AT car for city driving in 8 lakhs: Tiago, Ignis or something else?

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Should have good ground clearance considering our roads & speed breakers we have in Pune.

BHPian aniketi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

New car dilemma:

Wife’s old Santro is giving lots of problems now & is beyond repairs. No point in spending more money onto it anymore. So started looking for preowned cars and shocked to see the prices. I am not at all interested in spending 3.5 to 4 lakhs on 8 years old Wagon-R or 4.5 to 6 lakhs on 5-7 years old Grand i10 or Swift or similar cars. So started new car hunt. Budget set to 6 lakhs at first. Checked & realized no cars available in 6 lakh budget except Alto, Kwid or S-presso. Rejected all of them due to less space, small engine, poor quality. All are overall small cars for my needs.

Meanwhile wife suggested that we should go for automatic as we already have other manual car. So basically my requirements are as follows:

  • Don’t want low sitting car, height should be good (wife is 5.6, I am 5.11). Also mother will be sitting quite often, so big NO for low sitting cars.
  • Should have sufficient features, infotainment system is kind of must along with keyless entry, steering mounted controls etc.
  • Should have good ground clearance considering our roads & speed breakers we have in Pune.
  • Should have good average along with sufficient engine power.
  • Should have good AMT.
  • Should be good looking, don’t like new Wagon-R.
  • Good space for 4 people along with good legroom & headroom for rear passengers.
  • Within my budget of 8 lakhs.
  • Good A.S.S. is must.
  • Will be used mainly in city only, occasional nearby highways runs can be done. I already have other bigger, better car (Ertiga Zxi+) for highway duty and trips.

Now I have set a budget of 8 lakh on road (+/- 50k). After checking various options, I have shortlisted 3 cars mainly:

  • Tata Tiago
  • Hyundai i10 Grand Nios
  • Maruti Ignis

Which is better car here considering my requirements? Which of the above cars has good AMT?

Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:

As good as Tata’s latest cars are, their AMT is very, very sad. Too jerky, poorly tuned and the long-term reliability is proving to be patchy.

If AMT, then go for Hyundai as it’s got the best one out there. Second choice, Ignis.

Since it’s city usage only, you should strongly consider the Tiago EV. Butter-smooth drive, cheap running costs, Tata is king of mass market EVs.

Here’s what BHPian VaibhavShatna95 had to say on the matter:

Go for i10 Nios eyes closed. I have Tiago EV and Nios in my garage and Nios looks much more modern inside out. Have also heard of great reviews for Hyundai tuned AMTs. I am 5’11 as well and with height adjustable seats its a breeze to find a decent driving position.

Not sure about Ignis but it is not a populat car from Maruti stable is what I have observed. If you want to go to Maruti way, atleast spring up for Swift and you will probably recoup your investment while selling. Baleno is so close to Swift anyways in terms of price, I went directly once for Baleno as wel.

Here’s what BHPian greenhorn had to say on the matter:

The Tiago is a bad fit for your requirements – I feel the Punch is the better option.

I was in a similar situation and ruled out both Tiago and Nios because i didn’t feel there was enough legroom (I’m 5’10”). I was ok with the 5 year old pre owned route so went with an etios. else would have gotten a i20 N Line.

Here’s what BHPian fhdowntheline had to say on the matter:

I have a Tiago, so here are a few points having looked at those other two cars as well during the time of purchase:

  • Tiago is more rugged ( mechanically).
  • Low speed bumps / potholes are handled better.
  • It has a surprisingly high driving position for the driver, inspite of being a hatchback. So you dont feel like you are crouched in.
  • Ignis may give you a more smooth engine performance. Ingress/ egress for the rear seats will also be better, just mind the rather thick roofline and the upright seating position.
  • Nios I understand now has 6 airbags and ESP in the top version, also a smoother gear shift and good initial torque, like the Tiago. AMT is less jerky. Also expect a better ICE screen experience. But Tiago’s speaker sound quality is much better.
  • TMSC Service experience so far for me has been ” ok ” . I have had better experience with Hyundai for my Creta.
  • Fuel efficiency for the Maruti is likely to be the best of the lot. Tiago is ok. 13-14 in traffic, 17-19 on highways.
  • Tiago’s AC is probably designed for a car of the volume of Safari or higher. It is bone chilling even at 23 deg C in Auto mode.
  • Tiago does not feel like a small car at highway speeds in terms of ride/ handling. But it is more noisy than the Ignis/ Nios for sure. Funnily, the speaker system has a built in compensation that enhances volume beyond say, 60 kph, probably to mask the NVH.

