Which car to buy? Tata Tiago, Maruti Celerio, Maruti Wagon R or Hyundai i10?

The Tiago has made a very strong case for itself with an attractive pricing.The Tata Tiago is placed in such a way to take on several small cars across sub-segments. We already presented you a brief tech spec comparo of the new arrival with the Renault Kwid and Datsun Go. This is how it stands up against the Maruti Celerio, Wagon R and Hyundai i10 (older version).

For starters, Tiago has the largest petrol engine in this comparo at 1.2-litre, so naturally it emerges as the most powerful hatchback of the lot. The new Tata is capable of an impressive 85 PS and 114 Nm of torque which are at par with cars a segment above. The two popular Marutis are powered by the same 1.0-litre K-Series motor which produces 68 PS and 90 Nm of torque. The Hyundai i10’s 1.1-litre mill is the only four-cylinder unit in this comparo. Power and torque figures stand at 69 PS and 99 Nm respectively. The Marutis offer an option of AMT while the other two are available only with a 5-MT.

The Tiago and Celerio are also available with diesel engines. The Celerio adopts a twin-cylinder 800 cc engine which dishes out a modest 47.5 PS and 125 Nm of torque. The Tiago 1.05-litre diesel motor delivers 70 PS and 140 Nm of torque. Both diesel hatchbacks employ 5-MT.

The Wagon R may be the tallest car of this lot by a fair margin but the Tiago is a size larger than the other three cars which translates into better interior space. Tata’s latest also leads in terms of equipment with goodies like Harman audio system with smartphone-enabled turn-by-turn navigation.

Surprisingly, the Tiago beats the Marutis and the Hyundai when it comes to mileage. The Tiago petrol returns best-in-class ARAI certified FE of 23.84 kpl despite having the highest engine displacement and power output, while the diesel variant returns an impressive 27.28 kmpl. The smaller engined Celerio diesel manages 27.62 kmpl.

The Tata Tiago clearly has the best value-for-money quotient of the segment with price ranges of INR 3.2 lakhs – 4.75 lakhs (petrol) and INR 3.94 lakhs – 5.54 lakhs (diesel). The Maruti Celerio doesn’t match the Tiago in terms of features and on-paper specs but has higher price ranges of INR 4.03 lakhs to 5.23 lakhs (petrol) and INR 4.81 lakhs to 5.90 lakhs (diesel). The Wagon R too is pricer at INR 4.08 lakhs to 5.17 lakhs. The aging Hyundai i10 retails between INR 4.33 lakhs to 5.18 lakhs. All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.

This article has first appeared in Rushlane.com