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With the unveiling of the Altroz iTurbo, Tata Motors is set its sights on the enthusiast’s end of the premium hatchback segment dominated by the Volkswagen Polo TSI with the Hyundai i20 Turbo joining the frey not too long ago. As the Altroz iTurbo borrows its engine from the Tata Nexon, it already gets a displacement advantage over its rivals. But how do these cars square off on paper? Let us find out...
Powertrain
Under the hood, the Altroz gets a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol unit that churns out 108.5bhp and 140Nm, paired to a five-speed manual transmission, with no news of automatic transmission as yet. The i20, on the other hand, gets a 1-litre unit that delivers 118.3bhp and 162Nm and comes mated to either a seven-speed DCT or a six-speed iMT. And finally, there is the Polo TSI, the benchmark in this segment as far as driving pleasure is concerned. It gets a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine as well, this one producing 108.5bhp and 175Nm, mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission, replacing the DSG with a torque convertor auto.
To sum up, the Hyundai i20 turbo has a better peak power amongst the three, whereas the Polo has the highest torque output compared to the others. We put the Polo and i20 against each other in a drag race (their automatic variants, mind you), and the Polo was the winner by far. It launched more aggressively off the line and got up to a ton faster. We recently tested the Altroz Turbo too, and it managed to launch from 0-100kmph in 12.95 seconds – slower than the Polo. So while the Altroz has the displacement advantage, the Polo is actually faster in the real world.
Features
In terms of features between the three, the Polo, the Altroz iTurbo, and the i20, there is some disparity. The Polo, largely unchanged since its launch, is on the back foot here. This means that the Polo has an old school layout to its cabin and doesn’t get a big enough touchscreen for the infotainment system, onboard navigation, a fully digital instrument cluster nor a branded sound system. But the Polo is equipped with a tilt and telescoping steering that the Altroz misses out on, and boasts a cruise control feature that the i20 doesn’t have.
Further, the Altroz, that is just one year old, looks more modern than the Polo. It gets features like front and rear armrests, a semi-digital instrument cluster, a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with 8-speaker Harman sound system and an onboard navigation system. The i20, on the other hand, has a leverage of having a long feature list, with a sunroof, LED headlamps, wireless charging and a fully digital instrument cluster that neither of its rivals have.
Safety Features
On the safety front, the Altroz is definitely a clear winner after getting a 5-star rating in the Global NCAP test recently. Meanwhile, the Polo follows closely with a 4-star rating (which it got in 2014). We can’t say much about the new i20 until goes through the G-NCAP test.
Prices
The Altroz iTurbo comes at a starting price of Rs 7.73 lakh for the turbo variant that goes up to Rs 8.85 lakh for the range-topping turbo variant. The Hyundai i20 Turbo which gets an option of an iMT and DCT transmission comes at a starting price of Rs 8.79 lakh and goes up to Rs 11.32 lakh, while the Volkswagen Polo TSI is on offer in two variants, the manual and automatic transmission, priced at Rs 8.34 lakh and Rs 9.45 lakh respectively, while the GT TSI costs Rs 9.92 lakh.
The Altroz actually offers very good value! By undercutting the entry-level Polo by Rs 60,000 and the i20 by a whole lakh of rupees, it should have enthusiasts walking into dealerships to check it out. It doesn’t go overboard with features like the i20 does, but it gets enough to keep a buyer in this segment happy.
We recently compared the Altroz iTurbo to the Polo TSI. You can watch the full video here!
