Tata Zest Test Drive | Full Review

You first saw it at the Auto Expo and now with in a few days Tata Motors will launch one of its most awaited cars, yes we are talking about the new Zest but an important question remains, what is the Zest like to drive, well than let’s find out.

How does it look: -

At first Glance, it looks like the Tata Zest is one of the best looking cars ever designed by Tata Motors. There are obviously the shades of the Vista design but every thing is changed and every thing just looks better. It is a good looking design and has a lot of presence. To our eyes, the front is the most interesting part as it recognizable as a Tata but you know instantly that it’s new. Tata Motors says there is humanity line and the trust line at the front and these lines join the head lamps and the grill. The front bumper is sculpted and the projector head lamps along with the day time running lights look good. Move to the side and it gets bold character lines plus unlike some one rivals, the boot is neatly integrated. The rearing is lot soft when compared to the front, the LED Lamps and the obligatory chrome provides a premium look to the car. The Zest has 15 inches allow wheels. Built quality is also something we looked out for and we happy to say it is a massively forward compared to the previous Tata Cars plus the same goes is paint finish, you certainly love the Signature Blue color though we have to say Silver also looks classy.

What about the interiors: -

Step inside the Tata Zest and it represents a new look which is on a different level compared to the previous Tata Cars. The quality has gone up to several notches to being among the other cars, in fact we have to say it is even better than some of its rivals. Dual tone interior imparts a premium feel plus it looks and feels good. Tata Motors have certainly nailed the design bit with an attractively designed center console with Piano black finish and a three spoke steering wheel. Dials are also well designed and easy to read plus they also look good. The AC also works quite well. While the front seats are comfy the business end is the rear seat which offer very good head room and leg room plus one thing we notice is the angle of the rear seat actually makes it more comfy than the Manza. Though the boot is certainly smaller than some of its rivals.

What about the features: -

In today’s day and age, features are what pull customers in to the showroom and Tata Motors have stuffed the Zest with a lot of that. First of all, the main talking point is the 5 inch touch screen Harman infotainment system, this system has various features like voice control, touches screen AC controls and there is even SMS notifications and reads out. There are off course feature like climate control, steering mounted controls for Bluetooth and Audio plus power windows, follow me head lamps and parking sensors. The Zest also features dual air bags so then it seems Tata Motors have done well on the features cart.

What about the Diesel Automatic: -

The Zest Diesel has an F-Tronic 5 Speed automated manual transmission. A diesel engine is the familiar 1248 CC 4 Cylinder with 89 BHP and 200 NM of torque. Now in the gear box there is R, N and A Mode plus a button marked as S for Sports mode. There is obviously no park mode. The first credit in automatic and I have to say the shifts were decent but not exactly smooth, there is some jerkiness at low speeds but it all melts away at high speed. For steep progress though we find ourselves using the sports mode a lot and this is where the Zest diesel feels the best but the fact to the matter is that for most of the time, the Zest with this F-Tronic 5 speed automated manual transmission does the job and the main reason for buying automatics in the first place is for the convenience and you get that. When it comes to ride and handling, the ride is not as soft as other Tata cars but it handles really well and it is on the completely different level compared to the previous Tata cars. Its grip and stability is good plus steering is light and pretty direct. So, over all ride and handling department, the Zest impressed us the most.

What about the Petrol engine: -

Highlight in the Tata Zest range is definitely the Revotron 1.2 Turbo Charged Petrol Engine. This is a Segment’s first and under stand ably Zest Turbo Charged Petrol has a lot of advantages over it natural explicated rivals. The numbers are 89 BHP and 140 NM of torque, what really impressed us is the easy to use gear box plus adequate power on offer, refinement too was fantastic. We also like the smooth performance delivery and the general lag free nature. The Zest petrol engine has three modes, Sport, City and Eco. To we have say there is not much massive difference between the three modes. Over all though, the Zest Revotron engine lives up to its height some what and we have to say it is a lot more fun than diesel.

Verdict: -

As you can imagine, we have quite impressed with the Zest and we think as a package, the Zest is right up there at the top of its class. For us even more than the styling or the features, it is the driving dynamics that really impressed us. The way it drives, the way it handles, the gear box, the steering all have been an gigantically over the earlier Tata Cars. Now only thing remaining for the Tata Motors to do, is of course price it comparatively and knowing Tata Motors, they certainly build. So there, the Zest will be the comeback car for Tata Motors and well we think, its going to be a massive success.

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.