The Punch is better than the Tiago in most aspects ,but it may be a bit much in terms of width if you want to squeeze out of gaps.

Here’s what BHPian darkfantasy had to say on the matter:

If you can wait, please wait for the Hyundai Exter. Of the 3 selected cars, if you are going for the automatic I’d choose the Nios. For your listed requirements though the Ignis feels like the perfect fit for now. The Ignis feels old inside out when compared to the Nios but mechanically should be reliable in the long run. Maruti’s AMT coupled with the K12 is not far behind the Hyundai in terms of shift quality. I wouldn’t consider the Tiago mainly for the ASS experience.

Here’s what BHPian TheWheelDeal had to say on the matter:

As an owner of a manual Ignis Zeta, allow me to offer my perspective:

I am 6 feet tall, and there’s enough space for someone of my height, even in the rear after setting the driver’s seat to my position. The rear doors also open quite wide, so ingress and egress should be okay for your mother (we’ve used the car to transport my grandparents to doctor’s appointments, and the Ignis works fine for that). However, taller folks would need to be aware while getting into the rear since the top of the door aperture is a bit low and it’s possible to graze your head against it if you’re not paying attention.

In terms of driving, I’m extremely happy! The engine is quite frankly a gem, and we have never encountered any difficulties with speed breakers thanks to the relatively high ground clearance. The ride quality is definitely on the firm side and personally I’m good with that, but it isn’t to everyone’s taste. The suspension can get noisy over bad potholes as well, but the general NVH is decent.

We did test drive the AMT which performed well enough. However, I do agree that Hyundai does it better. We ended up going for the manual because it was a better fit with the fun-to-drive nature of the engine.
We’ve also used the Ignis on a few road trips of about 500km total distance. The car performs reasonably well on the highway; the suspension that’s firm in the city lends it stability at speed. It’s capable of cruising at around 100-120kph without feeling overly stressed with 2-3 people plus luggage. With four adults and a weekend’s worth of luggage, you will definitely notice a dulled response while overtaking. Do note that the engine spins at 3000rpm at those cruising speeds, which isn’t ideal. Your Ertiga should serve you better on long journeys, but the Ignis can certainly handle long trips in a pinch.

I get a fuel efficiency of just under 14kmpl in the city, and around 20kmpl on the highway (with the AC running full time).

As far as equipment is concerned, the Zeta misses out on a few comforts like automatic AC, height adjust driver seat, and I really do wish it had the LED+DRL headlights from the Alpha. But overall, it covers all of the bases nicely and should suit your needs well.

I still feel it’s an underrated vehicle, and great value for money. Looks are subjective, so I leave that to you, but I will say that the interiors are quite contemporary and look/feel better than newer and more expensive cars from the brand. Overall, I’m quite pleased with the car and can definitely recommend it

When it comes to alternatives, I – like some other members in this thread – would suggest sticking around a little while to see if the upcoming Hyundai Exter works for you. Hyundai has the better AMT, and their ASS + network is up there with Maruti’s. I suspect the NVH might be better as well. Judging by the price of the i10 Nios, I suspect the Exter may slip outside your budget, but it should still be worth considering. You could also look at the Tiago EV, although that would depend on your usage, charging infrastructure, and the reliability of the power supply in your area. I’m starting to hear that Tata’s sales & service is improving, although there still seem to be a worryingly large number of complaints in the forums.

I hope this helps, and as always, do get a thorough test drive of the cars in your list! Happy shopping!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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