Premium hatchbacks are now a popular choice among buyers. Tata Motors launched their first premium hatchback Altroz in the market last year and Hyundai also launched the next generation i20 in the market. These hatchbacks compete with cars like Maruti Baleno, Honda Jazz, Volkswagen Polo in the segment.

Altroz is currently the only car in this segment to have a 5 Star safety rating. We have seen several videos on how sturdy or well built the Altroz actually is. Here we have another video that shows a drag race between Tata Altroz and the all-new Hyundai i20.

The video has been uploaded by Arun Panwar on his YouTube channel. The vlogger starts by introducing both hatchbacks and talks about the crash test rating. Both cars used in this video have naturally aspirated petrol engine and comes with a manual transmission. Vlogger chooses an empty stretch of road to conduct this race. The race is conducted in multiple rounds to get a clear picture of the winner.

Vlogger starts with the Hyundai i20 while his friend was driving the Altroz. For the race, they had turned off the air-conditioning and on the count of three both hatchbacks moved off the line. In first round, vlogger was a bit late to respond and Altroz took the lead. It felt like the Altroz might win the race but, soon i20 caught up and leaves Altroz behind.

Altroz moved off the line quickly but, i20 had a much more better power delivery because of which it won the race. The same thing happened in second round as well. There was one more thing that worked against Altroz, vlogger’s friend who was driving the Altroz missed a gear. Before starting the third round, driver’s swapped cars.

Now, vlogger was driving the Altroz whereas his friend was driving the i20. In third and fourth round, Altroz took the lead initially and then lost the round. Hyundai i20 was the clear winner in all four rounds. Why did that happen? Altroz’s petrol engine is slightly more powerful than Hyundai i20s even then, it did not win any of the rounds. The answer to that is the weight. Altroz is a much more heavier than i20 or any other hatchback in the segment.

This was done to increase the sturdiness of the vehicle. The increased weight has definitely affected the performance. The vlogger’s friend can be heard saying in the video that Altroz felt underpowered after a point in the race whereas the i20 was light and peppy. The Altroz 1.2 petrol generates 85 Bhp and 113 Nm of torque. The i20 generates 82 Bhp and 114 Nm of torque. Even though, Hyundai i20 had less power in comparison to Altroz, the power to weight ratio on i20 was better which helped it win the race without any problem.

This does not mean Tata Altroz is a bad car by any means. The naturally aspirated version is a tad bit slower than other hatchbacks in the segment because of the weight. Tata had already worked on this issue and have launched a turbocharged version of Altroz known as i-Turbo in the market.