Tata Zest First Drive Review

Well TATA Motors has been suffering in terms of sales recently and the company renders sizes to get it act together due to customer feedback they put in the lot of research and outcome of it is the ZEST.

We have all seen the car before it was showcased before the AutoExpo.

Today we are here in GOA to actually drive this vehicle and feel this really is the game changer for TATA or Not. A car is essentially about three things: Design, Interior & Features and Drive, Everybody can priorities these three aspects as per their own need. But I like to put the drive first and that is why as soon as I got the ZEST, I hit the road.

We will take a pick stop and introduce you to its features but that will be later.

TATA Motors has put a lot of hard work in to the car, 3 years of rigorous testing and innovation and the outcome is the ZEST. The good trick is they have kept in mind the safety and convenience factors too. For Starters, The diesel ZEST is the first car in its segment to come an AMT Gearbox. The engine firing the ZEST is the 1.3 L Multijet engine that TATA Sources clear. The Power output is 90 PS and peak torque 200 Nm. It is made it to a 5 speed AMT. Now this is automated gearbox that TATA has introduced with the ZEST, first in its segment is actually interesting, it is touch free drive basically. The gear box, it shifts your gear accordingly so if you put it in the auto mode and you are going in the city it will turn out to be actually very very convenient. However when you going the automatic mode, if you are going fast and you have to break suddenly that down shifts comes to the hike up, so that change in gear is the very very evident which is something that is not very pleasing about this gear box.

When there is a sport mode, which I thought is quite interesting. When you put it in the sports mode only you have to do is press this little button near gearbox. You put it in the sports mode and the gearing becomes really really long so that gives you that extra punch that extra enthusiasm that you are looking for if you would really like driving the car. The downside of that is that if you put it in sports mode the gearing is longer, the engine noise kinds of became a little deafening, it filters in to the cabin.

Now TATA Cars were never popular for drivability but this one is different. Put the automated gearbox in manual mode and you can enjoy the car even while taking the corner the car seats stable, we do not have variants and features facts here but the top variant comes with ABS and EBD but also corner stability control. TATA has also worked on handling in with the ZEST and the car handles much much better that any other TATA Product. The feedback from this steering is not very précised but the steering gives you good amount of feedback, it does not feel very light but even when you are going at higher speeds and the responsiveness from it is quite positive. So that’s I think a very positive change in the ZEST. Push the car hard around the corner and you will see flaunted on the road, in fact the suspension setup is reason too. Body roll is well under control and the ZEST takes bumps and in-regularities of the road readies.

Now we have given the ZEST, the diesel ZEST with the automated gearbox and of course this is first in its segment, look quite promising but the cars on of the ZEST, the Petrol siblings of it is also making a lot of news for its all new Engine that TATA has developed especially for this car. The 1.2 L Engine, it is a Revatron Engine, it comes with fuel injections, so this is again a first from TATA for the ZEST. Let’s drive it to see how this one performs on the road.

Now its time to know the ZEST a little closely, the looks of the ZEST is very modern in its design. There is chrome around the grill, The ZEST will come with Projective head lamps with LED’s, the fog lamps also get a strip of LED’s, and there is mount on the bonnet which flews in to the LOGO. The front profile is very impressive and I particularly like lower lip of the grill which starts as calling the humanity line and I think it looks like a smile. The side windows are defined with an outline of chrome. The alloys in the petrol versions are good looking too. Another impressive bit in the exterior of the car is that the boot blems in to the body very well and it does not look like as an outside attachment like other entry level Sedans but when you move to the rear is when you feel a little disappointed. The rear kind of false paint, there is strip of chrome below the logo. Step inside the cabin and the trendy ness is carry forward, the double layered dash board, chrome inserts for the air convents, the wing shape centre console are all very easy on the eyes. The petrol siblings, gets automatic climate control while the diesel does not. The touch screen music system is exclusive to the petrol too; it can connect USB, IPOD and AUX IN and other music devices. Controls are present on the steering wheel. This music system has specially been designed by HARMAN for TATA Motors. The system also takes voice commands but it depends on its mood, multiple tries and eventually you will be lucky. Apart from this, it can read out sms’s and even send out texts. Coming back to the cabin, the screen duplicates as parking sensors display, again only the petrol version gets space. The seats of the ZEST are comfortable and well cushioned. Like other all TATA cars, this one also not lag the leg room. Take a look at the rear seat and three can sit here comfortably with good amount of knee room and space. What’s disappointing in the cabin is, is the lack of cupping holds. There is only one cup holder and one parcel tray under the front passenger seat. Coming to the boot, it seems sufficiently big, though we do not have the boot capacity right now, as TATA holding on to it till launch. We sure can see that it can fit your family’s luggage quite comfortably. On the road again now, This new revatron engine has been designed by TATA especially for the ZEST and the BOLT.

1.2 L Turbocharged Engine, Now this all new 1.2 L Engine we have specially made for the ZEST, Revatron engine is a good engine to drive, it feels comfortable, there is enough punch, it is peppy and it is quite convenient both for City and for Highway drives. There are three driving modes for this engine: City, Eco and Sports. The car starts in City mode until you don’t switch it will stay in it. The eco mode is for optimize fuel efficiency and the sport mode is for the crazy days. We do not have the fuel efficiency figures yet as TATA Motors has decided to keep back some information for the time of the launch.

So this is the all new ZEST by TATA Motors, The car that companies deeply relying on. You can expected to be launch in somewhere late August and early September, It is an entry level sedan and the entry level sedan segment in the market has a lot of competitions, there is a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire “The Segment Leader”, then there is Honda Amaze and the there is Hyundai Xcent which is already creating a lot of wave in the market. So ZEST has a lot of competition in the market. Prices how ever are going be key event when TATA launches it.