[sachinayak]

More review links

Overdrive
http://overdrive.in/reviews/ata-zica...-drive-review/

Overall, the Zica is the car that Tata Motors have strived to build for a very long time. It’s unlike anything they have ever manufactured yet, better than anything for that matter. If Tata Motors can price it right, it would make for a very compelling purchase and hard to ignore despite being positioned against cars such as the Grand i10 and the Celerio. A few niggles still need to be ironed out but all will be ignored depending on the pricing. A little birdie tells us that Tata Motors intend pricing to begin at around Rs 3.8 lakh which would undercut the Maruti Celerio by around Rs 10,000 and the Grand i10 by almost a lakh.

Indian Car Bikes
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/road-t...review-136180/

Tata Motors with the Zica has moved up, not one, but 2-3 steps in terms of quality and fit-finish. We have not seen or experienced such a fine product from the Tata stable so far. The Zica looks good and trendy, it’s got all the needed ingredients to make it a blockbuster product in its segment and make Tata Motors proud.

ZigWheels
http://www.zigwheels.com/reviews-adv...-review/23820/

The Zica is a genuinely good product from Tata motors not because it looks good or handles well or has great interiors, but because it provides a fresh new perspective to the Tata brand in the eyes of the Indian car buyer. Yes, the engines do need a little more refinement and a little more power but if the Zica delivers best in class fuel economy, we don’t think most Indian customers mind the slightly numb performance

Car Blog India
http://www.carblogindia.com/tata-zic...ations-photos/

It looks good, has a pleasant and a feature-laden interior, gets sufficiently potent and fuel efficient motors, and exhibits decent ride and quality manners too. True, it isn’t much fun to drive, but when was the last time you went on an apex hunting trip in your budget-end small car? The Zica looks, feels, and drives exactly like a modern small car should and don’t be surprised to see this car replicating the success story of the Indica!

Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/arti...report/174983/

Indian Express
http://indianexpress.com/article/aut...e-impressions/

Overall, Zica is the refreshing change that Tata needed in its product portfolio for a long time. It’s packaged intelligently with some fist-in-segment features. Crucially, the Zica flaunts good quality — inside, and out — unlike any Tata hatchback before it. The engines are good for their intended use and the NVH levels, while could be better, are acceptable for a car of this size. It’s also reasonably spacious and the suspension setup is worthy of praise. It’s a genuinely pleasing product

Some contrasting opinion about the engine peppiness. Waiting for the Team-BHP review.

[Rajeevraj]

Interesting to see highly contrasting reports around the drivability, refinement and gearbox.

Autocar Says:

the petrol Zica isn’t a very lively performer. The engine doesn’t rev particularly quickly and performance is adequate and no more. The feeling is that you always have to work the engine to bring out its best; a tall third gear only makes this more evident in slow moving city traffic. In stop-go traffic, you’ll also notice power delivery to be jerky. You can sense the fuel cut off the moment you lift off the throttle. The clutch is light, but not very progressive, and the gearbox also requires effort to slot in at times. Refinement levels are fair at low revs though the thrum from the three-cylinder engine can get intrusive, especially at the 3,000rpm mark when a bit of resonance filters into the cabin.

Overdrive Says

the engine never felt exhausted or lacking for power. Power delivery is quite linear and despite the 1,012kg kerb weight which is rather high for this category, the Zica revs freely and strongly. Even in higher gears at low speeds, the Zica petrol easily accelerates away if you mash the throttle pedal feeling almost like a diesel with its strong responsiveness. It’s not zippy, mind you and while we have yet to test the car to acquire its performance ratings, it’s quite possible that the Zica might outrank the competition where outright acceleration performance is concerned.

The 5-speed transmission could do with a bit more precision but shift quality is quite impressive and enjoyable.

