With the launch of Tata’s new CNG cars, Tata Motors has officially entered the running in alternative fuels behind Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki. Tata claims that a few changes have been made to the Tata Tigor i-CNG to ensure it offers a good experience to customers as compared to the petrol sibling. Tata’s i-CNG monikered offering claims a horde of state-of-the-art features to ensure the best possible experience with the factory-fitted CNG variant when compared to the petrol variant. We take a first-hand look at Tata’s new Tigor i-CNG compact sedan. Read on for more information.
Since the Tata Tigor i-CNG is pretty much identical to its petrol sibling, except for minor CNG badging, we jump right into what this variant does different.
Interior
The new CNG variant of the Tata Tigor features a mostly unchanged interior. What’s new, however, is a new dual-tone interior cabin that gets a beige and black combination. Otherwise, the interior remains unchanged and continues to be the same spacious one the petrol Tigor is known for. Major differences lie in the central console and digital instrument cluster. The CNG Tigor now gets a dedicated CNG button on the centre console. The digital instrument cluster in the driver cockpit now features an additional CNG fuel gauge.
Engine & Performance
Tata has made major strides to ensure the usability of the new CNG variant is as seamless as possible. This means that switching between petrol and CNG is now extremely easy, at least when it comes to Tata’s new offering. The Tigor’s 1.2-litre three-cylinder Revotron engine puts down 84bhp of power and 114Nm of peak torque. However, switch to CNG and in pure CNG vehicle fashion, that number comes down to 72bhp and 95Nm of peak torque. The CNG variant by Tata gets a few firsts, such as the ability to be started in CNG rather than having to start in petrol and eventually switching to CNG. The dedicated CNG button makes switching to the alternate fuelling system easy and user-friendly.
Features
Tata Motors, with respect to their CNG offerings and the Tigor CNG in particular, went above and beyond when it comes to features offered. Unlike brands like Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, Tata equipped higher variants of the Tigor with the CNG system, including the top-line XZ variant, an XZ+ CNG variant, and even top-end dual-toned variants in CNG fueling format. This means that the Tigor CNG comes well-equipped with top-of-the-line creature comforts such as follow-me-home headlights with projectors, dual-tone colour options and spoiler, rain-sensing wipers, shark fin antenna, LED DRLs, 7-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cooled glovebox, automatic ORVMs and more, that the competition (at least in CNG variants) completely miss out on.
Verdict
It’s safe to say that Tata Motors has taken what is expected of CNG four-wheeler vehicles in India to the next level. While most competitors focus on equipping base variant offerings with CNG, Tata has done so to its higher-spec variants. This has enabled the market with factory-fitted CNG offerings that bring more to the table in terms of creature comforts and features, while also revisiting ease of usability and safety. Tata has established a standard with its CNG vehicles that now competitors will have to rise up to meet. Prices for the Tata Tigor CNG variants start at ₹7.69 lakhs (Ex-Showroom) for the XZ variant. For more information on the Tata Tigor CNG, such as its on-road price in India, check out autoX‘s price section.
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