sprint in 11.3 seconds. Altroz Racer engineering team told us that there have been quicker sprints (even sub 10 seconds) depending on conditions. But 11.3 seconds to 100 km/h is what the official claim is. Coincidentally, that’s almost the same number we achieved on our acceleration tests as well. 11.32 seconds! (speedo-indicated 100 km/h reading).
Tata Altroz Racer 0-100 Kmph Acceleration#tata #altroz #altrozracer #tataaltroz @TataMotors_Cars pic.twitter.com/aP95l9OnGt
— RushLane (@rushlane) June 15, 2024
Just because it is composed around a track, doesn’t mean that Altroz Racer has a wooden suspension when driving on regular roads. That is not the case at all. Tata is known to nail suspension setups in most of their vehicles and offers robust and comfortable rides with a commendable capacity to tackle bumps and potholes. Same stays true with Altroz Racer too. This is a commendable move, considering 99% of Altroz Racer drivers drive it on regular roads instead of a track.
Throatier exhaust sounds much better than standard model. It feels the throatiest when idling and mild to intermediate throttle inputs. At full throttle, engine noise supercedes the exhaust sound and we can hear quite a bit of turbo spooling noisesl. High-speed driving on the highways revealed that wind noise, tyre noise and suspension noises were decently low and par for the segment.
Tata Altroz Racer Exhaust Note ?#Tata #Altroz #Racer @TataMotors pic.twitter.com/15bYqHsIIR
— RushLane (@rushlane) June 14, 2024
Space and Features
Underneath the sportier clothing, Altroz Racer is still an Altroz and carries forward all of its strengths and positives. There was abundant space on the inside, both for front and rear passengers and the car comes with many creature comforts like fully automatic climate control, sliding front armrest, foldable rear armrest, all-four adjustable headrests, height adjustable driver’s seat, cooled glovebox that is also quite large and accommodating, 345L boot space, 90-degree opening front and rear doors and many more. There is a sunroof too, if you’re into that.
New features that debuted with Altroz Racer are a larger free-standing 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a larger fully digital instrument cluster with a 7-inch TFT screen in the middle, a wireless charger, ventilated seats, an air purifier and 6 airbags, among others. Except for ventilated seats and leatherette upholstery, standard 2024 Altroz gets these features too.
A few reservations!
Even though we had an overall positive experience with Altroz Racer, there were a few reservations and concerns that we raised with Altroz Racer’s product team. Also, Altroz is due for an update to continue adhering to its “Gold Standard” tagline and some of our reservations are likely to be addressed in that facelift.
1. We wish Altroz and Altroz Racer had LED lighting all around to match its overall sporty appeal. Especially those large quarter panel mounted halogen turn indicators, which are an eyesore.
2. Altroz Racer could have had disc brakes at the rear. Despite having adequate braking power, rear disc brakes add that visual appeal over tiny drum brakes. It is almost like Altroz Racer forgot to hit leg muscles at the gym.
3. Considering Altroz Racer is touted as a sporty car, we would have liked a lower driver’s seating position. When wearing a helmet on the track, I grazed the roof many times despite being in the lowest seating position and not even sitting straight up. For reference, I am 6 feet tall (182 cm).
4. Punch EV is a smaller car without a “premium” tag, but it still gets a larger 10.2-inch single-piece instrument screen that supports full-screen navigation and other attributes. Given that Altroz Racer is marketed as a Premium Hatchback, this screen would have made a lot of sense here.
5. Altroz is the successor of Indica Vista which used to come with a fair bit of soft-touch plastics. Top half of Vista’s dashboard and top elements of all four interior door trims had soft-touch elements. Hard to believe, right? I know this because I still own one. So, why not Altroz?
6. White stripes are officially confirmed to be decals, but the black dual-tone roof and black bonnet were decals in the test drive units. Altroz Racer product team mentioned that the media samples given to us were pre-production units and production-spec vehicles would get painted black bonnet and roof.
7. Tata has come a long way in interior fit and finish and overall quality. However, a few door seals had begun to show cracks and in some places, these seals had come off their position too. Also, there were a few abnormal panel gaps here and there inside and out. Hopefully, these are limited to the pre-production samples only.
8. Lack of an automatic gearbox is likely to haunt Altroz Racer. Especially considering most of the tech-savvy audience the company is targeting, are city dwellers and would appreciate an auto gearbox option. Tata Motors told us that they are considering an automatic option soon and we hope it is the same 7-speed DCA unit as seen on Nexon. The 6-speed manual gearbox on Altroz Racer is surprisingly notchy and has slightly longer throws than what would be considered “sporty”. Even my “non-sporty” Renault Captur has much shorter throws.
9. More colour options would have made Altroz Racer look better for wider audience. Many of us would have liked an all-black theme with red sporty highlights inside and out. Tata is considering something similar in the form of Altroz Racer Dark and we speculate it could launch around festive season. Matte-red and matte-blue options would look rad on this vehicle. Maybe match the interior highlights with exterior colours too, Tata Motors?
10. The infotainment screen had a few bugs and irregularities and it wasn’t working as expected.
Conclusion
Tata Motors has done a commendable job in carving out a sporty version of its premium hatchback. It gets more features, creature comforts, performance and flash value than ever before and is a very well-rounded package. The safety and integrity of Altroz are unrivalled and it is the only 5 Star crash-rated mainstream hatchback in India, ever.
Sure, it has a few niggles here and there. But none of them can be coined as a deal breaker, except for the lack of an automatic gearbox, of course. So, should a Tata Altroz Racer belong on your manual hatchback buying shortlist? A big yes! This is now one of my easiest recommendations to most young car buyers looking for a manual gearbox hatchback.
