Compare Maruti Wagon R vs Maruti Celerio vs Tata Tiago

Overview

One of the highest selling Japanese hatchbacks will compete against a newer offering from the same manufacturer and a feature-laden hatch from the most prominent Indian automaker. In this comparison, we will compare Maruti Suzuki Wagon R against Suzuki Celerio and Tata Tiago to find out which is the ultimate hatchback to buy in India today.

Tiago is the first car from the Indian automaker to incorporate Tata’s in-house developed family of petrol and diesel engines. Celerio is available in a wide range of colour schemes and AMT transmission options. Lastly, Wagon R is the country’s nay world’s favourite tall boy hatch. So, let’s see how they fare against one another.

Dimension comparison

In terms of the dimensions, in most aspects, the three cars stand neck-to-neck but both Tiago and Wagon R have trump cards up their sleeve when it comes to height and ground clearance. Maruti Wagon R with its tall boy design which features a tall roof and short bonnet comes with a height stat of 1700 mm. This means occupants get ample headroom. It is also worth noting that with a 1495 mm of width Wagon R is also the skinniest of the three. This does mean that the rear seat occupancy might be compromised.

Tata Tiago comes with 170 mm of ground clearance, which is the highest of the three cars.

Engine comparison

Amongst the three cars, Tata Tiago is offered in both petrol as well as diesel variants, whereas Wagon R and Celerio comes in petrol and CNG powered variants. As we compare these cars we twill pit the CNG models of Maruti’s offerings against the diesel variants of Tata Tiago.

Petrol engine comparison

In terms of its petrol offerings both Celerio and Tiago battle it out in close competitions as both cars offer ARAI claimed fuel economy within the vicinity of 23kmpl. The Japanese veteran, however, lags with only 20.51 kmpl on offer. It should also be noted that both Tiago and Celerio are available in AMT layout, but Wagon R features a proper Automatic transmission layout which comes with the option of switching to manual shift setup.

Tiago is not the most frugal hatchback of the three, but it also happens to be the most powerful and torquiest of the three cars as well.

Diesel/CNG engine comparison

Maruti Celerio and Wagon R are not available in diesel variants instead they are offered with CNG setups. This makes Tata Tiago the only hatchback in this comparison which has been offered in diesel variants. Even so, the diesel variant of Tata Tiago is more powerful and more frugal than as compared to Celerio and Wagon R’s CNG variants. Sharing the same engine bot Celerio and Wagon R’s peak power outputs tap out at 58.16 bhp in their CNG models whereas Tiago’s 1.05 L Revotorq mill impressively manages to deliver 69 bhp.

Prices Comparison

The new kid on the block manages to push the competition away when the unit comes to the overall pricing as well. Tata Tiago is the cheapest offering of the three with prices starting at just Rs. 3.21 lakh, followed by the veteran Wagon R and finally the Maruti Suzuki Celerio.

It’s worth noting that Tata Tiago is good value for money because it is offered with modern creature comforts like a Harman developed 8-speaker music system with ConnectNext technology. Celerio also manages to stand its ground by offering an easy to drive and frugal AMT option, which is very handy for city driving.

In terms of Safety, Celerio is offered with dual-front airbags, ABS with EBD in its ZXI (O) variant which priced at Rs. 5.35 lakh and is thousand rupees cheaper than the equivalent automatic variant of That Tiago, viz. XZA, priced at Rs. 5.36 lakh.