Tata Altroz Racer First-Drive Review – Your Next Hot Hatch?

The premium hatchback segment is not the flashiest in India. With Honda pulling the plug on Jazz, there are only three offerings left – Tata Altroz, Hyundai i20 and Maruti Baleno. However, sportier versions of these premium hatchbacks are getting popular and i20 N Line was the sole hot hatch. It is now challenged by Altroz Racer.

At the media drive event held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, we got to drive and experience the new Altroz Racer on city roads, outskirts, highways and even on a proper race track. India’s first F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan himself, showed us the true potential of Altroz Racer on CoASTT High Performance Centre. But just how good is it? Should this be your next hot hatchback? Let’s find an answer to that question, shall we?

Tata Motors is no stranger to launching high-performance versions of their regular cars. We had Tiago JTP and Tigor JTP with Nexon engines, developed by Jayem Automotives, discontinued in 2020. Tata is re-igniting the spark in petrolheads with a new performance umbrella called Racer and Altroz Racer is the first vehicle to carry this new name.

In essence, Racer is to Tata what N Line is to Hyundai and we can expect more Tata vehicles to bear a Racer tag in the future. Looking at you, Nexon. If we’re being honest, Racer sounds nicer than JTP as well and is more likely to catch on with the target audience. Altroz Racer is targeted at a young and tech-savvy audience that keeps up with trends and prefers to stand out and flaunt their success.

Visually, Altroz Racer stands out, especially in the Atomic Orange shade. Less so, with Avenue White and Pure Grey shades. It is to be noted that Orange highlights on the inside and Orange ambient lights are standard, irrespective of exterior colours. All colour options get a black dual-tone roof, blackened C-Pillars, sportier roof spoiler, sporty side skirts, Racer badges on front quarter panel, blackened wheels, and best-of all, a black bonnet and white racing stripes.

Quoting esteemed motoring journalist Richard Hammond, “Only cool cars get a black bonnet”. Objectively, this has to be the coolest mainstream hatchback sold in India. Period. When compared to the recently launched 2024