IndianCarBikes Say

At idle, there is not much evidence of any uncanny vibration, the engine noise is heard within limits. Rev the engine, and it redlines at around 6,000RPM, that’s when the RPM meter needle turns from white to red indicating the redline zone. The gear shifts are smooth and precise. Power builds up gradually, and once on the move it is impossible to make out that under the hood is a puny 3-cylinder engine. A lot of engineering has changed on this latest Tata product and the Zica feels nicely-balanced and spread out. We loved its all-day cruising character on the highways

FInancial Express Says

While both the engines do an admirable job of moving the bulk of the car (1,012kg for petrol and 1,080kg for diesel), they aren’t particularly enjoyable. The Zica is a regular city car and it makes no claim of pleasing the enthusiasts. There’s a drive-mode selector which switches between normal and Eco modes. The Eco mode limits the performance of the car to aid fuel efficiency and it can get frustrating even when going about at slow city speeds, so its best advised to stick to ‘normal’ which is the default driving mode.

MotorOctane Says

The Zica comes with two engine options. The first one is a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder Revotron petrol engine that produces 84bhp of power. This engine seemed quite peppy and revs well upto its redline at 6500rpm, however it is pretty noisy and that noise intrudes into to cabin as well. There are two driving modes in it – Eco and City, where the former is to extract better fuel economy.

We prefer the diesel engine over the petrol one as it is more refined. The driveability is perfect and has good low end torque and hardly any lag. The diesel too has the Eco and City modes. Infact, we found the petrol engine to be noisier than the diesel.

So overall looks like the opinion is divided on the drivability and performance. Normally the drivability part from most reviews is pretty consistent. Strange to see diagrammatically opposite views.

Edit: Apart from above, looks like everyone is unanimous in saying that the exterior design, interiors, feature list, fit and finish are all one of the best Tata has come up with. A job well done.

[ksameer1234]

Quickly went through all of them!!

The house is totally divided on performance with one group calling the engine lousy, noisy and what not while other group is declaring it to be peppy, and quiet. I really wonder if everyone tested the same car!!

What beats me however are some of the observations. How are lack of features like rear arm-rest, rear ac-vents, telescopic steering on an expected 3.5L car deal-breakers? What next are we going to ask, cruise control, leather seats and sub-roof?

As for touch-screen display, it is good Zica avoids it. I honestly feel it is a dangerous feature and offering it on entry-level cars bought primarily as first car by people will only cause more harm than good.

The other confusing thing is that reviewers seem to be perplexed as to which car to compare Zica with. On comparing with Celerio, this is better at everything and it appears Zica will be priced on par with Celerio. On comparing with Grand i10, Zica falls short on few points but Bolt is priced same as Grand i10 and I am pretty sure Zica won't be priced same as Bolt.

[theredliner]

Checked out the Overdrive page.

The text review says,

the engine never felt exhausted or lacking for power.

the Zica revs freely and strongly.

the Zica petrol easily accelerates away if you mash the throttle pedal feeling almost like a diesel with its strong responsiveness.

The video review of Overdrive says,

Is it rev happy? No. Is it peppy? No.

It's not very eager to get the roll-on

Never before did I read/watch test drive reports of a single car with these many contradictions

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

How are lack of features like rear arm-rest, rear ac-vents, telescopic steering on an expected 3.5L car deal-breakers?

It took a while to pick my jaw up from the floor after the loud 'WHAAAT' I screamed when I saw the reviewer cribbing about telescopic steering, rear AC vents and rear arm rest. The same 'reviewers' don't have a problem with the Celerio's feature list or quality

[Sac]

I think only when the standard ARAI fuel efficiency figures are declared will we get to know if it was tuned for performance and efficiency balance which would be a selling point in this segment. Also once the price is declared all the features on offer and given a miss will get a perspective wrt the competition.

[Sherlocked]

From the Zigwheels review:

As an added bonus, Tata has also identified seven individual panels on the interior that can be taken off and painted in any color that the customer wants (at the dealer end)

Man, this is great! This is unheard of any Indian car on sale today if I am not wrong.

Also I am starting to really like this car now! Those interiors look awesome.!!
I have driven Zest and Bolt and loved its ride and handling. From the reviews, the Zica too appears to have exceptional ride quality.
Only thing to be seen into is it's engine options. But overall looks like an honest attempt from Tata.

Can't believe it took them 17 years to come up with an all new proper hatchback!! (Not counting Nano here). Better late than never.
I really want this car as well as TATA Motors to do well.

This car sure takes away my vote.

[400notout]

Originally Posted by theredliner

It took a while to pick my jaw up from the floor after the loud 'WHAAAT' I screamed when I saw the reviewer cribbing about telescopic steering, rear AC vents and rear arm rest. The same 'reviewers' don't have a problem with the Celerio's feature list or quality

Well, Dont know about the Zigwheels reviewer

And of course, just like the Bolt, the Zica too does not get a centre arm rest on the rear seats, the omission of which in both cars is just not acceptable in this day and age.

But I guess the other reviewers were just mentioning equipment which they would prefer, such as;

Cooled glove box vs rear Ac vents

Quoting OD;

The Zica also has a cooled glovebox which works quite well though I’d have settled for rear air-con vents over trying to cool my bottle of water.

and Seat height adjustment vs telescopic adjustable steering

quoting Financial express;

After going through the impressive features list, it’s a bit disappointing that Tata has skipped on a very important element— telescopically adjustable steering. The driver’s seat being height adjustable help matters to some extent, but a telescopic steering wheel would’ve been ideal

I dont know about cost applications of either, but I don't think they were expecting too much. Actually all reviewers have appreciated the equipment levels of the car vs competition. But yes lot of confusion over performance of the car and that can only be solved by either driving it yourself and a TBHP official review.

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

What beats me however are some of the observations. How are lack of features like rear arm-rest, rear ac-vents, telescopic steering on an expected 3.5L car deal-breakers? What next are we going to ask, cruise control, leather seats and sub-roof?

Good point, you know what to do with that kind of reviews - throw it in the bin.

[MadiMaama]

The Zica has impressed me right from the first picture. It looks great, interiors seem well bolted together with decent features thrown in. But will it come with an AT/AMT? I see an opportunity waiting for TML.

[DriveOnceMore]

These media houses have ensured that Zica doesn't get the flying start for sure.
It'll only start to gain the momentum when handful of people experience it and share the feedback to others.

What competition gains from this is time - time to let the car lose freshness and hence appeal.

Once agian, the gentleman reviewer on twitter said car dials doesn't have redline mark on dials. What a cost cutting etc.

Now I read that the needle turns red when revved high. A feature from cars segment above and definitely not a cost saving measure.

[discoverwild]

The interiors as seen from the video are truly classy for the segment that it is being introduced in. The seats and space look fabulous, a typical Tata trait. Ride and handling, I have no doubts on a Tata. Tuned for comfort.

[avdhesh15]

And the reasons mentioned above are exactly the reason the T-BHP reviews offer so much value. Considering its unbiased nature backed up by amazing attention to detail, it's the one review to wait for. Most of the media houses are under the deadline pressure and want to get comments out before anyone else and hence the poor quality.

[Torino]

The review by Motoroids says the 1.05L Revotorq engine does 90-100kmph at 1800-2000rpm in 5th gear. If a am not wrong the Swift/Punto 75hp diesel engine does the same speed at ~2400rpm, the 1.1L diesel engine in the Grand i10 at 2400rpm and Chevy Beat's 1.0L diesel engine does 100kmph at ~2900rpm. If the Zica diesel really has such a relaxed top gear then it must be a very frugal and relaxed performer in the highway and good job to Tata engineers.

[shravan2k2]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[amansanc]

Originally Posted by Torino

The review by Motoroids says the 1.05L Revotorq engine does 90-100kmph at 1800-2000rpm in 5th gear. If a am not wrong the Swift/Punto 75hp diesel engine does the same speed at ~2400rpm, the 1.1L diesel engine in the Grand i10 at 2400rpm and Chevy Beat's 1.0L diesel engine does 100kmph at ~2900rpm. If the Zica diesel really has such a relaxed top gear then it must be a very frugal and relaxed performer in the highway and good job to Tata engineers.

The given information is wrong. The Zica Revotorq spins at around 2500 RPM in top gear at 100 km/hr while the Revotron spins at around 2700 RPM at same speeds.