Tata has been testing the turbo-petrol variant of the Altroz for quite some time and now, it has been spied again completely undisguised in Pune in a bright blue new paint shade. The Tata Altroz turbo will be the first Tata to be equipped with a DCT gearbox and it will be squarely aimed at the new Hyundai i20 turbo-petrol. This segment also has the Volkswagen Polo with the turbo-petrol TSI engine. The Tata Altroz turbo will thus have quite a lot to live up to, particularly in terms of performance.

The upcoming Tata Altroz Turbo will be powered by a 1.2L, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that produces 110hp and 140Nm of torque. It is the same unit that already does duty on the Tata Nexon. It has however been detuned to produce 10 hp and 30 Nm of torque less than the Nexon where it produces 120 hp and 175 Nm of torque. It will also come equipped with a regular 5-speed manual gearbox and the DCT gearbox will be reserved for the higher-spec variants.

So in terms of power, the Altroz turbo will be at par with the Volkswagen Polo at 110 hp. But the Polo will still have more torque than the Altroz as it produces 175 Nm of torque. As for the Hyundai i20, it will be both more powerful and more torque-ey than the Altroz Turbo. The i20 produces 120hp and 172 Nm of torque from its 1.0L three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. However, the Tata Altroz turbo-automatic is expected to weigh in around at 1,058 kg and that's quite light for its class. In fact, it will only be 22 kg heavier than the current 1.2L petrol version of the Altroz.

Performance thus should be pretty sprightly but we will only find that out in time how it fares against its rivals - the Polo and the i20. There will however be no major styling changes other than the new blue paint shade and an additional 'Turbo' and a 'DCT' badge. The Altroz has always had a fine balance of ride and handling but the current engines did not really live up to the potential of the chassis. Given the extra power and torque from the turbo-petrol engine and a quick shifting DCT gearbox, the Altroz could very well be the best driver's car in the segment.

Even if it does not match up on performance, Tata is expected to undercut the price of the Hyundai i20 turbo. The regular Altroz is currently priced from INR 5.44 lakh to INR 8.95 lakh (ex-showroom) and the turbo variants are expected to carry a premium of around INR 1 lakh over the regular petrol variants. We expect them to be priced from INR 8 lakh (ex-showroom). For reference, the top-spec i20 turbo-DCT is priced at INR 11.17 lakh, ex-showroom, and that's seriously expensive. It will also be pitted against the likes of the Maruti Baleno, Honda Jazz and Toyota Glanza CVT variants. The launch is expected by early-2021.