A camouflaged test mule of the Tata Tiago facelift has recently been spied testing and we believe its a turbo petrol variant of the Tiago. It could be powered by Nexon’s 1.2L, three-cylinder turbo petrol engine.
Small capacity turbo-petrol engines seem to be the newest trend in India and they are making their way into all sorts of vehicles of all sizes. We have already seen a number of turbo-petrol engines in SUVs, sedans, premium hatchbacks and now, they will soon be making their way into much more affordable hatchbacks as well. It is already common knowledge that Tata Motors is working on a turbo-petrol version of the Altroz hatchback as was spied a few days ago in a new shade of blue. Now, a camouflaged test mule of the Tata Tiago has been spied testing and we believe its a turbo variant.
As you can see from the spy image, this is indeed the Tiago facelift as can be made out from the new bumpers and the grille design. The test mule is however wearing temporary headlights. On an earlier occasion, another Tiago draped in camouflage was spotted testing in Coimbatore and we believe that too must have been the turbo variant. From this spied test mule, it does not seem that the Tiago Turbo will boast of any styling changes. Perhaps there might be some changes in the details, but nothing that’s evident as of now.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that Tata Motors is building a turbocharged version of the Tiago. Tata Motors in partnership with Jayem Automotives earlier sold the Tiago JTP in India that came powered by a 1.2-litre, turbocharged petrol engine that developed 112 bhp with 150 Nm of torque. The Tiago JTP never really had the success it hoped for and as we transitioned into the BS6 era, Tata Motors discontinued the model from the Indian market.
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Not much is clearly known at this moment about the actual engine that Tata Motors will put under the hood of the Tiago Turbo. Earlier this year, Tata Motors acquired 50 per cent share of Jayem Automotives in JTSV Joint Venture, thus making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. One could also speculate that the Tiago Turbo variants could bring back the JTP name in Tata Motor’s portfolio but there’s less probability of that as Tata Motors had previously said there’s not much business case for such cars in the Indian market.
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We believe that the Tata Tiago Turbo will be powered by the Nexon’s 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine. In fact, this is the same engine that’s also being used for the Altroz Turbo. In the Nexon, this engine produces 120bhp and 170Nm of torque. In the Altroz, this engine is expected to produce about 99 bhp and about 140 Nm of peak torque. In case of the Tiago, it will however be offered in a different state of tune. Currently, only the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios comes with a turbo-petrol engine in this segment. The Maruti Suzuki Swift continues with a naturally aspirated petrol engine.
