Tata Tigor Styleback Pre-Launch First Drive Experience

Last weekend I was invited to Delhi by Tata Motors and Indiblogger for driving and experiencing the brand new offering from the carmaker- the Tata Tigor. Being marketed with the keyword ‘Styleback’, the Tigor indeed has a stylish and modern look that would appeal to the youth.

The Tigors all standing at Andaz Delhi in the early morning hours. Photo: Tata Motors

The Tigor is a compact sedan and as Mr Pratap Bose, the Head of Design at Tata Motors, put it, ‘The car is aimed at consumers who are looking at upgrading from their hatchbacks but are not willing to go into the premium sedan category.’

The Styleback Studio Experience

30 bloggers from across India arrived at the 1AQ Gallery in Mehrauli where the Tigor was unveiled. Amidst raps, dances, graffiti spray, coffee brewing, food in trucks, a stylist made the bloggers make style statements by giving them makeovers and a perfumologist custom-made perfumes that went with their individual tastes. This, while the bloggers got their first look of the car, interacted with each other and the Tata group, and got immersed in the entire styleback experience.




Meeting fellow bloggers. Photo: Tata Motors

Where's the car? Photo: Tata Motors

A fun Indiblogger way to divide teams. Photo: Tata Motors

The evening saw us all check-in to Hotel Andaz, Aerocity before the official presentations began. The 5 star property in the vicinity of the Delhi Airport is a true lifestyle hotel with art and design in every corner. The presentation saw Mr Ashish Sahni, Head of Digital Marketing, Mr Vivek Srivatsa, Head- Marketing for Passenger Vehicle Business Unit and Mr Pratap Bose, Head of Design at Tata Motors take us through the journey of Tigor- from conceptualization and design to the actual product being unveiled. Later the plan for the drive the next morning was discussed and we were divided into groups of 3 for the same.


The Tigor Styleback Drive Experience

Early next morning the cars were flagged off from Andaz Delhi. The route took us through the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, Sohna Road and a short hilly patch just before reaching the destination at the Heritage Transport Museum, off-Jaipur Highway. We got to drive the petrol variant on the way there and the diesel one on the way back to Andaz.


Usually it takes me a while to get used to the driver’s seat in a new car. The Tigor felt unusually familiar although I do not have experience of driving a Tata car except for test drives (The last being the SUV Hexa). I had to adjust the height of the steering wheel and seat position and then it was an absolutely comfortable ride.

The acceleration and braking was easy. The gear shaft took me a few minutes to get used to and then it was an easy one hand on the wheel drive. Change of gears, which usually becomes a problem for me at slower speeds, didn’t shut the engine down and the transitions were smooth. The car feels light but it handled speeds up to 100 kmph and sudden braking pretty well. There are two drive modes in the car- Eco and City. The Eco mode optimises engine performance for superior fuel economy while the default City mode optimizes engine output for the best of both- a peppy driving experience and efficiency.



I got stuck while climbing an inclined stretch when the engine decided to shut down and it took me a few seconds before I could get the car moving again without sliding back. I can’t really say if it was the car’s fault or my lack of experience.

The car comes with enough legroom and boasts of 24 utility spaces for storage. I didn’t really like the dual-colour dashboard on the petrol variant, but preferred the simple black dashboard on the diesel one.

The car comes with a comprehensive app suite designed for user friendliness and can be accessed on the 5 inch touchscreen system. There are 8 Harman speakers in the car that give a truly rich music experience.




What truly stands out for the car is its exterior design and look. To quote from the press release- ‘The TIGOR flaunts a dual-coloured bumper with the Tata Signature Grille, which is accentuated with a striking chrome humanity line at the front, extending into the crystal-like, smoked projector headlamps to create the face of the car. The dynamic character lines integrate seamlessly with the signature split LED tail lamps and a stylishly integrated high mounted LED stop lamp, highlight the length of the car.’ 

Another feature of the car that has been given strong voice is the boot space. The Tigor boasts of a functional and effective boot space of 390 Litres, giving away the hinges that usually restrict the carrying capacity.

The makers do have a plan of launching an Automatic Transmission variant of the car in a few months.


The Verdict

The over 100 kilometre drive we took in the Tigor was mostly smooth and without a hiccup. The car took well to sudden turns and rough roads and I got used to driving it pretty soon.

Tata Motors is making a huge comeback into the passenger vehicle market with cars designed on their IMPACT design philosophy. After Tiago (hatchback) and Hexa (SUV), the Tigor has the potential of capturing the market in the compact sedan category if priced right. The price will be unveiled when the car is officially launched on 29th March in the market.

Now read:
Hands on the Wheel: Experiencing the Tata Hexa

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