Hyundai Santro vs Tata Tiago: Detailed comparison

The new Hyundai Santro is out in the market and has created ripples in the industry. The company made no mistakes with this one and launched the car with a starting price tag of Rs. 3.89 lakh. This marks the return of the Santro name, the original tall boy design car through which Hyundai made its foray into the Indian market.

We have already brought to you a comparison of the new Santro vs its rivals. Today however, we bring you a detailed comparison of the Santro and its most formidable competitor, the Tata Tiago. Read on further to know which is better.

Design and Dimensions

The new Santro, like its predecessor features a tall boy design. However, it’s a bit short (30 mm) in height as compared to the previous gen Santro Xing. Talking about the aesthetics, the Santro looks like a typical family car. Most of the front portion is covered by a wide black enclosure which incorporates the chrome grille and the fog lamps in it. The headlights are typical Hyundai design units and look inspired from the previous generation i10 and the Grand i10.

The sides of the car are pretty much bland save for a kink in the rear window line and slightly flared wheel arches with creases above them. The rear is mostly plain and houses the rectangular shaped headlamps which look decent. It runs on 14 inch wheels with wheel covers and alloys are not available even as an option. The car measures 3610x1645x1560 mm (LxWxH) and has a wheelbase of 2400 mm along with a ground clearance of 160 mm.

The Tata Tiago is a step away from the traditional Indica design that Tata had become accustomed of using. It looks simple yet fresh. The front is characterized by a black honeycomb grille flanked by nicely shaped headlamps. There is no heavy use of chrome here with just some accenting used here and there.

The sides too are kept nice and simple ending in a smooth rear with somewhat i10 Grand inspired tailgate. It measures 3746x1647x1535 mm and has a wheelbase of 2400 mm, which is the same as what the Santro offers despite the Tiago being longer in length. At 165 mm, the car has a bit more ground clearance than what the Santro offers.

Interiors and Features

Hyundai is well known for giving its cars a nice interior and the same has been followed for the Santro. In fact, interiors are one of the Santro’s USP and come with many first in class features. This includes a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay or the first time in the segment. It also gets rear AC-vents, again a first-in-segment feature.

The cabin is a dual-tone affair and comes with a black and beige shade. The dashboard is nicely designed and the side AC vents sport a cool turbine like design. The fit and finish levels too are excellent for the segment. Safety-wise, Santro offers features like dual front airbags, ABS, EBD, seatbelt reminder, speed alert, reverse parking sensors and speed-sensing door lock. The standard features include driver-side airbag with ABS.

The Tata Tiago on the other hand feels like a step up from previous Tata cars in terms of fit and finish. The dash is well laid out and features a dual tone finish of black and gray. There are also subtle piano black touches here and there which feels nice. It gets Bluetootn and USB connectivity, steering-mounted audio and phone controls. The highlight though is the excellent speaker setup tuned by Harman Kardon which is really good if you are an audiophile.

The dashboard fitment quality and plastic quality is good by segment standards and storage areas around the cabin too are ample and conveniently placed. Safety features include ABS, EBD rear parking sensors, seatbelt reminder, driver and passenger airbags. However, in terms of equipment and features, the Tiago certainly falls short of the Santro.

Engine and Transmission

The Santro comes with a 1.1 litre petrol engine that produces 68 Bhp of power and 99 Nm of torque. This engine is actually the same unit that was used on the now discontinued i10 . However, it has been re-tuned and updated according to the new car. The Santro gets a choice of either a 5-speed manual or an AMT gearbox. It is the first car by Hyundai in India to offer an AMT and this gearbox is expected to come in other models also. Also, there is a CNG option available for those who need better efficiency figures.

The Tata Tiago gets two engines, a choice of either a 1.2 litre petrol engine or a 1.1 litre diesel engine. The petrol motor produces 84 Bhp of power and 114 Nm of torque while the diesel version produces 69 Bhp of power and 140 Nm of torque. As for the transmission, there is a choice of either a 5-speed AMT unit or a 5-speed manual unit for the petrol variants. The diesel variants only get the manual option. Going by numbers, the Tiago offers more engine/transmission options than the Santro and also delivers more power. However, real life performance could differ and that could only be decided once we get our hands on the new Santro.

Fuel Efficiency

The new Hyundai Santro gets an ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 20.3 km/l, which is a decent figure. However, compared to the competition, that’s a bit low. The CNG powered variants of the car get an ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 30.48 km/l which is again typical for CNG cars.

Compared to the Santro, the Tiago fares better with an ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 23.84 km/l for the petrol variant. The diesel variant gets a better ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 27.28 km/l, which is quite good again.

Price

Hyundai had hinted previously that the prices of the new Santo will be kept under the Rs. 4 lakh mark and the company hasn’t disappointed us in that. The all new Santro comes with a starting price of Rs. 3.89 lakh for the base D-Lite variant. It, however misses out on many basic features like the passenger side airbag among others. The range goes all the way upto Rs. 5.45 lakh for the top end Asta variant. The Sportz CNG variant is priced even higher at Rs. 5.64 lakh but it is not the top end variant.

The Tata Tiago starts at Rs. 3.39 lakh for the base Revotron XB variant. This makes it cheaper than the Santro by a margin of around Rs. 50,000 for the base variant. The range goes on till Rs. 5.63 Lakh for the top of the line Revotron XZA petrol variant and Rs. 6.04 for top end Revotorq XZ diesel variant.