Tata Tiago NRG

As crossovers and SUVs continue to be in high demand in the market, Tata Motors revived the Tiago NRG moniker with the arrival of the BS6 Tiago NRG that was launched in India last week. The Tiago received its first significant facelift last year, and the same design, along with the SUV traits, gives us the 2021 Tiago NRG that we recently got invited to check out. 

How is it on the outside?

The Urban Toughroader, as Tata calls the Tiago NRG, is beefy at the first glance. The similar-looking fascia from the regular Tiago is carried over, while new design elements such as the reprofiled front bumper give it a butch look. The latter also gets black cladding and a faux skid plate to give you that SUV effect.

Move to the side profile and one can immediately notice the blacked-out elements such as the B-pillar and C-pillar, ORVMs, as well as the chunky roof rails. The wheel arches now get a ‘squircle’ design, as Tata Motors like to call it, while the hatchback runs on 15-inch, dual-tone, Hyperstyle steel wheels. Yes, we double checked.

Over to the rear, the bootlid gets a plastic cladding, which also sports the NRG badge. Stowed below on the bumper is a silver-coloured faux skid plate, similar to the one up-front.

How is it on the inside?

Step inside the Tata Tiago NRG and you are welcomed by a Charcoal Black cabin, which gives the car a sportier feel. The AC vents and the gear lever surround get a Piano Black treatment while the seats get new upholstery with white stitching. The centre console continues to be dominated by the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system that also offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

Elsewhere, the model is equipped with features such as an engine start-stop button, keyless entry, digital instrument console, electrically foldable ORVMs, multi-function flat-bottom steering wheel, tilt-adjustable steering, height-adjustable driver seat, rear parking camera, rear parking sensors, and a cooled glove-box. The NRG though, does miss out on automatic climate control from the top-end Tiago variant.

What’s under the hood?

While the previous iteration of the Tata Tiago NRG was offered with petrol and diesel powertrains, the BS6 compliant model arrives only with a petrol motor. This unit is the same 1.2-litre, three-cylinder, Revotron mill that produces 85bhp at 6,000rpm and 113Nm of torque at 3,300rpm. In terms of transmission, customers can choose between a five-speed manual unit and an AMT unit.

Compared to the vanilla Tiago, the NRG variant receives a revised suspension that is now a dual path suspension, which Tata Motors claims is tuned for a comfortable drive on all types of terrains. To further aid its toughroader nature, the Tiago NRG benefits from an additional ground clearance of 11mm from the model it is based on, taking the new figures to 181mm. How much of a difference do these two factors make? We’ll let you know once we drive the car soon.

Competition and pricing                                                                                                                                       

The Tata Tiago is available as a single, fully-loaded variant, and will cost Rs 6.57 lakh for the manual version and Rs 7.09 lakh for the AMT version (all prices, ex-showroom, Delhi). The aforementioned prices put it at just Rs 20,000 more than the top-end variant of the regular Tiago.

In terms of competition, the Tata Tiago NRG doesn’t have any direct rivals. As the Maruti Suzuki Celerio X was recently discontinued, Tata Motors has an upper hand in the entry-level hatchback segment if a customer is searching for a more lifestyle-oriented theme.

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi