Maruti Suzuki Dzire vs Hyundai Xcent vs Tata Tigor: Clash of compact sedans

Updated: Apr 26, two thousand seventeen 14:41 IST

By Gulshankumar Wankar , Hindustan Times, Fresh Delhi

Maruti Suzuki all set to launch its Dzire on May 16, harshly a month after Hyundai gave Xcent a facelift on April twenty and two months after Tata spinned out its «Styleback» Tigor on March Nineteen.

The three cars are very differently styled, come from companies which make cars with different philosophies and have their distinct brand photo. However, the three cars cater to the same set of car-buyers with same purpose — a family car.

Let`s stack the three cars against each other and find out:

The three cars are designed with different philosophies. Tata Tigor is based on the same platform as Tiago, but is coupe-styled with the roofline sloping till the edge of the boot. The face is almost similar to the Tiago, but the rear is fresh, and fairly unlike a Tata car.

The Xcent is based on the fresh Grand i10`s platform as well as design, tho’ the boot gets more distinct a switch than the face. The tail-lamps, now in two parts, are more «fluidic» as Hyundai`s design philosophy goes.The polygonal grille at the front gets a cascade grille with horizontal slats, with the overall face remaining fairly the same.

We eyed very first Dzire on Monday. Its face does not look the same as the fresh Swift due for early 2018. Also, Maruti Suzuki has redesigned the compact sedan totally on a fresh Heartect platform, and «not just a Swift with a boot». The designers have been too generous with usage of chrome on the grille and the underlines of the fog lamps, we felt, but it adds to the up-market feel of the Dzire, distancing it by miles from the taxi Dzire Tour.

All three cars get a thick chrome slat running across the boot.

While Tigor is the most stylish one of the three, Xcent is decently styled for a typical family sedan, while Dzire too feels thicker and more premium than the outgoing version.

All the three sedans are largely black, but Tigor comes with a total black cabin with inserts of the bod colour. The Dzire is mostly beigde, with wooden finish on the dash as well as on the flat-bottom steering wheel. The Xcent too gets a dual tone dash with black and beige.

While both Dzire and Xcent get a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink connectivity, the Tigor comes with a 5-inch Connectnext infotainment system by Harman which requires a ConnectNext app download.

The steering wheel is embedded with all the controls required to for music and smartphone call controls.

While all cars now come with automatic climate controls, only Xcent and Dzire suggest a separate aircon for rear-seat passengers.

Some of the features are available only in their top variants.

Engines and mechanicals

Maruti Suzuki won`t ditch its 1.2-litre K-Series petrol and 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines in the fresh Dzire. Both of them are either mated to a five-speed manual or an Auto-Gear-Shift AMT gearbox.

Hyundai has retained the 1.2-litre petrol motor but has enhanced the diesel powertrain –from the 71PS, 1.1-litre to a 75PS, 1.2-litre one. Besides the 5-speed manual, the petrol version gets a 4-speed automatic gearbox.

Tata takes the same mechanicals as the Tiago — 1.2-litre Revotron petrol and 1.05-litre Revotorq diesel engines mated to 5-speed manual gearbox. Tigor also offers two drive modes — City and Eco, which tweaks engine power and torque to suit driving conditions.

So only Dzire comes in an AMT, Xcent offers an automatic while the Tata Tigor comes only in manual transmission.

Here are the facts of the three sub-four-metre sedans stacked side by side:

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